Book Reviewer: Mahsuda Snaith

As part of our #diverseauthorday Greenacre Writers want to continue the trend and will be posting interesting books and linking to book reviewers. This one is just in time for #DiverseDecember.

Susmita Bhattacharya was born in Bombay, India in 1974. Addicted to writing from a young age she has published short stories in magazines such as Blue Tattoo and Planet and Poetry in Roundyhouse and Anterliwt. Her novel The Normal State of Mind deals with difficult subject matter of life in contemporary India. Susmita also has a blog on Her Writing Life.

The following quote is from a review written by Mahsuda Snaith for Jaggery Lit.

“Susmita Bhattacharya’s debut, The Normal State of Mind, is not your typical novel. Here is a book dealing with big subject matters—the limitations placed upon widowed women, the illegality of homosexuality in contemporary India, for example— that is also written with a lightness and fluidity that would rival any bestselling chick lit.

This is a book that deals with, what some might find, shocking subjects but does not aim to shock itself. It is a depiction of the ordinary lives of women dealing with an abnormal hostility for the lives they should be free to lead.”

Mahsuda Snaith, as well as an avid reader, is also an enthusiastic writer of short stories and plays and has written a novel called Ravine.  A winner of various competitions such as the Bristol Short Story Prize 2014 and the Mslexia Novel Competition 2013, Mahsuda also finds time to review books for magazines such as Jaggery Lit.

You can follow Susmita Bhattacharya on Twitter: @Susmitatweets

You can follow Mahsuda Snaith on Twitter: @mahsudasnaith

A Conversation with Caitlin Davies

Caitlin Davies was born in London in 1964. She wanted to be a writer from a young age. Both her parents are writers, but her mother in particular doesn’t think there is such a thing as a ‘writing gene’.

Whilst living in Botswana, Caitlin worked for Botswana’s first tabloid newspaper, The Voice. One of her earliest stories was tracking down a talking hippo. Caitlin said, 'The only problem was, I was so scared when I found it that I forgot to ask it a question.' She also worked as editor of The Okavango Observer, and won a Journalist of the Year Award, but the paper closed down shortly after she was arrested for ‘causing fear and alarm’. After 12 years in Botswana Caitlin returned to the UK.

Caitlin is the author of five novels, including The Ghost of Lily Painter (2011), which is is based in part on a true story - two Edwardian baby farmers who were hanged at Holloway Prison in
1903, you can read more about that here. Four books are set in Botswana: Jamestown Blues, (1996) a coming of age story about a girl growing up in a salt mine, The Return of El Negro, (2003) the true story of the body of a southern African man stolen from a grave in 1830 by two French naturalists, Place of Reeds, (2006) a memoir, and Black Mulberries, (2008) a tale of two feuding families during the birth of Moremi Game Reserve in the 1960s.

In the UK Caitlin has written for The Independent for several years, and her work has appeared in a variety of publications including: The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, Sunday Express, Mail on Sunday, Daily Mail. She has also written five non-fiction books, and several short stories. Caitlin is currently working as Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the University of Westminster.

It's wonderful that Caitlin is shining a light on forgotten women's histories. We wish her the best of luck with the new books and look forward to reading her next novel which she is currently writing.

1. Tell us of your journey as a writer

It’s been quite a long journey…The first time I sent off a piece of writing for someone else to read was when I entered a Sunday Times short story competition at the age of 11. That was 40 years ago. I didn’t win but I got ‘commended’, which I tried to take as encouragement, even though I was gutted at the time.

It wasn’t until I was in my 20s that I had my first book published and naively I thought things would then get easier. But with every book you’re starting from scratch, trying to convince other people it’s brilliant. I’ve now had 10 books published – 5 novels and 5 non-fiction books – although there are a fair number of other books that have been lost along the way.

2. How do you see your role as a writer and what do you like most about it?

I don’t think I’ve ever thought of having a role as a writer, but I like to entertain, to take people to another world, to tell a story that I don’t think has been told before. I particularly love uncovering the lost tales of women, whether Edwardian baby farmers or champion Victorian swimmers. The best thing is when someone says they missed their stop on the tube because they were so busy reading my book. You can’t get better than that.

3. Have you ever created a character who you dislike but find yourself empathising with?

Hmm, interesting question. No, I don’t think I have. But if I dislike a character that can be enjoyable in itself, especially if they get their comeuppance…

4. GW recently organised #diverseauthorday. What has been your experience of writing about characters of colour?

My first few books were set in Botswana so it seemed obvious to me that most of the characters would be black, while my first published novel was told from the perspective of a young mixed race girl. But getting these books published was hard. The Botswana publishing industry was tiny; I had a couple of near misses with South African publishers, and was eventually published in the UK.

