Former Eastenders script writer Barrie Shore pens new novel

Barrie Shore's A Book at Bedtime tells the story of Jack Carter and his wife Eva, who has dementia.

It looks at how dementia holds a mirror up to an old couple’s lifetime of marriage, revealing the flaws and unresolved stories which are now being lost forever.

"I have been a script writer for quite a few years and I always admired people who could write a whole book. It seemed a massive undertaking," explains Barrie.

But she says before taking the plunge into writing the book she attended a course at Bath Spa University to learn about fiction writing.

During this time Barrie's mother was suffering from Alzheimer's which was an "enormously difficult time". This experience helped sow the seeds for the novel.

"I was just fascinated by the whole idea of never being able to have a proper conversation with somebody again. That was the trigger for it.

"I started it when I was doing this course in Bath and then finished it a couple of years later. It has been sitting on a shelf."

The book had been sitting on a shelf for around seven or eight years until her daughter Hannah "dragged it off the shelf" and helped her to edit it as Barrie now suffers with macular degeneration.

This is not her first novel - she previously wrote one in the 1980s.

"I'm really pleased I've got it published at last," adds Barrie. "I just wish I could read it myself. I'm getting nice messages from the people who are reading it.

"It makes me enormously proud but I can't quite believe it either."

"I really enjoyed doing it and despite the serious subject it is actually quite funny," she continues.

"My main character is not the woman who has got Alzheimer's it's her husband Jack who lives most of the time in his head. It is really about their relationship. Because I was an actor to begin with I've always had a wild imagination and find it really easy to sit inside somebody else's head."

Barrie currently lives in Ansty but is due to move to Tisbury.

She says Salisbury and the Salisbury Playhouse have had a "huge influence" on her life.

She used to be part of a writer's group at the Playhouse and as pupil at Shaftesbury High School would go on trips to the Salisbury theatre, which made her want to be an actress.

Barrie was an actress for 20 years but in her 40s after finishing a lead role in a television film she found herself out of work for nine-months, which is when she turned to writing.

During her career she has written scripts for television dramas, including EastEnders and Emmerdale Farm.

"I absolutely loved it because of this imagination I've got."

She started working as a scriptwriter on EastEnders in the late 80s, which she did for 12 years.

"It was amazing then, I really loved doing it."

Memorable storylines she worked on included Mark Fowlers HIV diagnosis, which was ground-breaking at the time, Tiffany Mitchell falling down the stairs and her funeral episode. She also wrote Peggy Mitchell's cancer scare storyline.

Barrie says one of her favourite characters was Pat Butcher, played by Pam St Clement, who she says was "terrific".

Her writing credits have also included a version of the Passion Play, which was performed in the streets of Tisbury, every other year, for around 25 years. This, she says, was the last time she wrote a script, which she admits she does miss.

Barrie is going to be continuing her writing and has an unfinished novel sitting on a shelf which she hopes to complete. She also has a collection of short stories that she would like to write.

A Book at Bedtime has been dedicated to carers. It is available to buy in book shops and online.

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