Internationally recognised art and literary critic, writer and cultural producer. Published in ELLE, Glamour, Esquire and Cosmopolitan; member of the Union of Writers.
Leodora Darlington’s debut, The Exes, is a thriller about a young woman with a history of blackouts who begins to wonder whether she is responsible when her new husband dies, just like every man before him. Published by Penguin Michael Joseph in February, it became a Good Morning America Book Club pick and was shortlisted for the McDermid Debut Award at Harrogate.
Until last year Darlington was a publishing director who wrote on the side. She also acts, DJs and is now adapting the novel for the screen. We asked her not about the book’s twists but about the thing our readers keep coming back to: what it means to work across forms without being made to choose one, and what that freedom actually costs.
The Exes by Leodora Darlington (Penguin Michael Joseph). Image courtesy of Munch PR.
When someone asks what you do, what do you say, and has the answer changed since The Exes came out?
I tend to lead by saying I’m a writer – novels, and now a screenplay – and that I do a little theatre on the side. It’s the easiest and cleanest answer, given I’m a bit of a creative magpie. Writing is also what’s paying the bills, and I think it’s interesting that so many of us lead with whatever’s earning. I suppose that’s because the question is usually asking ‘How do you make your money?’.
Now I say that, if you’d asked me last year, I’d have said publishing director first, writer on the side, even though the writing was already earning me more than the day job. The truth is, I’ve always felt like a storyteller at heart, whether that’s with music, with words, or through behaviour as an actor.
What did the novel let you do that a script or a set could not?
There’s a beautiful intimacy that the interiority of a first-person novel can bring; you get to hear so much of what the character is thinking. With a protagonist like Natalie, someone who’s capable of murder but terrified of it, who makes so many compellingly questionable choices, being able to dive into her complex psyche gives you the gift of understanding her and even rooting for her. The screen offers a different kind of intimacy. With skilled acting, you see exactly what a character’s circumstances are doing to them in a way you can only imagine on the page. It’s why I’m such a fan of actors like Jessie Buckley; watching them feels like stumbling onto a private moment, and it’s deeply moving. That’s the trade I’m making on the screenplay right now – working out which of Natalie’s thoughts have to stop being thoughts and become behaviour.
Working across forms is usually described as freedom. What has it actually cost you, in time, money, or the way the industry reads you?
The time investment is a lot. Anything worth pursuing is worth the hours, so I have to be intentional – making sure I’m creating every day. It’s not easy, and it’s infinitely harder if you’re a primary caregiver, or if you’re in financial difficulty. I wrote a lot when I was caring for my mother and feeling very poor, but I wouldn’t have felt able to quit my nine-to-five and focus exclusively on my creative pursuits at that time. There’s a reason beyond the obvious that so many nepo babies go into the creative arts – I think if most people had the time and security, they’d create. And creating doesn’t just mean writing books or playing the guitar. It can be gardening, baking, and myriad other things. Genuinely, though, each facet of my creativity stimulates the others: I came back to acting after a good decade away while doing The Artist’s Way, which I’d picked up to develop my writing.
It’s difficult to say how the industry reads me, but I hope it’s as someone who takes her craft seriously and has something to say.
Has anyone told you to pick one lane? What did you do with that advice?
To be honest, no-one’s ever said that to me. The closest would be one of my acting teachers expressing frustration with the rise of multi-hyphenates, but they also recognise how helpful it is for many creatives to do more than one thing. In the UK acting industry particularly, there aren’t many roles going for dark-skinned women, so if I want longevity as an actor, I’m going to have to write for myself. The flip side is that I get to write opportunities for other talented people who need a break. I’m writing the screenplay for The Exes right now, and I can’t wait to get to casting. It’d be great to find a breakout talent for Natalie.
The Exes is your debut, published by Penguin, chosen for the Good Morning America book club and shortlisted for the McDermid Debut Award. What changed for you between finishing the manuscript and now?
Writing fiction isn’t, on average, the most lucrative career, but the advances for The Exes have been transformative. They’ve bought me time to hone the craft. It’s been so incredible seeing the immense response to The Exes across international media, but more than that, I’ve been blown away by readers who’ve approached me at literary festivals and events to tell me how much Natalie’s story means to them, or how floored they were by the twists.