But UK editors made it clear that they wanted central white characters, this was ‘more commercially viable’, and one even asked me ‘do black people read?’ How on earth are you supposed to respond to a question like that? I was told that my negative white characters were ‘stereotypes’ even though they were not. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the first book (a memoir) that did really well had a central white character (i.e. me). That’s pretty depressing isn’t it?

More recently I wrote a novel about four childhood friends, the cover image showed four white women and when I pointed out one was black I was told ‘don’t worry, we’ll Photoshop and colour one of them in.’ I had a hard time trying to get the publishers to see how outrageous this was.

5. Do you think literature accurately reflects the diversity of society we have today?

The literature that is published certainly doesn’t! Nor does cinema. All children must grow up seeing themselves in stories.

6. If you could be transported instantly, anywhere in the world, where would you most like to spend your time writing? And why?

Right now I’d be happy to be transported to Margate, the novel I’ve just finished opens in Margate in 1862 and the coastal landscape is stunning. I’d swim in the Walpole Bay tidal sea pool every morning, write the rest of the day, and have lashings of seafood and wine in the evening.

7. What advice do you have for would be novelists?

Develop a THICK impenetrable skin. Writing is very subjective, what some people love others hate so don’t take rejection too personally. Easier said than done! Keep going, enjoy it. Read a huge variety of books, try and pin point what you like/dislike about them and use that to drive you on. Also, get a ‘real’ job to pay the bills in the meantime.

8. What are you currently working on? What can we look forward to reading?

Two things. A novel about a ‘champion lady swimmer of the world’, based on the careers of several women in Victorian times who were once incredibly famous and who are largely unheard of today. And a history of Holloway Prison in London, using biographies of prisoners and staff to tell a 150-year history of women, crime and punishment in the UK.

You can follow Caitlin on Twitter: @CaitlinDavies2

Creeping Crawlers by Allen Ashley

Greenacre Writers tutor and award-winning editor Allen Ashley has a brand new book out called Creeping Crawlers 

This is an anthology of science fiction and horror stories centred on insects, worms, spiders… and other things which creep or crawl.

The book contains 19 stories; almost 400 pages.

Contributing authors include Dennis Etchison, Storm Constantine and John Grant as well as some newer voices.

The specially commissioned cover is by Steve Upham and it is published by Shadow Publishing (UK). The publishers are currently running a special offer which includes a limited edition souvenir postcard and envelope. Go to: http://www.shadowpublishing.co.uk/

You can follow Allen on Twitter:  @AllenAshleyUK

Read Allen's recent guest blog on: http://barneteye.blogspot.co.uk/

Sebitically Speaking: Reviewed by Mumpuni Murniati

Born in Ghana in 1975, Nana Awere Damoah is the author of four non-fiction books: Sebitically Speaking (2015), I Speak of Ghana (2013), Through the Gates of Thought (2010) and Excursions in my Mind (2008); and one fiction book, Tales from Different Tails (2011).

Sebitically Speaking

At dawn on Tema Motorway, a taxi driver goes along a nineteen‐kilometre stretch; half of the street lamps are out of order. At the same time he is dodging potholes with metal protruding, like a cat gnashing its teeth.

In the back seat the passenger, aware of the foreseeable dangers he’s facing, reflects: ‘Ghana is usually happy to be the first to hit a mark but we don’t do anything else beyond that, least of all maintaining the lead. We seem to have used all our allocation of creative ideas before 1966...’

To Nana Awere Damoah the motorway represents the state of his country’s development since her independence in 1957. Opened in 1965, it was one of the first motorways in Africa. Fifty years later it remains the only one. Nonetheless, it is not the only issue which tickles him: From education and social mobility to the Government’s absurd policies; from the running of the state-owned energy company to Sikaman’s customs, his musings list a number of developmental challenges still engulfing the Land of Gold. Sebitically Speaking deliberates on the unsolved and ongoing problems when it comes to meeting the basic rights for the citizens and attacks the politicians’ fixed mindset which hinders progress.

In his lucid and fervent narrations Damoah weaves in the wisdom of his enigmatic uncle Kapokyikyi, enthralled by the old man’s liberating mantra ka na wu : speak your mind and damn any consequences. ‘If a big mouth was the requirement for being a Catholic priest, the pig would be a cardinal,’ he says on one occasion. On another he enquires of the Chieftain as to whether he knew that his subjects were calling him ‘Comfort’ because he didn't crack a whip. Although he would say ‘sϵbi‐sϵbi’ beforehand – Akan’s phrase asking for permission to speak bluntly over a matter.

