Tracy Maton on Writing What You Love

I began writing The Artful Anna Harris as an act of rebellion. After many false starts, two previous novels had come close but ultimately failed to find a publisher so, dripping with disappointment, I decided to have one last shot. If that didn’t work I’d shut my laptop and use it as a tray. Bizarrely, this decision was freeing. Self-censorship went out of the window. In came a delicious playfulness.

Writers are advised to ‘Write what you love’ and ‘Write what you know’ and ‘Kill your darlings,’ which is the much-quoted idea that you must cut aspects you adore if they do not serve the narrative or the character. Not overly keen on being told what to do, I adopted two out of three.

What do I love? I love The Talented Mr Ripley, coming to the book from Minghella’s wonderful 1999 film adaptation. I carried on to read many of Highsmith’s other novels, all of which feature excellent anti-heroes. Highsmith had a talent for creating often unlikeable, in many ways ordinary characters who commit heinous acts that are, in the context of the story, entirely justifiable. By offering a window into the minds of these flawed people, the sort of people you pass by every day, we are invited to collude. And colluding is all too easy. I think I’ve always enjoyed rooting for those who behave badly, from my teenage reading of Bronte’s Wuthering Heights – Heathcliffe is detestable – to Frank Cauldhame, the violent, isolated teenage narrator of Banks’ The Wasp Factory; from Tartt’s The Secret History which features a whole cast of anti-heroes to the emotionally stunted Istvan in David Szalay’s Flesh, last year’s winner of the Booker Prize. How much more interesting to side with someone you know you shouldn’t?

So, onto what do I know. I know English villages, their community spirit and their spitefulness, their hidden secrets and their open lies.

Put the two together and I give you my Ripley-esque anti-hero, Anna Harris, who is living in a suffocatingly pretty village surrounded by her boyfriend’s extended family. Everything in the garden is rosy until the vivacious Sofia arrives on the scene and unleashes what Anna tries so hard to keep at bay. As Anna shares her innermost thoughts, she invites you to take her side. I’m biased, but I don’t think that’s too much to ask. 

The book is full of darlings that I refused to kill. Choosing instead to give you Anna in all her glory, the beautiful and the ugly. As a nod to Highsmith, or maybe just for fun, I wove little vignettes from Ripley’s story. Fans will spot the references.

Despite her morally ambiguous character, I like Anna very much. I wonder who else will become a fan.

Warning: if you like justice to be done, look away.

The Artful Anna Harris by Tracy Maton (Profile Books) Out Now '

You are quite the chameleon, aren't you? You could wear anything, do anything, and yet you choose plain, plain, plain. Is it all a front for a secret life?' When the vivacious Sofia Carstairs arrives in her sleepy country village, Anna knows her life will never be the same again. Her new best friend is carefree, elegant and intoxicating. Her life doesn't revolve around church flower arrangements or Sunday lunches with the in-laws. Sofia reminds Anna of the person she used to be, before she worked so hard to fit in that she practically disappeared. But is it enough to just be Sofia's friend? Anna wonders what it would be like to be Sofia, if only for a little while. But once Anna starts pretending, she finds it easy to pretend the rules don't apply to her. How far will Anna go to get what she wants.And what will she do to those that stand in her way?

You can find Tracy Maton on Instagram @tracymatonwriter

 

‘The Talented Mr Ripley’ and ‘Out of Her Depth’ by Lizzy Barber

‘Tom envied him with a heart-breaking surge of envy and self-pity’ writes Patricia Highsmith of Dickie Greenleaf in the early chapters of The Talented Mr Ripley. Tom, a penniless upstart but excellent impersonator, has managed to worm his way into the affections of Dickie’s father, who at the start of the novel sends Tom on a reconnaissance trip to the small (fabricated) Italian town of Mongibello, where Dickie has escaped to, to try and persuade him to return to America. Only, when Tom arrives in Italy, he discovers that Dickie has no intention of returning home. And, more to the point, neither does Tom. 

I am not the first reader or author to be captivated by Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley novels. In Tom, she created a true antihero; an underdog and unreliable narrator we somehow still root for; and in his idol, Dickie Greenleaf, Dickie’s girlfriend Marge and a band of wealthy expats, she creates a world that we, along with Tom, love to hate. Her clean, well-measured prose shines a light on every facet of their intoxicating world and has created an enduring legacy which has seen multiple adaptations – including the recent announcement of a new Talented Mr Ripley television series starring Fleabag’s Andrew Scott in the titular role. 

