Hi, I'm Dornow Porter and welcome to So Lucky where each week I go deep with my guest and explore all of the sides to all of their stories,

the highs and lows, their hopes and fears, they're lucky and their unlucky moments.

My guest this week is Clara Francis, an actress and designer and full disclosure, a dear friend of mine.

I want to give you the heads up about this episode

because we talk about something really upsetting.

In fact, we talk about every parent's worst nightmare,

the death of a child.

I'm so moved by Clara's openness in this conversation.

It's unlike anything else in this series

and it is hard to listen to,

but it's really worth it. I wanted Clara to be a guest on this podcast because her story

about losing her daughter Maud is devastating, but the way that her and her husband, Jason,

have got through it is very inspiring. I actually based the character of Ruby in my novel on Clara and over the course of getting to know her, researching that character I fell in love with her so deeply.

And she's a bit of a curveball guest for me on this podcast, but I really, really wanted to talk to her and I wanted to share her story.

So strap him because this is a big one.

This is me, Dornow Porter, talking to the wonderful Clara Francis.

Well, here we are in a little booth, being all like podcasty. Yeah.

Clara, I really wanted you on my podcast for so many reasons.

Tell me why.

Well, first is that, I mean, obviously this is the So Lucky podcast and I kind of based

a character on you, which I'm so proud of. You were my first, all of my books have always been like a kind of version of me somehow,

and you were my first, like, fully researched.

...