With humour bordering on irony Damoah is far from shy to admit that some problems depicted have gone from bad to worse. Thus, Sebitically Speaking, if half of the roofs in a primary school are gone after a storm, expect the government to fix them ‐ eventually. For a ‘deadline is on wheels’ is the norm – so, it is either: through a social media campaign the roofs return shipshape in five months’ time or wait. Also, Sebitically Speaking, if a road construction which began in 2007 is still uncompleted, consider it as an on‐going project. For one minute in Ghana Man Time (GMT) is a hundred seconds.

Be that as it may, Damoah’s comparison of his countrymen’s attitude with the neighbouring Nigeria is intriguing. From the traffic arrangement to voting for their next president, he expounds his views in the decision‐making process involved and points out the similarities in the results.

The drawback of the book seems to be its target reader. It may be easier for Ghanaians and West Africans to laugh at Damoah’s satirical illustrations, given their knowledge on both political and cultural contexts. Non‐African readers nonetheless may require background information on Ghanaian history and culture and therefore fleshing out some chapters, particularly for a certain custom, is in order. What’s more, selective use of Akan words will help the flow of the writing; having too often to refer to footnotes to find the meaning of a phrase can be quite taxing.

In the end, the book’s explorations on growth versus fixed mindset encompass race and ethnic groups. Damoah nails down the need to change attitude to move forward. The book may be about a West African country, but I suppose in every country in the world, regardless of economic growth, the dynamics of developmental issues and challenges bear resemblances.

Next time while driving on the A1 Northbound after dark, take a few minutes to imagine how it would be if the street lamps were not working, or remember what is was like to be stuck overnight in 2009’s blizzard.

Book Reviewer - Tony Malone

As part of our #diverseauthorday Greenacre Writers want to continue the trend and will be posting interesting books and linking to book reviewers.

Danish poet and writer Naja Marie Aidt was born in 1963. Her first book of poetry While I’m Still Young, was published in 1991 prompting Aidt into full time writing shortly after. She won the Nordic Council’s Literature Prize in 2006 for her short story collection Baboon and first novel Rock, Paper, Scissors(2015) was translated from the Danish by K E Semmel.

The following quote is from a review written by Tony Malone for WORDS without BORDERS:

“With many readers praising Naja Marie Aidt’s short story collection Baboon (Two Lines Press; translated by Denise Newman), it was not a huge surprise to see the efforts of writer and translator alike rewarded with the PEN Translation Prize earlier this year. Those who enjoyed Aidt’s slices of the darker side of life will be happy to see her vision extended over a broader canvas in her first novel, Rock, Paper, Scissors (Open Letter; translated by K.E. Semmel). This book is centered on the extravagantly-named Thomas O’Mally Lindström, the owner of an upmarket stationery supplies shop, with the story starting after his father, Jacques, an inveterate criminal, has passed away in prison while awaiting trial for an unspecified crime.”

Tony Malone has been reviewing works of literary fiction in translation for over six years and has reviewed over seven hundred books. His site Tony’s Reading List comprises reviews on books originally written in German, French and Japanese and is expanding to works from Korea.

You can follow Tony Malone on Twitter:   @tony_malone 

A Conversation with Katarina Bivald

Katarina Bivald grew up working part-time in a bookshop. Today she lives outside of Stockholm, Sweden, with her sister and as many bookshelves she can get by her. She's currently trying to persuade her sister that having a shelf for winter jackets and shoes is completely unneccessary. There should be enough space for a book shelf or two instead. Limited success so far. Apparantly, her sister is also stubbornly refusing to even discuss using the bath room to store books.

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend is a book about books. All sorts of books, from Little Women and Harry Potter to Jodi Picoult and Jane Austen, from Stieg Larsson to Joyce Carol Oates to Proust. It’s about the joy and pleasure of getting lost in books, about learning from and possibly even hiding behind them. And one of the questions at its heart is whether or not books are better than real life or real relationships

The Readers of Broken Wheel has touches of 84 Charing Cross Road, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and Chocolat, but adds an eccentric Swedish originality and intelligence all its own. It is a celebration of books and the bookworm. The descriptions of Broken Wheel are so lifelike that somebody once asked if Bivald had ever visited Iowa: "I just made it all up. In fact, When I wrote the book, I had never even been to the US, let alone Iowa. The only thing I knew about Iowa when I began was that they once had a library cat named Dewey Readmore Books"

Katarina Bivald sometimes claims that she still hasn't decided whether she prefer books or people but, as we all know, people are a non-starter. Even if you do like them, they're better in books. Only possible problem: reading a great book and having no one to recommend it to. But, of course now we have social media so never have to speak to a real live person ever again!

