“Friday Nights at Rosa’s” began with a haircut. To put things into context, ever since I had my plaits cut off when I was twelve, I’ve had a problematic relationship with my hair, which is fine and wayward. My locks have a will of their own and it takes a very special hairdresser to tame them.
A good few years ago, I was looking for someone to new when Heather, my friend and neighbour, recommended Julie who owns and runs Magdalen Hair and Beauty. From then things took on a different perspective. Instead of coming home from a visit to the salon feeling vaguely dissatisfied I could always be sure of looking my best. Not only that but going to have my hair done was something I could enjoy.
Magdalen’s is a place where clients feel comfortable and welcomed, where you can talk or stay silent, read or join in with the general chat.
It is also the inspiration for “Friday Nights at Rosa’s.”
A hairdressers is somewhere to relax to have time for yourself where “women forgot the empty house, the grumpy husband, the demanding children, the loneliness of broken relationships, the sadness of loss.”
Rosa’s, a place where secrets are shared and problems are solved, is a hub for local women some of whom have been coming there ever since the original owner set up her business in a small terraced house in Bristol.
The novel follows the stories of some of these women, plus the current owner Sylvie, who has to come to terms with her family legacy when she inherits the salon. Finding and telling her story has been the most difficult part of writing “Friday Nights at Rosa’s.” I knew she had to be central character, I knew her interaction with the other protagonists was key, but I struggled to find a structure that would work.
At times it has been like herding cats, or corralling fog. There were story lines I wanted to explore but how to knit them together took draft after draft to get right.
Covid didn’t help. At first I thought that lockdown would give me the time to concentrate on my new project but like so many writers I know, I found it hard to concentrate. Valuable hours were frittered away and if hadn’t been for homeschooling Maddy and our subsequent writing of “The Awesome Adventures of Poppy and Amelia” I don’t think I would have got anything done. That project kickstarted my creativity and brought me back to Rosa’s.
I wrestled with the title too. My first attempt “Sylvie’s Problem Solving Club” was too cumbersome; a friend suggested “Perms and Prosecco” which was great but I felt it dated the book as no one has perms anymore and the book is set in the present. Then there were various riffs on wine and secrets, none of which worked until finally I cracked it with “Friday Nights at Rosa’s.”
I won’t go into cover design. Not in this blog at least. All I can say is that these are some of the reasons why this novel has taken the longest time to write of any of my books.
Oddly enough now that it is ready for publication next month, a host of ideas set in the same location are waiting to be explored.
PS The picture of Rosa’s is a composite of my photo with a little help from Canva.
Misha Herwin 
worth the wait 🙂
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