Gossip and Gangsters…Kimberley Chambers

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From East End market trader to number one bestselling author

By Lizzie Hayman

As soon as I start chatting to Kimberley, I know we’re going to get on. She may be a big deal, with 19 books under her belt and a four times Sunday Times No.1 bestseller, but she’s warm, funny, down to earth and an all round good egg.

Within minutes, we’re chatting about the latest news headlines, the good old days of street markets, dodgy ladies fashions, sarsaparilla (if you know, you know), Chas & Dave and of course, her fabulous new novel Essex Wives.

I might be from the other side of the river but us London girls speak the same language!

You grew up in Dagenham. What was it like growing up there, and do you think those experiences have found their way into your books?

Both sides of my grandparents moved to Dagenham after the war. Back then, it was a really good place to grow up. It was very working class and full of characters, and I think that definitely stayed with me.

I was an only child, so although I had my own mates, I also spent a lot of time in adult company. My mum and dad were big people watchers but in a fun way.

We’d go into a pub and they’d be watching everyone. You’d see a couple in their forties or fifties all over each other and they’d be saying, “He ain’t married,” or “that’s his secretary!” So I grew up watching people. I think you inadvertently pick things up from that.

All my books are pure fiction, but those experiences probably influenced me without me even realising it.

I attended the brilliant John Perry Infants and junior school and I was very bright there, and loved English. But when it came to secondary, my mum tried to send me to a school that required a uniform. I messed up the interview on purpose and still have a phobia of uniforms to this day.

By the time I left school, my grades were terrible. I think the highest I got was a Grade 2 GCSE in English. I just wanted to leave. I loved football, fashion, boys, all the usual distractions. Also nobody really went to university back then; people just went to work.

Kimberley at the Essex Wives launch

And that’s exactly what you did?

Yes. I was probably unemployed for about four or five months. My mum wasn’t having me sitting in bed on the dole, so she kept telling me to go to the job centre!

Eventually, at 16, I got a job on Roman Road Market. I spent some of the happiest times of my life there. We worked on Roman Road, Petticoat Lane in Whitechapel and other markets, and the camaraderie between the traders was brilliant. Everyone had a laugh and everyone had a story.

Back then Roman was a really glamorous market. On a Saturday you’d get all the Page 3 girls there, and people would get dressed up to the nines just to go shopping. There was almost a competition going on as they walked down the market.

That’s why it appears so much in my books. When I’m writing about that era, I can picture it. I know the roads, the pubs and the atmosphere because I was actually there.

It sounds like the market was a real eye opener.

Oh, it was. Working on the market teaches you confidence and gives you a bit of patter. You have to be able to talk to people and sell. Everyone on a market can tell a story, it’s a bit like black cab drivers. Everywhere you looked, fascinating people.

Although nobody in my books is based on one particular person, back then everyone had a nickname, and I use those nicknames when I write because they help bring that world and those characters to life.

From market trader to disc jockey

The market eventually changed when parking was restricted around Roman Road. People used to drive in from Essex to shop there, but once parking became difficult, they stopped coming. Within about six months it had really killed the market.

I used to get such a buzz from selling, selling, selling, but when the customers stopped coming, it became boring. I’d already started DJing because I’ve always loved music, so I decided to do that full time.

I was DJing locally in Dagenham and across East London. I even used to do a disco at the back of a pub where my dad drank. I basically partied my way through my twenties and thirties! I was DJing all night and sleeping during the day.

Carry on cabby

At 29, a friend suggested I try driving a minicab. I started working days in Romford but didn’t like the traffic and loading up everyone’s shopping, so I moved to nights.

I actually loved working nights. I was the only woman on those shifts at the time, and I’d often get people whose daughters were going out asking specifically for the lady driver.

I did that for about ten years, but when I got to 38 I started thinking, where is my life going? I’d bought my little council flat years before, but I didn’t want to be stuck there forever. I wanted to better myself.

People had always told me, “You’d be good at writing a book. You should have a go.” Then one day a friend said she was going back to hairdressing and asked whether I fancied joining her. I said, “You know what? I’m going to have a go at writing a book.”

