Dawn French says ageing 'makes you fearless'

Warning: This story contains details some may find distressing

Comedian and actor Dawn French has said getting older has made her braver about hard truths as she launches a new novel centred on death, control and family.

French, 68, who lives in Cornwall, said she wanted to "be fearless about difficult stuff" in Enough, about a woman who calmly tells her family she plans to die before sunset.

The story tracks Etta, also 68, who gathers her children and granddaughter at sunrise and reveals "this is her last day alive", insisting she's had a full life and wants to spare them "the sort of crunchy last part that it can be".

French said the idea came from wanting to explore questions many people avoided like: "Who does our life belong to? Does it belong to us?"

She admitted ageing had shifted her mindset.

"What's the point of being 68 if you can't say what you feel about things?" she said. "I'm going to be unafraid to write about difficult things."

Despite the heavy theme, French said humour runs throughout the novel. "I hope that I've also brought some joy and some laughs into a tricky subject, because that's how I deal with difficult stuff in my life," she said.

French described Cornwall as the place where "my skin just relaxes", adding: "That's where my heart is. That's where my light is. That's where my joy is."

While the novel keeps its coastal setting vague, she said, "for me, the coast is Cornwall".

The book taps into fears about growing older, both for those ageing and their families, exploring "acceptance and understanding and control and connection and family".

French said avoiding difficult conversations only made them harder. "The only way out is through," she said.

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