The Readers of Broken Wheel is a beautifully written book and we wish Katarina much fictional good luck with its future and look forward to the patter of tiny text in the not too distant future.

1. Tell us of your journey as a writer

I have always known I wanted to write, and somehow, I have always known that one day, I’d get a book published. It’s been a dream of mine so long that I never doubted it would come true. But then again, I never really worked on it either. Oh, I wrote. I started ideas. Gave up. Got a new one. Wrote for a weekend, or a week, or a few nights. Moved on to another idea. I studied and I worked and somehow I spent the least time and energy on the one dream that really mattered to me. I wonder if that’s not often the case in life? So one day I sat down, and I said to myself: pick any idea you like, it doesn’t have to be a great one, write a book, it definitely doesn’t have to be good. It will never be published. But write from Chapter 1 to The End and finish something.

Since I only wrote for practice, I decided to fill it with everything I like in books. And I like small American towns, quirky characters, unexpected friendships, books and love.

2. How do you see your role as a writer and what do you like most about it?

I want to write books that people put down with a smile after reading it; that makes people feel that life is more strange, fun, quirky and warm-hearted.

Otherwise, I don’t really know anything anymore about what a writer should be or do. I used to have very firm ideas on it. A writer should entertain, take responsibility towards her readers, write only great books but at least one a year, and whatever else, never experiment. Just focus on the readers and do their job. I need hardly say that I feel slightly different about it since becoming a writer myself…

My characters. That’s what I like most about writing. Writing is basically a socially acceptable way of having imaginary friends as a grown up. And if the book gets published, it’s like having imaginary friends that other people can suddenly see and relate to and have as their own friends.

3. Have you ever created a character who you dislike but find yourself empathising with?

Yes. He makes all the wrong decisions for partly the right reasons and suffers as a consequence – I identify with him, I understand him, I suffer with him, but I can’t bring myself to like him. I can’t even give him a happy ending. He just refuses to be happy. Although it’s not entirely his fault, but he refuses the small chances of happiness that he gets. I’m still not sure if I’ll ever be able to write the book. And if I do, I’ll probably have to use a pseudonym.

4. If you could be transported instantly, anywhere in the world, where would you most like to spend your time writing? And why?

At the moment, Chiloquin, in Klamath County, Oregon. But like Sara in my book I don’t have a driving license for cars, so small American towns is somewhat impractical.

5. What is the one book you wish you had written?

Fried Green Tomatoes at Whistle Stop Café. It’s a wonder of a book. And I would have loved to get to know Idgie. But it’s also such a great book that I’m deeply grateful that I did not write it, but just get to enjoy it.

6. What advice do you have for would be novelists?

Write the same way you like to read. I often like to read for escapist purposes, to go some place else and meet other people, experience other things, make things up – so that was how I wrote The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend. I had never even been to Iowa when I wrote it, but I could sit in my apartment in Sweden, look out on our pine trees and birches and see corn fields. And I could sit at a bar, talking to some acquaintances from work, and hear my characters answer instead. 

7. What are you currently working on? What can we look forward to reading?

My second book has just been published in Sweden – Life, Motorcycles and Other Impossible Projects. It takes place in a small, fictive, Swedish town and features Anette, a single mom who starts taking motorcycle lessons when her only daughter moves away to study in another town. So at the moment, I’m toying with the idea for my third book – looking out over the small pine trees and birches outside my apartment and seeing the trees, mountains and lakes of Oregon. Or possible Idaho. I’m not sure.

You can follow Katarina on Twitter: @katarinabivald

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend is published by Chatto and Windus, part of Vintage Publishing.

A conversation with Lucy Cruickshanks

Lucy Cruickshanks was born in 1984 and raised in Cornwall, UK. She holds a BA in Politics and Philosophy from the University of Warwick and an MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University. She lives on the south coast of England and divides her time between writing and caring for her two young sons.

Lucys’ love of travel inspires her writing. A great fan of the underdog, she’s drawn to countries with troubled recent histories, writing about periods of time when societies are at their most precarious and fraught with risk. She’s fascinated by their uniqueness and moral ambiguity, and in capturing the people who must navigate them.

