Patricia Cornwell: Writing the hero I needed as a child
The best-selling crime writer faced cruelty and neglect as a child, then as an adult she created a crime-busting hero who would make her millions and transform her life.
She began life in a chaotic household with a single mother who suffered from severe mental health problems and then with a cruel and abusive foster carer. Through the turmoil Patricia Cornwell longed for someone to swoop in and rescue her but they never came. Eventually she found work in a morgue as a technical writer. It was there, watching her colleague, a medical examiner, that she was inspired to write, creating the character Kay Scarpetta, a crime-fighting forensic pathologist; someone who brings order to horror and chaos. The books became bestsellers and ended up spawning a whole new genre of TV dramas.
Patricia Cornwell's latest novel is called Unnatural Death
Presenter: Emily Webb
Producer: Andrea Kennedy
Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707
(Photo: Patricia Cornwell. Credit: Getty/Tibrina Hobson)
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