And that book was Billie Jo.

The lightbulb moment

I remember sitting in my little council flat and writing down the character’s name. The first couple of chapters were a struggle, but after that it just came naturally.

My mum was alive at the time. She died before my first book came out, but she did see me get the book deal. I told her, “I’m going to make it with this.” My family all laughed because I’d always been a bit of a Del Boy coming up with another scheme. They were probably thinking, “Here she goes again!”

I knew in my bones that I’d found my vocation.

I wasn’t particularly educated and I didn’t really know what I was doing. My aunt typed up the first book for me and I sent it off to agents. I remember walking around to the post office with about 25 envelopes, all containing the same manuscript and covering letter.

Within a day or so, an agent rang and said, “I love this. You’ve got something here. Send me the rest.” Then another agent contacted me a couple of days later. In the end, I had five agents interested.

Learning the hard way

My first deal was very small, and it didn’t enable me to give up driving. What people don’t realise is that when you’re a new author, you still have to do everything yourself.

When the editor came back with changes, I remember ringing my mum and crying because I thought, this is the hurdle I’m going to fall at. I was cutting up bits of paper and sticking them together to move things around! My mum said, “You’ve come this far. You ain’t going to fail now.” So I got on with it.

I’m now 19 books in, still write by hand and am heavily involved in the editing process, but I’m used to it now. Eventually, my next book deal was enough for me to give up the minicab. I was 41. I actually kept my cab licence for a couple of years afterwards, just in case it didn’t work out!

From tiny deal to bestseller

My first publisher couldn’t really get my books into the supermarkets, and I was watching other authors coming through at the same time and seeing their books everywhere. Then HarperCollins came in for me. They got me straight into the supermarkets with The Schemer, which was my seventh book.

My next was The Trap, and then they decided to bring Payback out in hardback. That was one of the most incredible moments of my life. It went straight in at number one in the charts, beating some very big names. Nobody was really expecting it. I think they were hoping for the top five. It was completely surreal.

You’ve always written gritty crime and family sagas. Is that the genre you’ve always been drawn to?

You’ve got to write about what you’re interested in, but I don’t just want to write another straightforward crime book. I’ve always put humour into my books. I come from a small but very humorous family, so I like mixing crime with comedy.

It can be very dark in places, but it can also be very funny. I’ve had some pretty nutty characters too, a shoplifting granny and a drunken dwarf. I like having that humorous character running through the story.

Crime dramas are huge on television at the moment. Would you like to see one of your books adapted?

We did actually have an option taken out on one of my books and we even approached Sheridan Smith to play the part of Queenie. Sadly, the lovely woman who had taken the option passed away. After that I just left it dormant. I couldn’t bring myself to rush off and take the option somewhere else.

I may look for another TV agent in time. I think it has to be the right book. The one I’m writing now, which is coming out in 2027, a couple of people have already said, “This is the one for TV.” It’s centred around reality TV and the pitfalls of it, so it could be interesting.

Exciting! Would you want a say in the casting?

Definitely. Years ago I’d get excited and think, “So-and-so would be good for this character,” but TV is so diverse now and they can change characters depending on who they go with. I wouldn’t want the book ruined.

I’d want the characters to stay as they are. They don’t normally give authors that much say once you’ve sold the rights, and they’re not going to have a drunken dwarf running around, are they? They’ll make her into someone else.

I want the drunken dwarf on the rampage!

When you’re not writing, how do you unwind?

I love TV. I love watching dramas and I’m a huge fan of The Sopranos. I’m also a shopaholic, I love shopping!

I’ve had an injury recently, so I’ve been unable to get back to the gym properly, but normally I love my gym classes. I’ve been going to the same gym for about 26 years and I’ve got a great crowd of girls there.

I still suffer through watching Spurs, too! I gave up my season ticket about six years ago, but I’m still putting myself through the pain of being a fan. More than anything, though, I love losing myself in a good drama. Probably even more than a book!

Are you a binge-watcher?

I have to binge it if I’m really into it. I can’t wait a week!