Dame Jacqueline Wilson gets candid on 'sex replacing food' in latest novel for adults

Former children's laureate Dame Jacqueline Wilson has candidly admitted that the sex scenes in her latest adult novel have left her feeling anxious about the reaction of her friends and family.

"I have to forget that everybody who is a friend of mine or family might be going to read it, because otherwise you get tremendously hot under the collar and embarrassed about it," confessed the bestselling author, known for creating Tracy Beaker and penning over 100 books. "I just live in the moment of my characters."

At 79, she has penned Picture Imperfect,a sequel to her book The Illustrated Mum (which was adapted into a TV film in 2003 starring Michelle Collins). The novel introduced readers to the titular and tattooed, Marigold, and her two daughters, Dolphin and Star as they grapple with their mother's depression and instability.

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Fast forward twenty years and Picture Imperfect sees Dolphin, now 33 and a skilled tattoo artist, struggling to move forward, living in a bedsit and caring for Marigold who suffers from bipolar disorder and is hospitalised. Meanwhile, her sister Star is a doctor, seemingly not pulling her weight in helping as she resides in Scotland with her own family.

Dolphin clings to the hope that romancewill be her salvation, finding herself torn between two love interests. The sex scenes in the book vary from functional to frantic as intimacy substitutes food for her adult audience.

"In my children's books there's an awful lot about food, the picnic meals, the treats, and somebody said that in children's books the place of sex is taken by food," she continues. "So I've lots of food in the children's books and a little bit of sex in the adult books."

Mental health struggles also feature prominently in the narrative. Wilson has known people living with bipolar disorder and delved deeply into the topic, poring over extensive medical literature, and believes proper medication and self-care can make a real difference.

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Renowned for crafting children's tales set against harsh real-world backdrops - from care facilities to housing estates, broken families, sickness, joblessnessand mental illness - Wilson herself was raised in a volatile household, the child of battling parents who eventually divorced, damaging her own psychological wellbeing.

Half a decade ago, she also penned a same-sex fictional romance, Love Frankie, targeted at aged 10-plus, which highlighted her own personal journey with love, though she explained at the time it wasn't a particularly dramatic "coming out".

There are no plans to resurrect Tracy Beaker in a novel for grown-ups, though she's penned stories about Tracy as an adult in a children's book, told through Tracy's daughter's eyes. For the moment, she's embarking on a book tour, has writing projects to occupy her – and no thoughts of retirement.

Picture Imperfect by Jacqueline Wilson is published by Bantam, priced £22. Available now.

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