Out of Her Depth is a psychological thriller about an unassuming young woman, Rachel, who receives an incredible opportunity to work at a beautiful hotel in the Florentine Hills, where she meets the magnetic but dangerous Diana and the dashing but careless Sebastian. She is drawn into their privileged circle and luxuriates in their world of glamourous parties and exotic trips…until something goes wrong. It is not a reworking of the original, but there are themes and events (not least the Romantic Italian setting) which I was keen to explore in my work. And what drew me to Tom, and indeed the most in Out of Her Depth, was exactly that initial quote: his intermixed feelings of envy and self-pity.

Rachel, like Tom Ripley, is an outsider, a voyeur. By chance, she finds herself part of this impossible new world, but although she does step inside it, she is still painfully aware of her ‘otherness,’ that she will never truly fit in. As Tom’s friendship with Dickie blooms, he emulates him: he takes on his words and phrases, he begins to dress like him, he even wants to learn to speak Italian as good as Dickie’s. Highsmith, to allude to a spoiler (and if this is a spoiler for you, I’d say stop reading this now and get the book!), takes this to the extreme: Tom murders Dickie and fully impersonates him: but even then he constantly feels that he is only a poor copy. Diana frequently makes Rachel aware of her differences – ‘you shouldn’t nod like that,’ ‘it’s bathroom, not bafroom’ – telling her what to eat, buying her the right clothes, and under her tutelage Rachel begins to reinvent herself. 

Diana, much like Dickie to Tom, sees Rachel as a pet, a fun project to work on, and Rachel, blossoming under her attention, laps it up. The book is set in past and present day, and in the present, we see Rachel’s bitterness at never fully conforming: her realisation that she will never truly match Diana: and that realisation is an ugly thing, as ugly as Tom’s murder of Dickie. 

There has been much discussion about Ripley’s sexuality – his fascination with Dickie and subsequent hatred for Marge - but regardless of what Highsmith’s intentions were (she herself remained agnostic on the subject), I think what is rife in the book is a palpable desire. Tom wants Dickie; he wants to be Dickie; he wants Dickie to want him. His feelings are intense and intoxicating. This is what I wanted to explore with Rachel and Diana: Rachel has romantic feelings for Sebastian, but the friendship she has with Diana is all encompassing. It is that heady expression of teenage female friendship that is confusing and, for Rachel, toxic: she is so intoxicated by Diana’s good parts that she cannot see anything bad. And that desire turns into an obsession that long outlasts their teenage Summer…and begins to have deadly consequences…

Out of Her Depth by Lizzy Barber (Out Now) Pan Macmillan

There are summers that will change your life. There are summers that may end it. In the lush green hills beyond Florence sits the Villa Medici-a graceful pensione surrounded by manicured gardens. Rachel, a college student from an outer London suburb, can't believe her luck in landing a summer job here. Especially when she's drawn into a circle of privileged young sophisticates, including her glamorous co-worker Diana, who promises to help Rachel win the affections of handsome, confident Sebastian. But as champagne flows and rivalries fester in the Tuscan countryside, Rachel realizes that Diana has motivations of her own. Adrift in a world of backstabbing and bed-hopping, lavish parties and easy betrayal, Rachel feels the stakes rising along with the temperatures until, one night, something snaps. Someone dies. And nothing will ever be the same...

More information about Lizzy Barber can be found on her website. You can also follow her on Twitter @ByLizzyBarber and on Instagram @bylizzybarber

An Audio Exclusive that didn’t fall ‘Far from the Tree’

As big fans of audio thrillers, Shots Magazine were excited to read that crime writer Rob Parker is penning an intriguing trilogy commissioned by Audible Studios.

The first title, Far from the Tree, will be released exclusively in audio on 2nd July 2020. Publication dates for the next two titles will follow in due course. 

Set in Warrington, Far from the Tree follows DI Foley, who finds himself in charge of one of the largest murder cases the country has ever seen. Twenty-seven bodies are found buried in a woodland trench, as the discoveries unfold, DI Foley must decide whether to solve the crime if it risks his family.

Parker commented: "To be able to write a crime trilogy set in the area I grew up in — an area which doesn’t receive much limelight or exposure — is a real delight, and I’m supremely thankful to Audible for giving me this opportunity. I’m taking this chance with both hands and aim to repay their faith in spades and I’m determined to show you ain’t seen nothing yet."

Read More from the Bookseller HERE

Audible UK are to be applauded for the support they provide the crime and thriller fiction genre, especially as the importance of audiobooks increases within publishing. They commission new work such as the pseudonymous Alex Callister’s thrillers and supporting the genre, including sponsoring one of Crimefest’s annual awards.

