Tina Strachan interviews author Sarah Clutton about her new novel ‘The Bookshop of Buried Pasts’. Clutton outlines the story of antiquarian book dealer Phyllida Banks, who disappears and leaves her granddaughter Lottie to run their Southern Highlands bookshop and find a man named Francis, leading to a Cambridgeshire mystery tied to an unsolved 50-year-old crime, family secrets, spirituality, and threads of witches and Celtic mythology across 1960s–70s timelines. She discusses the setting’s inspiration from Berrima and Australia’s first “book town” region, the showstopping cover design, and the title’s evolution. Clutton shares research experiences, including a death doula course and travel to English manor houses, Devon’s Clovelly, Scotland, and Shetland, and offers advice to aspiring authors: take craft courses and become open to critique.

00:00 Podcast Intro

00:56 Meet Sarah Clutton

01:39 New Book Overview

03:38 Southern Highlands Setting

06:10 Book Town Inspiration

06:49 Cover Art Breakdown

10:47 Title Origins

14:10 Death Doula Research

21:06 Phyllida Character Themes

22:54 Stalking Idea Process

24:33 Trusting the Draft

26:05 Travel As Research

27:03 Themes Of Agency

28:41 Hunting Manor Houses

29:44 Clovelly Village Magic

33:33 Scotland Estate Access

35:08 Mythology DNA Witchcraft

38:32 Daily Writing Reality

39:43 Drafting Through Discomfort

44:30 Tips For Aspiring Authors

46:27 Late Start Publishing Journey

51:17 Wrap Up And Farewell

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