The author whose character was played by Gillian Anderson unfazed by 'second book syndrome'

Share Save Add as preferred on Google Raymona Crozier BBC News NI Getty Images Louise Kennedy, author of Trespasses, attends The Women's Prize For Fiction Awards in 2023 When your award-winning debut novel is adapted into a Bafta-nominated TV series expectations run high for what might come next.

But Louise Kennedy, the author of Trespasses, seems unfazed with the daunting notion of what is often called second book syndrome.

Maybe it's her late entrance to the literary world, working in busy kitchens as a chef for decades or dealing with a cancer diagnosis that helps Kennedy cope with pressure.

She says she "could very easily never have written a word" and continued her career as a chef.

"I'm sure my life wouldn't have been thoroughly miserable," she adds with a half smile.

But in 2014, aged 47, a friend asked her to join a writing group.