This year, I’ve also gone back to acting. I’ve made some songs in the studio with my friend Jack, a very talented musician alongside his day job in TV. I’ve also had more headspace for initiatives I used to run. I’m relaunching a prize for under-represented writing talent towards the end of this year. I’m also launching a live book club in early 2027, which is going to have an amazing lineup, so watch this space!
Leodora Darlington. Photo: Yellowbelly Photo.
How does performing, on stage, on screen or behind the decks, shape the way you write dialogue or build a scene?
A lot of my acting training is centred on following your impulses, and that’s a great muscle to flex when writing a scene or arranging a DJ set. Knowing what helps an actor give a more honest, compelling performance means I can build some of that into the script. Take, for example, the opening argument between Natalie and her husband, James. They’re having a high-stakes row while both preoccupied with physically difficult tasks – tasks that look almost ludicrous in the moment but carry real emotional meaning for each of them. It’s a perfect pressure cooker for frustration (the kind you don’t have to take home with you) and I’m excited to see the charge that builds for the actors on screen.
Who opened doors for you early on, and what do you try to do now for women coming up behind you?
Philippa Milnes-Smith, who’s recently retired from The Soho Agency, was the first person to give me meaningful work experience in publishing. Keshini Naidoo, who’s Executive Editor and co-founder of Hera Books, was the first to give me a real job. She discovered and published million-copy bestsellers like Angela Marsons and was a generous mentor, giving me serious editorial experience so I could work my way up from assistant level. Malorie Blackman has always been a huge inspiration – I love her writing and growing up I didn’t know of any other successful contemporary Black British fiction writers. In that vein, Dorothy Koomson has been proof that you can sustain a career as a Black British storyteller writing suspense.
Now, I try to support aspiring authors by speaking about the publishing industry and demystifying the path to getting published. I’m also relaunching the Owned Voices Novel Award this year, which awards winners a cash prize alongside mentorship from an experienced editor and agent. Shortlisted writers also get access to online workshops with industry experts. It’s exciting to have this taking off again! I’ve also got a creative speed dating event, where people with creative project ideas can meet experts from across different disciplines – acting, music, art, screenwriting, poetry – and get advice about how to turn their idea into a reality. There’s lots more I could talk about, but those two things are happening imminently and I’m excited for them to launch.
What would you say to a young writer who is being asked to settle into one identity before she is ready?
I’d recommend trusting your gut. Ask yourself: am I being asked to settle into one identity for my benefit (the legitimate strengthening of my craft), or for someone else’s? Chances are, it’s the latter. There might be occasions when one passion genuinely needs more of your time for a while. Still, I can’t think of a good reason to abandon one creative pursuit completely in favour of another. The creative industries can be fickle, and it’s helpful to have something else to focus on when the music, or the acting, or the writing, is in a lull. I’ve also heard people who make hiring decisions say they can sense the desperation that comes from putting all your eggs in one basket. Most importantly, creativity in one area tends to fill your creative cup in others, too. Sure, you might want to focus most of your energy on your painting. But play your guitar at the weekend, go to that contemporary dance class twice a week, and you’ll be surprised how much more open you are when you come back to the canvas.
What are you working on next, and which of your identities is leading it?
The screenplay for The Exes is underway. The other big piece of work this side of the year is finishing my second novel. It’s inspired in part by meeting my father for the first time last year. He transpired to be a complicated figure. He seemed to think surprising his wife and children with my appearance at their Sunday lunch was a good idea. Fortunately, I knew better than to go through with that plan, but it gave some shape to an idea I already had sketched out. Like me, Grace reaches out to her absent father after her mother dies. She’s invited to come and live with her new family – a welcome reprieve from the financial straits she’s found herself in. When she arrives, she realises her existence, much less her arrival, is a surprise to her father’s wife and daughters, and she ends up agreeing to work as the family’s cleaner. Then she realises other siblings have passed through that house and vanished, and she has to work out whether she’ll be the next of her father’s love children to disappear.
Writing is cathartic and personal for me, so it’s been great digging into themes around grief, family, belonging, and identity. I’m doing a lot of research around narcissism at the moment, which is weaving its way into the narrative in a paradoxically fun way. This new book is an even pacier and twistier read than the last. I’m so excited to see if anyone spots the big twist coming.
The Exes by Leodora Darlington is published by Penguin Michael Joseph. More about the author at leodoradarlington.com.
