Author Bella McKee says Americans romanticize Britain’s upper class

As the old adage goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it—a sentiment that author Bella Mackie has always maintained.

Following the success of her debut novel How to Kill Your Family, she once again delves into the lives of the ultra-rich.

“The Road Ahead” takes a darkly humorous look at wealth, class, and society’s obsession with people’s death.

McKee, 41, said she was inspired to write the novel by “British obsession with class” rather than real money.

The book’s two central narrators—millionaire Anthony Western and his wife Olivia—are in constant conflict, with Anthony’s working-class upbringing often at odds with Olivia’s upper-class The root causes conflict.

“The social fabric of Britain never seems to change, it doesn’t allow people to move up or down,” McKee told the BBC.

“We understand this in a weird, unspoken way that other countries don’t.”

It’s easy to imagine these two characters as real-life people.

Anthony appears to be one of the millionaire investors in Dragon’s Den, while in the book Olivia is known as someone who frequents the pages of high society magazine Tatler.

McKee herself has spoken of her obsession with these publications growing up and how they shaped her interest in upper-class life—or what she calls “ghost citizenship.”

“We’ll never fully see them, it’s a new phenomenon because there’s always been the super-rich who can do whatever they want, but there’s a new 1 percent,” she said.

“They can do whatever they want because they don’t really follow the same rules or standards as everyone else.”

McGee said, “Because we can’t see [them]I try to imagine it.”

Another central theme of the book is its true crime element, with local citizen journalists or detectives investigating whether Anthony Western’s death should be considered a murder.

McKee, a journalist herself who has worked at The Guardian and Vice, said the storyline was inspired by Take Nicola Bouley, for example.

Bulley disappeared from a small Lancashire village in 2023, prompting social media users to speculate she had been murdered.

The coroner later ruled Her death was unexpected.

TikTok app is One of the biggest drivers of interest in this case.

“I’m shocked by what happened, the misinformation out there about her is ridiculous,” McGee said.

“People seem to be crossing lines that they might not have been able to cross before.

“Contacting someone’s family or accusing the victim of involvement – maybe without the internet you wouldn’t think these are acceptable things,” she added.

McGee’s debut novel, How to kill your familyis currently being adapted into an eight-episode series by Netflix.

The book, which has sold more than a million copies, follows Grace as she seeks revenge on her billionaire father and wealthy family members who rejected her.

Following the success of Saltbourne, a playful and even slightly absurd portrait of British high society, McKee said she was interested to see how her 2021 bestseller would be adapted for the small screen. .

“conversation [around Saltburn] The movie is more about class structure than plot,” she said.

“I think Americans see how much they love Downton Abbey and they might think, ‘Wow, that’s a beautiful house and life is great.

“I wonder if they fully understand the darkness of it.”

She added that “American romanticization of upper-class Britons” certainly exists.

McKee said it would be a shame if her book was tailored for an American audience because “a lot of the humor is very British.”

The author, who was not involved in the scriptwriting process, said she will be watching it “with other people for the first time.”

She points out that the Netflix show Sex Education “feels British, but not quite – it feels like it could have been British”. [set] Anywhere”.

But despite not being involved in the script-writing process, she says she has full confidence in the abilities of production company Sid Gentle Films, which is also behind the hugely successful Killing Eve.

“The writers are British and Irish, so they’re probably trying to keep it the same [authentic] As much as possible.

“I think it works for viewers who look at us and think what a ridiculous country we are,” she added.