In an exclusive interview with HELLO! magazine,Dawn Frenchreveals how she drew on her experiences with her late mother, Roma, for her new novel, Because of You.

"I'm trying to write about that very strong mother line, which is just a remarkable, visceral, unconditional relationship," says Dawn, 63, who has a daughter, Billie, with her former husband Sir Lenny Henry and two step children, Lily, 29, and Olly, 26, from her marriage to charity executive Mark Bignell.