After listening to the start of this trilogy by Rob Parker, it came as no surprise to discover that Far from the Tree is July’s Audible thriller of the month.

So, what’s in store?

Brendan Foley has worked to balance the responsibilities of a demanding job and a troublesome family. He’s managed to keep these two worlds separate, until the discovery of a mass grave sends them into a headlong collision. When one of the dead turns out to be a familiar face, he’s taken off the case.

Iona Madison keeps everything under control. She works hard as a detective sergeant and trains harder as a boxer. But when her superior, DI Foley, is removed from the case, her certainties are tested like never before.

With stories of the Warrington 27 plastered over the news, they set out to solve the crime before anyone else. The local constabulary is small and under-funded – Brendan knows they can’t crack this case alone, and he’s not letting a rival force take over. Not with the secrets he fears are lurking. Their investigations lead them into the murky underworlds of Manchester and Liverpool, where one more murder means little to drug-dealing gangs, desperate to control their power bases.

But as Madison steps into the ring for the fight of her life, the criminals come to them. It’s no coincidence that the corpses have been buried in Foley’s hometown. The question is, why? Foley might not like the answer....

Not to be confused with the legendary creator of the Boston based Spenser and Hawk series, penned by the legendary Robert B Parker; the British Robert Parker, better known as “Rob” to his growing band of readers [and now listeners] hails from the British North West, where his acclaimed Ben Bracken thrillers are set - A Wanted Man, Morte Point, The Penny Black, Till Morning Is Nigh and the standalone post-Brexit country-noir Crook’s Hollow. A member of the Northern Crime Syndicate and a co-host of the For Your Reconsideration film podcast, Rob is also a regular voice on the Blood Brothers Crime Podcast. A champion of encouraging literacy and creative writing, Rob spends a lot of time travelling to schools giving talks across the country. Rob Parker lives in Warrington with his family.

Far from the Tree is the first in a trilogy, and narrated by actor Warren Brown. Currently he can be seen as 'Sergeant Thomas 'Mac' McAllister' in the highly anticipated reboot of the Emmy-nominated action series, Strike Back, for Sky/HBO Cinemax. Other television credits include Doctor Who, Liar, X Company and RTS Best Drama winning, Good Cop. Film credits include Cargo, Captain Webb and The Dark Knight Rises. Audio drama for Big Finish include multiple series of Doctor Who, U.N.I.T. and the standalone Audible series Transference. Through this former Thai-Boxer, is probably best known for his role of “DS Ripley”, in the BBC series Luther, co-starring with Idris Elba who plays the eponymous [and troubled] detective.

For the crime-fiction geeks a little digression –

Luther is written by Neil Cross, and when I interviewed him several years ago [for Jeff Peirce’s THE RAP SHEET] about his own writing, I indicated that I felt he had read the works of Patricia Highsmith..………

AK: I’m guessing you must have read Patricia Highsmith, then.

NC: I’m obsessed by Patricia Highsmith.

AK: [Laughing] So am I. I am totally obsessed with her Tom Ripley books. In fact, I have what my wife terms my white “Tom Ripley suit.” Coincidentally, a number of critics have described your first novel, Burial, as being distinctly Hitchcockian. And it was Hitchcock, of course, who made a movie from Highsmith’s 1950 debut novel, Strangers on a Train.

NC: Yes, there’s a psychological marriage between Hitchcock and Highsmith; they suit each other very well.

AK: So, going back to Highsmith, is it just her Tom Ripley novels that you enjoy, or do you find pleasure in her other amoral tales?

NC: I’ve read many of her books and short stories, though not all of her canon, and of course there are a few that are just not up to her best work. But one non-Ripley novel that sticks to my mind is Cry of the Owl [1962], which features a woman who falls in love with her own stalker. It would barely be publishable today, but in Highsmith’s world it makes perfect sense.

AK: The weird thing about Patricia Highsmith was that she was highly acclaimed in Europe, but rather less so in her native America; in fact, she lived for many years in the UK before making Switzerland her home. Maybe Tom Ripley was the precursor to Dr. Hannibal Lecter, the amoral, but charming psychopath/sociopath--the sort of figure who doesn’t settle as well in the American psyche as he does in the European one.

NC: That links to my theme of “free will exercised as sin,” [something that] must be punished. And Highsmith just doesn’t punish, she observes; in fact, she was known to sign books as Tom Ripley from time to time.

