There are writers who craft stories, and then there are those who breathe life into entire worlds, Molly Cutpurse belongs unmistakably to the latter. A British author from Stratford in East London, Molly has carved out an extraordinary legacy as one of Amazon’s most prolific storytellers. With over sixty novels to her name, she weaves tales of women who love deeply, persevere stubbornly, and endure elegantly, often against the grain of their time and circumstance. Yet behind her impressive literary output lies a woman of serene solitude, a quiet observer of life who rises at four in the morning to greet her characters before the world stirs. Though she describes herself as a “hermit,” Molly’s inner world is vast and luminous, built on poetic sensibility, wit, and a lifetime of contemplation. Her work spans family drama, science fiction, and haunting period pieces, always centering human emotion over spectacle. The beloved Miriam series, based in part on her mother, follows one woman’s life from cradle to grave, while novels like The Christmas Eve Ghost or Seven Sisters paint Victorian or postwar England with ghostly tenderness and piercing truth.
Molly is a transgender woman, though her writing rarely draws overt attention to this. “It’s the work that is important,” she says simply. And yet, her presence in literature matters deeply, her portrait now hangs permanently in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, a quiet yet powerful symbol of trans visibility through creative excellence. Now in her sixties, Molly continues to write daily, surrounded not by noise or fanfare but by the gentle discipline of her craft. She has known great love, thirty years with a beloved partner lost to cancer, and she carries that love with her in each sentence, each sigh between the lines. Though she dresses modestly, avoids social media, and prefers solitude to spotlight, her books speak with eloquence and emotional clarity to generations of women, especially those who understand what it means to quietly fight for their place in the world. It is my pleasure and honor to speak today with a woman whose life proves that literature can be both refuge and revolution.
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Miriam's Silver Years (2013) available via Amazon. |
Molly: Hello to yourself! It’s lovely to be here and thank you for such a gracious introduction.
Monika: For readers who may be discovering your work for the first time, how would you introduce yourself? And when did you first realize that writing would become your true calling?
Molly: I wrote my first novel in 1984 when I was thirty-two. It was an enormously lengthy piece of rubbish that I eventually rewrote several times, and it was finally published in 1996 as Daffodils in Autumn. I wrote it because it was the kind of novel I wanted to read.
Monika: What kind of stories do you feel most drawn to, and what does your typical writing day look like?
Molly: I primarily write family dramas, with the occasional touch of science fiction, and to be honest, I’m something of an antisocial hermit! No partner, no kids, no pets, no garden, no pub, so, basically, no life! You get the idea. I rise at 4 a.m. and write until about 10 or 11 a.m., depending on how bored I get. I write about three to four thousand words a day, seven days a week. An average novel for me runs about 70,000 words, although the longest one (Daffodils) reached 245,000. Amazon takes care of the business side, and all my books are published there. Writing, for me, is a full-time discipline and a deeply personal rhythm.
Monika: You’ve written an impressive 62 novels, a remarkable achievement. Where do you find the creative energy and inspiration to keep producing new stories?
Molly: The truth is, I have no idea. I sit at the keyboard and out it comes! I think fear of not eating drives me. I’ve learned not to question it too much, if the stories want to come out, I just let them.
Monika: Many readers know you best for your beloved series about Miriam, which spans more than a dozen novels and follows her life from cradle to grave. Is she a purely fictional creation, or does she have roots in someone real? What sparked her development?
Molly: She is based on my mum! Although she did not steal or go to prison! The prison idea came from my two novels about the real-life case of Edith Thompson, who was executed in 1923. After Holloway was published, people wanted to read more about Miriam, so I created more…and more…and stopped at twelve. She became something of a companion over the years, and I feel very close to her journey.
Monika: Outside of the Miriam series, which of your other novels holds a special place in your heart?
Molly: The four Alien Queens books. Sadly, they sell in such few numbers. But I do believe that one day they will be recognized and enjoyed by a greater number of people. The adventures of two time-traveling gay men! I had such fun writing them, and they still make me smile when I think about the absurdity and heart of those stories.
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| Seven Sisters (2013) available via Amazon. |
Monika: In your 2013 novel Seven Sisters, you tell the haunting story of a girl born with polydactyly into a wealthy Devonshire family in the 1960s. Given up for adoption and raised in a harsh environment, she searches for love in an unkind world, but you also root her journey in poetry and astronomy. What inspired this unusual and poignant blend?
Molly: I’m afraid the genesis of this story is now lost to the mists of time. But I was happy to include an old beloved TS friend as a character, now sadly passed away. It’s one of those novels that still carries an emotional echo for me whenever I think of it.
Monika: Many of your novels are richly atmospheric, almost like painted canvases. Take The Christmas Eve Ghost (2013), for example, a ghost story set in Victorian London, where two elderly spinster sisters, estranged for fifty years after a youthful tragedy, still live together in their parents’ old house. What inspired this eerie and emotionally layered tale?
Molly: Yes, this was based on a fantasy I had concerning my brother. Originally, it was two brothers. And I do enjoy writing about the Victorian era. There’s something deeply textured and dramatic about that period that brings out my most visual writing instincts.
Monika: Many of your protagonists are women who must overcome extraordinary challenges in their pursuit of love and happiness. Do you consciously set out to create such resilient female characters, or do they emerge naturally during your writing process? Have any of these characters been inspired by real women you've encountered?
Molly: I have never spotted that! But I suppose you are correct. Writing subconsciously, perhaps? Well, such characters must be a part of me, although I haven’t fought for much at all. I do, though, take inspiration from some people I have met. I believe all authors do. One hugely attractive female character loomed large in what is perhaps the darkest novel I’ve written, Dark Man. Creating her allowed me to explore darker emotional territory than I usually do.
