Joanie Book Club: Q&A With Kirsty Capes, Author of GIRLS

Calling all book lovers - the Joanie Book Club is back! This month, we're sitting down with Kirsty Capes, author of GIRLS...

Hi Kirsty! Thanks so much for chatting with us here at Joanie. Let’s start things off with a bit of background, can you tell our readers about yourself?

Thank you for having me! A bit about me: I’m a novelist based in Berkshire, UK, where I live with my nine-year-old golden retriever rescue named Doug. My books are about female relationships, found family, belonging and identity, and coming of age. I like to write about complex and flawed women and stories that deal with difficult issues but are ultimately hopeful and uplifting. Outside of writing, I work in marketing and am a keen cyclist.

GIRLS, your third novel, centres around two sisters who take a road trip across America following the death of their mother, a famous artist. What inspired you to write this story?

I took a road trip across the US back in 2019 with a friend and was initially so inspired by the vastness of the Mojave desert that I felt that I wanted to capture that feeling on the page. Then, during Covid, I found the experience of being creative in complete isolation so singular that I wanted to explore it more through art and artists in a work of fiction. I had been toying with a story about sisters for a while – I wanted to write about the fraughtness of that relationship as well as the unconditional love and redemption, too – and the three ideas became married in my head. GIRLS really started with a feeling – and went from there!

Do you have any general tips for aspiring writers? What helps you most when you’re sitting down to start writing?

What works is going to be different for every person, and there’s no right or wrong way to be a writer – it’s about finding what is most effective for you. That said, something I find useful is not starting at the beginning but rather choosing the scenes or story beats that I am most drawn to or most excited about and starting there. I find this much easier and less daunting than opening a blank document and starting on page 1.

Most people would recommend this, but I can’t emphasise enough the importance of reading – widely and lots of. Seeing how other people do it is the most effective shortcut to improving your own craft, even (and possibly most especially) when it’s outside of your usual genres.

We’re avid readers here at Joanie, and there’s nothing we love more than a good book recommendation. Tell us – what’s your favourite EVER book, and what book did you enjoy reading most in 2024?

This is a great question. I have so many books that have shaped my life in profound ways that it’s hard to choose just one! If I had to, though, I would choose A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews as one that has stayed with me long after I turned the final page. In 2024, my favourite read, without a doubt, was Jenni Fagan’s memoir of a childhood in care, Ootlin, which I still think about daily.

Outside of work, what do you get up to in your spare time?

As I said, I’m big on cycling (though I’m not very good at it!) and I’m training for the London to Brighton charity bike ride at the moment, which is a challenging but rewarding 56 miles! Otherwise, I’m a big fan of tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons, and I also love cooking, films, and live music. The biggest priority in my life is my dog, Doug, so basically whatever he is in the mood for is what I end up doing in my spare time (lots of long and muddy walks!)

Finally, which Joanie pieces are you loving most right now?

I have definitely switched up my style and aesthetic sensibility recently, and now that I’m in my thirties I feel that it’s time to maybe step up my wardrobe. In 2025, I’ve made a resolution to lean into '90s revival and more preppy-grunge crossover fashion. That’s why I love this versatile denim pinafore dress. I have been looking for one for ages, and it’s so easy to dress up or dress down for work, or a whole range of occasions out and about. It’s also a good wardrobe staple for that in-betweeny bit between winter and spring when the weather never quite knows what it’s doing. To add some softness, I’ve picked this lovely billowy Peter Pan collared shirt with a cute cherry pattern.

Kirsty Capes works in marketing and lives in Slough with her golden retriever, Doug. She holds a PhD from Brunel University London; her thesis investigates representations of the care experience in contemporary British fiction. Her first novel, Careless, was longlisted for the Women's Prize 2022. GIRLS is her third novel.