Gabrielle Griffiths: 'I love testing a reader’s sympathies towards a character'
BY Maya Fernandes
27th Mar 2025
Gabrielle Griffiths was a student on our three-month London Writing Your Novel course in 2021. We caught up to discuss the release of her debut novel, Greater Sins – out now from Doubleday.
We spoke to Gabrielle about the inspiration behind her debut's rural setting, her advice for creating a gripping narrative and her folk horror recommendations.
Gabrielle, you studied on our three-month London Writing Your Novel course in 2021. How did studying with us shape the way you approach your writing now?
The course gave me so much in terms of confidence and taking my writing seriously. I hadn’t been writing for very long before getting a place, and it was wonderful to suddenly be in this world of talking about writing. The critique element was my favourite – I loved reading my coursemates’ pieces and really thinking about what they were doing with their writing, as well as getting such insightful perspectives on my own work. Probably the most useful feedback I had was on the importance of letting my words breathe – finding a balance between lyricism and spareness.
A lot of our students end up finding their writing community on our courses – are you still in touch with any of your course mates?
Yes, I still see and keep in touch with several people from the course, who have been incredibly supportive throughout my whole writing journey. It’s brilliant being able to talk writing with other people who get it.
Your debut novel, Greater Sins, is set in the quiet farming community of Cabrach, Aberdeenshire. What was it about this rural setting that inspired you, and how did you use the location to bring out the themes of your story?
I learned about the Cabrach on a trip to visit family – it was once a thriving farming community but depopulated after the first world war and a run of harsh winters. Now, the land is scattered with abandoned crofts. It’s a haunting, evocative place, and I thought a lot about why anyone would have been drawn to live somewhere so isolated. It struck me that somewhere like that might be a place of exile, or of hiding.
I grew up in a rural Aberdeenshire village and I’m also interested in the dynamics of small settlements like that – there can be a strong community but there can also be a fixed and narrow definition of who belongs and who doesn’t. I was interested in writing characters who might find themselves straddling that line.
Greater Sins tackles some dark themes regarding morality, human frailty and buried secrets. Do you have any tips for writers on how to create a gripping narrative that both unsettles and satisfies readers without crossing the line?
I love testing a reader’s sympathies towards a character – having my characters do things occasionally that are cruel, or stupid, or just a bit grimy. It’s really important to me in making them real. I think doing that successfully is partly about the balance of virtues and flaws and making sure the latter never quite eclipse the former, but also about timing – you need your reader to be invested in your character before you can test how far that connection goes.
The novel follows two protagonists in different time periods. We have Lizzie, the wife of a wealthy local landowner, and Johnny, a nomadic singer and farmhand. What made you choose this narrative style and feature such contrasting perspectives?
I wanted there to be a strong contrast between Lizzie and Johnny in terms of gender and class and their associated constraints. When I started writing, though, I found that many of these constraints were quite similar – both are subject to rigid expectations, and both have their freedom curtailed in different ways.
Writing in two different time periods was largely a practical choice – I got to the point where I couldn’t tell the story properly without going back in time! But this approach also offered so much in the way of character development – I could show how Lizzie and Johnny had changed in the decade since their fateful eighteenth years, but also show some of the flaws that had stuck with them. This turned out to be useful as I explored themes of responsibility and shame.
For those who are into folk horror, what books or authors would you recommend? What is it about folk horror that speaks to you, and what do you think it offers readers that other genres don’t?
I’ve got a big interest in folk stories, which can seem like they are narratives of the fantastic but are really about humans and our flaws and desires – I think folk horror is an extension of that; it taps into the darker impulses we know don’t sit that far beneath the surface of us as humans. Andrew Michael Hurley is a real master in that space. I also love Evie Wyld – I’m not sure I’d call her work folk horror but there’s this real sense of unease that sits just offstage. Her novel The Bass Rock absolutely blew my mind – it made me want to write.
What is your writing routine?
I started writing Greater Sins during lockdown, so I had the benefit of bags of time despite also working full time. When I got my book deal, I dropped an afternoon at work to have some more dedicated writing time. Along with that, I mainly write in the evenings and at weekends. I prefer short bursts – my attention span seems to get worse with every passing month – either in silence or with something really loud and sensorially overwhelming playing through my headphones.
And finally, what’s next for your writing journey?
I’m fortunate to have a two-book contract with Doubleday, though I have found the phenomenon of the ‘difficult second novel’ to be very, very real. I must have written half a first draft of about four different books and have now come back round to the first idea, naturally. I’m trying to be a bit relaxed about it for a few weeks so I can focus on enjoying publication of Greater Sins and doing a few events.
Get your hands on a copy of Greater Sins.
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