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The Christmas Eve Ghost (2013) available via Amazon. |
Molly: Oh, very much so. But not only for my personal enjoyment, if I am truthful. Many people enjoy period novels because they either remind them of better times or a time when they believe things were better. And when they buy such novels, that’s better sales for me. So I enjoy writing about those times partly for me and partly for my bank account! There's also something quite comforting about the structure and rituals of the past.
Monika: Who do you envision as your ideal reader? Would you say your work speaks most directly to a female audience?
Molly: I believe that middle-aged women mostly read my work. I don’t do male-type action things. My novels are mostly about emotions and feelings. And the dedications are to friends I have known. I like to think that my readers appreciate quiet strength, emotional depth, and the occasional twist of the unexpected.
Monika: I may be mistaken, but it seems that you rarely include transgender characters in your novels. Is this a deliberate choice on your part?
Molly: You are kind of correct. There is one book entirely about a trans woman (Waterleigh Nursing Home) and hints in some others, but not main characters. Being trans, I just don’t want to make an issue about it. I want my readers to see beyond labels and engage with the human stories that bind us all.
Monika: You’re often described as a transgender writer, yet your work transcends labels. In your view, does being a transgender author influence how you write or how your work is received?
Molly: In truth? No different from being a regular writer. It’s the work that is important. I would much prefer that readers respond to the story rather than the identity of the person who wrote it.
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| I'm just having a think about a new novel. |
Monika: Looking back at your journey, when did you begin your gender transition, and what kind of support, or resistance, did you encounter along the way?
Molly: In my twenties. No, it was not difficult. I had the support of most of my family. My mother always knew. When I was about 18, I had a conversation with Mum and she said that she had some old handbags that I could have. Bless her. Her quiet gestures of support meant more than I could express at the time.
Monika: During your transition, were there any public figures or stories that gave you guidance or encouragement as a transgender person?
Molly: None at all. My role models were famous writers. I looked to the literary world for inspiration because it felt more relatable and less judgmental.
Monika: Today, the visibility of transgender women has grown significantly. Are there any trans women you look up to or find inspiring in the current cultural landscape?
Molly: Not really. But only because I don’t have a lot to do with that community because I spend a great deal of time by myself. But I am aware that there are a great many trans women doing important things. I admire their courage from afar and hope they continue to open doors for others.
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| Still thinking ... |
Monika: Many transgender women pay a steep emotional price in the pursuit of authenticity, losing family connections, friendships, careers, or social standing. Was this true in your case? What would you say was the most painful part of your coming out?
Molly: A brother. Who still does not talk to me. It’s his loss. I don’t lose sleep over it. That is being mature. Time helps you put things in perspective, and teaches you what’s truly worth holding on to.
Monika: In recent years, transgender representation in media has grown. How do you feel about the way trans characters and real-life stories are portrayed in books, films, and the press?
Molly: From what I have seen, which is limited, I would say that trans people are being treated sympathetically. However… I don’t see that as a positive thing long-term because it means they are being seen as different. And I don’t believe we are different. We are just people. For the record, I don’t see white, Black, other-abled, old, young, or anything else. When I look at people, what I see are points of light. That lens has always helped me maintain both clarity and kindness.
Monika: Let’s talk about personal style for a moment. How do you relate to fashion in your everyday life? Are there any clothes, designers, or colors you’re especially fond of?
Molly: Clothes are not important to me. Not at 64 years old! Although I do not wear pants! I like a nice skirt suit and I dress soberly. For me, clothing is more about comfort and dignity than trends.
Monika: Some say cisgender women gained a sense of freedom through contraception, while transgender women have found similar liberation in modern cosmetic surgery, freeing them from the burden of “passing.” What are your thoughts?
Molly: I would never have any form of cosmetic surgery. What people think of me is none of my business. I am unobtrusive and try and go through the world as quietly as I can. My peace comes from self-acceptance, not public approval.
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| Greetings to all my readers! |
Monika: Many transgender women choose to document their journeys through memoirs. Have you ever considered writing your own life story?
Molly: I have been writing a daily diary since 1974, and it currently amounts to about half a million truthful words. Perhaps it will be published after my death. But by then, I will be doing a backstroke in a lake of fire! The thought of it becoming public one day both amuses and terrifies me.
Monika: Love often shapes our deepest experiences. What role has love played in your life?
Molly: I was deeply in love for over thirty years. But cancer took her recently. There will never be anybody else. Her memory is part of everything I do, especially when I write about love.
Monika: Are there any new writing projects or ideas currently occupying your desk?
Molly: A possible ten-part series about a London family who experienced World War Two. The Morrow series. I am currently writing book four. It’s the kind of story that’s been living in my head for years and finally demanded to be written.
Monika: What advice would you offer to transgender girls who are currently battling gender dysphoria?
Molly: That’s a deep question. Give in to it. Try not to struggle with it. There is no cure for pleasure. Acceptance is the only door you have to go through. It will only be not easy because of other people. So learn and practice detachment. The sooner you begin to trust yourself, the lighter life becomes.
Monika: My pen friend Gina Grahame once told me that our potential shouldn’t be limited by how we were born or by what others in our community are doing. “Our dreams shouldn’t end on an operating table, that’s where they begin,” she said. Would you agree?
Molly: Oh, very much. Where we place our attention for the good of ourselves is far more important. I believe that being trans can help us to mature more quickly. But in the end, we are just human beings trying to get by. Trying to find love, happiness, or wealth. At the end of the day, looking at the larger picture, nobody is any different from anybody else. That kind of perspective brings peace in a world too often obsessed with labels.
Monika: Molly, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me today.
Molly: You are very welcome. It’s been a pleasure to speak so honestly and openly.
All the photos: courtesy of Molly Cutpurse.
© 2017 - Monika Kowalska
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