Her debut novel, The Trader of Saigon, began life after she sat beside a man on a flight who made his fortune selling women. It was shortlisted for the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award and the Guardian Not The Booker Prize, longlisted for the Waverton Goodread Award and named a Top Ten Book of 2013 by The Bookbag. If you want to learn more about Lucy's first book, Simon Savidge, the man behind Savidge Reads, reviews it here.

Patricia Highsmith, Amitav Ghosh and George Orwell have all influenced Lucy’s writing, but her favourite books are Empire of the Sun by JG Ballard and Life of Pi by Yann Martel. In an article for Writers and Artists, Lucy talks about the importance of setting in novels, and what it can tell readers about your characters too: Creating a Memorable Sense of Place in Your Writing

We wish Lucy oodles of good fortune with her new book The Road to Ragoon. Described by the South China Morning Post as “Exotic, dangerous, slippery, enjoyable, well-written…” This emotional thriller takes place in the heart of Burma's exotic Rubyland. Three lives are thrown together by the desperate choices they make to survive in a country gripped by civil war.

1. Tell us of your journey as a writer

My husband persuaded me to write my first novel, The Trader of Saigon. Like a lot of people, I suspect, I had been saying ‘I want to write a book for as long as I could remember, but without ever picking up a pen. I’d been bouncing between jobs that I struggled to get excited about, and travelling as far and as frequently as I could to try to escape them. He encouraged me to think about writing and travelling differently, and to see that I could make these things my career if I stopped procrastinating, took a risk and actually wrote something. I left my job, enrolled on the MA in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University in the UK, and gave myself a year to write a novel and get a publishing deal. Of course, this was wildly optimistic, but at the end of the year I had a first draft, and real drive to see just how far I could go.

2. How do you see your role as a writer and what do you like most about it?

I think of being a writer as a job. It’s a wonderful job, though maddening at times, but calling it a role implies some sort of higher responsibility, which I’m not sure I feel. I write the stories I’m excited and inspired by and hope others will be interested to read them too. That said, I love the sense of adventure at the start of a new novel, where anything you can imagine is possible. I love research. I love the detail of language, of choosing words to build sentences, paragraphs and chapters along the way as I try to create the most evocative places and people that I can, and provoke emotions in the reader, be they horror or joy. I love the sense of accomplishment when you look at the finished beast and think: YES.

3. Have you ever created a character who you dislike but find yourself empathising with?

Absolutely. If anything, it’s what I strive to do. My novels are set in morally ambiguous worlds – post-war societies riven by poverty, corruption and violence – where it’s far too simplistic to pitch ‘good’ against ‘bad’. Living in the West, it can become easy to see the world as very black and white – to filter what is right and wrong through a privileged viewpoint as we generally live such comfortable lives. My protagonists don’t ever have this comfort, and their decisions of morality are rarely clear cut. They have been described as ‘slippery’, but really they’re caught between opposing sides, stretching the boundaries of ‘acceptable’ behaviour and doing what they must in order to survive. It may not always make them most conventionally likeable, but I hope it makes them authentic too.

4. If you could be transported instantly, anywhere in the world, where would you most like to spend your time writing? And why?

I have two sons – a toddler and a newborn – so in truth I’d be happy with anywhere tidy and quiet. A sea view would be a bonus, though.

5. What is the one book you wish you had written?

There isn’t a single book I wish I had written, but there are certainly several authors I would like to emulate. One of my favourite novelists is Patricia Highsmith. I love the darkness of her wit, and the way she creates genuine anti-heroes and somehow leaves you rooting for characters that are utterly deplorable. Amitav Ghosh’s mastery of language is a joy. The way he can capture the essence of a time and place continually astounds me. I admire George Orwell for how he champions the underdog and his caustic judgments on the nature of power. Yann Martel’s Life of Pi is a triumph too. How he manages to make three hundred pages of a boy alone on a boat so captivating is a wonder to behold.

6. What advice do you have for would be novelists?

Don’t romanticise it. Writing is a skill as much as it is natural ability, so the more you practice, the better you’ll get. Read lots. Research thoroughly. Seek feedback, but learn to separate subjective criticism from the things you really need to have a hard look at. Make sure you understand your strengths and weaknesses. Don’t be precious. Draft and redraft. Persevere.

7. What are you currently working on? What can we look forward to reading?

The novel I’m currently working on is set in Cambodia, against the backdrop of the trial of Comrade Duch, the first senior ranking Khmer Rouge official to be charged with atrocities committed under the Pol Pot regime. It’s early days and a long road ahead of me, but I’m excited to be working on something new.


You can follow Lucy on Twitter: @LJCruickshanks

The Road to Ragoon is published by Heron Books, an imprint of Quercus.