Polly Samson co-wrote, with her husband David Gilmour, the lyrics to seven tracks on Pink Floyd's The Division Bell, which made the number one spot in the UK and the USA. Her latest novel, The Kindness, has just been published.
In her compelling story, Julian's fall begins the moment he sets eyes on Julia who is married and eight years his senior. He is a gifted English student with a life of academia ahead. Ignoring warnings from family and friends the lovers embark on a new life together in London. When their longed-for daughter Mira becomes seriously ill, Julia can no longer conceal from Julian the secret that she has been keeping at the heart of their lives.
Gilmour and Samson will be at this year's Borris House Festival of Writing and Ideas, which takes from June 5-7. This will be taking their first public discussion about their songwriting partnership.
Samson is a well-regarded writer, whose short stories were favourably reviewed by John Banville, and she has many other fans. However, today's Guardian has some reservations about The Kindness. "The delicious madness of first love, the clenched desperation of fear and the deadening agony of grief are delineated and described but never fully felt," writes Clare Clark.
"One is left with the sense that Julian and Julia are two lovers following not the flawed and contradictory impulses of their own hearts but the complicated dance steps of a clever but ultimately preordained plot."
Samson's lyrics will feature on Gilmour's next solo album. Meanwhile, The Kindness is published by Bloomsbury Circus.
