India Holton on her new rom-com, The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love
"If a book isn’t entertaining and amusing to me, I can’t expect it to be that for readers."
Shining with humour and imagination, India Holton’s newest historical romance novel, The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love, is a true joy and delight to read. Following two rival ornithologists as they vie for the title of Birder of the Year, The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love is overflowing with equal amount of charm, romance and chaos. It’s funny, sweet, charismatic, action packed and wholly unique, with a cast of characters so endearing they’re impossible to forget.
To celebrate its release, we were honoured to have the opportunity to ask India a few questions all about The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love, the inspirations behind it and more.
Hi India! I am so incredibly thrilled to have the opportunity to have you on the site today to ask you a few questions about your wonderful new novel, The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love. For readers who may just be learning of the book, how would you best describe it to them?
Thank you so much for having me here! The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love is a swoony, satirical fantasy romcom with a light academia vibe. In an alternative Victorian Europe, birds are magical and often deadly, and the ornithologists who study them are equally dangerous. When a competition to become Birder of the Year is announced, rival professors Beth Pickering and Devon Lockley are forced to team up to have any chance of winning. They simply can’t trust anyone, including each other – for while all may be fair in love and war, this is ornithology!
Can you tell us a little about your inspirations behind the story?
I always get my inspiration from the characters. Usually they appear in my mind at the start of writing, and the curiosity they spark in me is what I use as the basis for the story. Who are they? What do they want? Why are they wearing such ridiculous hats? With Ornithologists, I had Beth and Hippolyta – two 19th century lady scientists adventuring across the Continent – at the back of my imagination for a few years before I sat down to write them.
The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love was one of the most enjoyable reading experiences I’ve had all year. Was it as fun to write as it was to read?
That’s so kind of you! It was fun! Indeed, as a comedy writer, I’m lucky to say that it’s my job to have fun. If a book isn’t entertaining and amusing to me, I can’t expect it to be that for readers.
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The imagination in all of your books is truly magical in and of itself. How do you come up with all of your ideas and what made you decide to add a touch of magic to Victorian England?
Thank you! I can never say how I come up with my ideas because half the time I don’t actually know, they just appear in my mind. However, I chose to set the Dangerous Damsels and Love’s Academic books in Victorian England for quite deliberate technical reasons. I wanted a setting to match the tone and themes, and the late 19th century suited them in a way the Regency era, a modern setting, or a fantasy world wouldn’t have. I then chose the exact years carefully to take into account things like technology, transport, women’s rights, fashion, and so on.
Do you have any book recommendations for readers who love the perfect mix of romance, humour and whimsy in your books?
I always highly recommend Olivia Atwater’s books, Martha Water’s historical romances, Connie Willis’ romcoms, and Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. Brigette Knightley has a book coming out next July – The Irresistable Urge to Fall For Your Enemy – and I can not wait to read it! I also recently read Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer and found it delightful.
The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love is the first book in a new series, with its sequel, The Geographer’s Map to Romance, releasing next year. For those of us already longing for more, is there any titbits you can give us about book two to keep us going until its release?
The Geographer’s Map to Romance is my “Twister meets Anne of Green Gables” book featuring professional stormchasers and dangerous earth magic. The official blurb is, “geography professors in a failed marriage of convenience inconveniently reconnect for an emergency mission that involves such perils as exploding rocks, wild weather, only one bed … and most daunting of all, their own relationship.” Unofficially, I can tell you that there’s a solemn, neurodivergent, dark-haired hero who wears glasses, and a wayward action girl who has never met a disaster she doesn’t want to throw herself headlong into, and cozy autumn vibes when there aren’t wild tempest vibes. I hope so much people are going to enjoy it!
Get your copy of The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love by India Holton here.