When a novel is described as having “uncommon power” and is selected for BBC Radio 4’s Book at Bedtime, it has to be good – nothing insubstantial will do. When the selected book is a writer’s first novel, it has to be a really outstanding read to gain such recognition. Francesca Kay’s debut, An Equal Stillness, is also one of three shortlisted for the Orange Prize for new women writers.

The author, a mother of three who lives in North Oxford, has been scribbling away throughout her life. But most of her efforts were packed away in a cupboard to moulder once they were finished, as she was not confident they were worthy of publication.

When she finished An Equal Stillness, however, she felt that at last she might have produced something worthy of being read.

Francesca worked on the novel for three years. After a lot of research, she painstakingly weighed each word, and then each sentence, by reading out loud as she wrote to check the rhythm of the sentences. She believes the only way for her to recognise the worth of her scribbles is to hear them being spoken.

Because she requires silence to do this, she only writes when the house is empty and her words have room to dance on to the page without interruption.

Written as a biography and set in the first half of the 20th century, An Equal Stillness follows the life of an accomplished artist, Jennet Mallow, as she struggles to bring up a family as well as paint. The main focus of the story is her troubled relationship with her talented but alcoholic and complex artist husband, whom her parents more or less forced her to marry when she became pregnant.

Francesca explained that she has always loved modern art, particularly the work of the British abstract artist Ben Nicholson, so art and artists seemed an obvious subject for her novel.

“I wanted to explore what happens beyond the plain white canvas. Call it an artistic exploration of a heroine struggling to express herself at a time when things are difficult,” she said. While Francesca has not modelled Jennet on any particular artist, she admits that she was inspired by Barbara Hepworth’s struggle to make it as a sculptor.

Hepworth’s private life was both complicated and traumatic. She believed the dictates of work were as compelling for a woman as a man. Hepworth struggled to bring up four children – Jennet struggles with three. “I remember visiting Barbara Hepworth’s in St Ives, where even her greasy rags are left in place. Standing there, surrounded by her things, I could really feel the presence of this amazing woman. That visit made a great impression on me,” she said.

When Jennet’s career begins to take off, her relationship with her husband David sours and she finds that her home life is gradually eroding. He becomes increasingly reliant on drink and seems incapable of fully appreciating his wife’s talents.

Francesca weaves his drunkenness skilfully into the tale, such that anyone who has experienced similar behaviour can sympathise totally with Jennet’s struggle.

It’s certainly a poignant love story and a hymn to the power of art, for as Jennet's own career begins to take off, her relationship with David sours and the two enter a destructive spiral with potentially tragic consequences.

Francesca added to the plot Vanessa, a sickly child, to emphasise the struggle of a woman who, on reaching her mid-thirties, is still not free of family ties.

“The silent Vanessa plays an important part in a plot in which everyone else is expressing themselves except her,” she said.

When asked how it felt to discover that not only was her book being published, but that it had been chosen for Book at Bedtime, Francesca smiles.

“At first I didn’t realise just what an honour this was to be recognised by Radio 4. This is the first book I have ever had published, so I had no expectations. “I remembering parcelling it up and sending it off and deciding that if the agent didn’t like it, this would be the time to give up as there comes a time when you can’t just write for yourself. That would be like singing in an empty room,” she explained.

Having grown up in South-east Asia and India and subsequently lived in Jamaica, the United States, Germany and Ireland, she has settled in North Oxford with her family and works in British-Irish relations.

She has not yet begun a second novel, as she is still reeling from the surprise of discovering how popular her first novel is proving to be. An Equal Stillness is published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson at £12.99.