Get ready to learn more about the book Encrypted Hearts in this discussion with sapphic author E.V. Bancroft.
Join us for an exclusive peek behind the scenes as we quiz E.V. Bancroft about Encrypted Hearts, writing, reading, and more.
This book is part of the Historical Fiction category in the 2025 IHS Reading Challenge.
Why did you write Encrypted Hearts?
I’m fascinated by women loving women under difficult circumstances, and thriving. It’s set in WW2 about two women codebreakers, and I love that women were given the opportunity and showed they were equal to the men. What’s sexier than intelligent women?
Who is your favorite character in the book?
Gloria is my favourite character. She’s from Yorkshire, is sassy, no nonsense and doesn’t let the snobbery of others get to her. I wish I was a bit more like her.
How much research did you need to do for Encrypted Hearts?
I loved doing the research for this book, including a two day research trip to Bletchley Park, where the book is based and a visit to the famous Amercian Bar in London’s Savoy Hotel. One tidbit of information I could never corroborate, was there was a woman codebreaker working for Dilly who wore men’s clothing and she was totally accepted for who she was. I never discovered her name or anything else about her, but Cam is partially based on her.
If you’re planning a sequel, can you share a tiny bit about your plans for it?
I’ve already done the first draft of a prequel based on one of the secondary characters in the book, Aunty Florrie. The prequel is located in the London literary world of the 1920s, when “they lived in squares and loved in triangles” as they said about that time.
What is your favorite line from your book?
Love is not forcing our will onto another. It’s about letting them come to their own conclusions, even when it’s hard.
What is your writing process like?
I’m definitely more of a plotter than a pantser – broadly following the “Save The Cat” process. I even have a spreadsheet of each scene – I know, but in my defence I was an accountant for a million years. Having said that, as my current WIP was a short story that’s just grown and grown, perhaps I’m exploring the pantser side of myself. When I get my edits back I’ll really see if it was successful or not!
Where do you usually write, and what do you need in your writing space to help you stay focused?
I’m very lucky that I have a writing room in my garden that still smells of the cedar wood it’s made from. Yes, it gets hot in the summer and cool in winter, and I sometimes forget my coat and get caught in a shower rushing back to the house, but there really is something about having a room of one’s own. To help me stay focused I use the Forest app on my phone – where you grow a tree for every 25 minutes you concentrate. I love that when you hit so many points they will plant a tree in real life. Fabulous!
Do you have a pet who helps/hinders your typing?
We have a twenty year old white domestic cat, Jerry, who loves to share the keyboard and stick his bum in my face when I’m trying to write. As he’s a bit arthritic he can’t always reach to clean his back end, which means this isn’t always the most savoury of experiences!! This can also be quite interesting if I’m on a zoom call. At one time he was an outside cat, but now he’s happiest if we have no visitors, and we give him our undivided attention.
What do you do to get inside your character’s heads?
Having written formal board reports for many years putting an emotional response into my novel was the thing I found hardest to start off with. If I’m struggling now I write long hand – it’s a more organic process – and settle into the emotion I’m trying to convey for the situation the character is in, and respond accordingly.
If you could be mentored by a famous author (living or not), who would it be?
How fabulous to be mentored by Jane Austen. Behind the words you get the sense of a huge intellect and sharp observation. There’s been a fascinating BBC series talking about her genius for the 250th anniversary of her birth, and all the difficulties she had to overcome. If you get the opportunity do check it out.
What books have you read more than once in your life?
I read lots of books over again – particularly if life is tough – I enjoy that familiarity – like spending time with a close friend and the certainty that everything will be okay.
Do you only read books in one genre or do you genre hop?
When I commuted to London earlier in my career I would often read one book on the way to work, usually literary fiction, then another lighter read on the way back, such as Terry Pratchett. That was governed by how shattered I felt at the end of the day. When I progressed and brought a load of work home though I had to ration myself to one book to save weight! Nowadays I’ll have a phase when I will just read say contemporary sapphic fiction then I’ll switch. At the moment I’m reading a lot of sapphic fantasy books and thoroughly enjoying that.
