If given the chance, Geri Halliwell-Horner would refer to herself as a geek. In fact, that's exactly what *the* Ginger Spice does when I hop on Zoom to chat about her new book Rosie Frost and the Falcon Queen. "I think 'geek' needs a rebrand," she says with full confidence. "I'm a really curious person...and I think that geekism of really any fact or process of curiosity [is] a nice thing."
That curiosity played a huge role in the Rosie Frost research process. Halliwell-Horner decided to set the novel on Bloodstone Island (named after the real life Bloodstone/Heliotrope mineral), and included themes of conservation and protecting endangered species. She also used the Tudors as the foundation for the characters. "I thought, 'Okay, should it be Queen Elizabeth I? But then I thought, 'Well what about Anne Boleyn, her mother?' And someone said to me, 'Oh no, don't touch Anne Boleyn. She's far too contentious.' So I was like, 'Let's unpack that a little bit.'"
The more she researched the family's history, the more in awe she was of the former queen. "She got married to this guy and then when she had a miscarriage and it was a boy, suddenly there were smiling vipers around her [thinking], 'Let's get rid of her. She's too contentious, she's smart, she's too dangerous.'"
Halliwell-Horner's desire to offer Anne Boleyn at least a little bit of public redemption infused its way into the rest of the book, and, like any good story, the characters became the most important part. "I think if you don't love the character, why bother? Do you know what I mean? I always want to fall in love with someone and care about them wherever they're going, whatever happens to them. I want to root for them, I want to connect with them. And so it was character first and then placing a world, an environment, around them that felt progressive and steeped in history."
Rosie Frost, which follows the titular character as she fights to save Bloodstone Island, takes place at a school for extraordinary teenagers — and Geri Halliwell-Horner used the inspiring details about Anne Boleyn to craft it. "[In this fictional reality, Elizabeth I] says, 'Do you know what? The pupils of this school [they're] really clever, they will be my heirs,'" Halliwell-Horner says. "So the greats 500 years ago — the Shakespeares, scientists, the suffragettes, Frida Kahlo, Amelia Earhart — [they all] went there...Give it that uplift of learning from history and smash it into this modern day right now."
Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images
When I ask Halliwell-Horner about the power of red hair (it is, after all, a conversation with Ginger Spice about Elizabeth I during the fall Cowgirl Copper hair is a huge trend...I digress), she brings up even more memorable characters. "If we look back at redheads in history, you have Annie, you have [Merida from] Brave, you have Ariel," she says. "I think the point is you're in your own lane. You have to sort of just own your own fire within."
That fire doesn't only offer itself to creating characters, but also to the actual writing process. Because while Halliwell-Horner has written songs and children's books before, penning a novel was a whole new experience. "When you write a song, it's much more like perfume. It's distilled, it's a feeling, it's a shot of coffee instantly," she says. "Whereas a novel is a journey that you have to take a person on to page turn, to wonder, to process, to engage, to escape. And it takes a lot of discipline...It was one of the hardest things I've ever done actually."
While the middle-grade book can be read by all ages, we also bond for a moment over the impact C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia has had on both our lives, and our art. "Certain books leave a little sort of imprint on your heart and you sort of refer back to them," she says. The impact that Narnia, The Book Thief, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow have had on her ("I cried," she says of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. "I like it when I read a book and cry. Yeah, I'm really, I'm getting my two pence worth here worth.") is what she hopes to provide for her readers.
The most important thing Halliwell-Horner wants readers to take away from the book are the rules Anne Boleyn left to Elizabeth I in the novel: "Have courage, take the chance you fear the most. Number two is united we stand, divided we fall. So I need you and you need me. Together, we're much stronger. The third one is never give up; be the light, serve your kingdom, serve whatever it is [and] you'll win your fight. And the fourth one is to thine own self be true."
Photo by Vinnie Zuffante/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that those rules would have empowered me had I picked up the book in middle school — the same kind of empowerment that Halliwell-Horner and the rest of the Spice Girls offered an entire generation in the '90s. She explains how the message of the Spice Girls remains the same, if not even better than it was before. "The way girl power [was translated] back in the day in the '90s...[now] it's deeper, it's wider if you want it," she says. "It's still the same values."
While the group have become fashion and pop culture icons, Halliwell-Horner's favorite part about the experience is much sweeter than box office hits and chart toppers. "Maybe you went to university or college and you have your friends from there, and you went through a period of your time in your life that was very memorable, intense," she says. "It will always leave a special place in your heart, so when you see them, it doesn't matter how long it's been."
You might be in different life stages or relationship stages, but the bond you share doesn't diminish as life changes — it only gets stronger. "What really leaves the impression for me is not the flashy big stuff," she continues. "What I sort of enjoyed the most was the camaraderie. I loved being among girlfriends. I really enjoy the company of girlfriends that I don't know. And you just felt that that solidarity, that's a rule number two in Rosie Frost, united we stand. I love that there's some sort of security in it."
Rapid Fire With Geri Halliwell-Horner
B+C: What is your favorite way to spend a Saturday morning?
GHH: "Okay. Saturday mornings, my favorite thing would be is to have a lie in or maybe ride my horse."
B+C: What is your go-to dish to make when hosting?
GHH: "You know what I can make rather well is scrambled eggs on toast. I do it the French way, slowly, quite simple...I like making cakes, I like cakes...I can do the sort of mainstream cooking, but then I feel like it's just a cafeteria cooking. I want to present something that you go 'mmm' and for me, that's cake."
B+C: What would your life's theme song be?
GHH: "Automatically? What comes to mind is Billy Joel's "My Life"...It was my daughter. She introduced me to it. But the funny thing is, my son, he's six and he started playing Deep Purple's 'Smoke on the Water.'"
B+C: What's something that would surprise people about being a performer?
GHH: "I think performing is different for everyone, but for me it's a mixture. Sometimes there's nerves, but also I quite like the connection with people. Yeah. It's nice when people come together."
B+C: We talk a lot at Brit + Co about inspiration — what's been inspiring you recently?
GHH: "What inspires me lately? I think what's really been very apparent to me is if I can be useful. If I can be useful in a way that's positive and empowers you, or inspires you or connects with you, then I feel like do you know what? I feel good about what I do. If I can show up and you've gone, okay, I love this book. It fed my soul. If I have a good conversation and you're like, yeah, and we are in this together. I like that. Get up and be useful."
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This interview has been edited + condensed for clarity.