Read the full interview at THE RAP SHEET, from Theakstons Crime Writing Festival 2010 HERE

Neil Cross told me that he named DS Ripley, Idris Elba / Luther’s sidekick as played by Warren Brown as a personal homage to Patricia Highsmith’s amoral character, The Talented Mr Ripley.

End of digression

So with Warren Brown narrating Rob Parker’s FAR FROM THE TREE, what’s not to like? If like me, you are an Audible Member [on the £7.99 / month deal, which allows you one audio credit per month], you can have the start of the trilogy for just one credit – or for non-members it’s £21.41 – More information CLICK HERE

We’ll leave the last word to the author and his peers –

‘Working with Audible has been both a joy and a game-changer. I’m honoured and thrilled to have their faith with this canvas on which to tell a much larger, more complete story than I could ever have dreamed previously. Not only this, but to be able to write a crime trilogy set in the area I grew up in - an area which doesn’t receive much limelight or exposure - is a real delight, and I’m supremely thankful to Audible for giving me this opportunity. I’m taking this chance with both hands, aim to repay their faith in spades and I’m determined to show you ain’t seen nothing yet.’  

Rob Parker

"...A big departure from Rob’s previous work, I hope he won’t mind when I say it exceeds his already sky high standards. A dark, powerful & utterly compelling tale of Northern gangsters tied together by blood, it just drips with real life."

Tony Kent

"Rob Parker doesn’t mess around. Far from the Tree is a gritty, propulsive [listen]. Drawn in shades of grey, DI Brendan Foley is a complex, morally ambiguous character I couldn’t stop rooting for. A punchy, powerful tale well told."

Adam Hamdy

For more information on the work of Rob Parker – CLICK HERE

The Talented Mr Swanson

I recall when British Publisher Faber and Faber picked up author Peter Swanson’s debut novel ‘The Girl With a Clock for a Heart’, a couple of years ago. I was startled by this noir-ish crime thriller debut, as it appealed to my inner Tom Ripley. I wrote at the time –

It will be of little surprise to hear that Hollywood has snapped up a movie option, as the narrative is written in a Spartan and terse style, that resembles a detailed screenplay, but one that the readers has to provide the camera directions, and as for lighting? There is no need, as it is noir in the literal sense. An astonishing debut from a writer that even at this early stage, is one worth marking for the future

Read More Here

I enjoyed Swanson’s writing and was delighted when Faber and Faber organised an interview with him; as I had a few questions that haunted me. The interview is archived here

Peter’s second work The Kind Worth Killing, was even more elegant and dark, and as many of us had predicted, Swanson was no ‘flash in the pan’ as he was recognised by The Crime Writers Association and Ian Fleming Publications; finding The Kind Worth Killing For - on the 2015 Steel Dagger Shortlist; as well as on the inaugural Dead Good Books Reader Awards [2015].

So what have we instore for Peter’s third novel?

Kate Priddy was always a bit neurotic, but after an ex-boyfriend kidnapped her and nearly ended her life, her bouts of anxiety began exploding into full-blown panic attacks. When Corbin Dell, a cousin in Boston, suggests the two temporarily swap apartments, Kate agrees, hoping that time away in a new place will help her overcome the past traumas of her life.

But at Corbin's grand apartment on Beacon Hill, Kate makes a shocking discovery: his next-door neighbor, a young woman named Audrey, has been murdered. When the police question her about Corbin, a shaken Kate has few answers, but many questions of her own--and her curiosity intensifies when she meets Alan, a handsome tenant who lives across the courtyard. Alan saw Corbin surreptitiously come and go from Audrey's place, yet Corbin's denied knowing her. Then, Kate runs into a man claiming to be the dead woman's old boyfriend, who insists Corbin did the deed.

Corbin proclaims his innocence and calms Kate's nerves . . . until she comes across disturbing objects hidden in the apartment. Could Corbin really be a killer? And what about Alan? Kate finds herself drawn to this appealing man who seems so sincere, but she isn't sure. Jet-lagged and emotionally fragile, her imagination full of dark images, Kate can barely trust herself, let alone a stranger she's just met. Yet the danger Kate imagines isn't nearly as twisted as what is about to happen. When her every fear becomes very real.

Shots have copies of HER EVERY FEAR with a generous discount from our bookstore here

Peter was in London last week and thanks to Faber & Faber’s Sophie Portis and Angus Cargill, I found myself invited to the launch, which was hosted in a Pub in West London. It was good to meet up with fellow literary commentators Nick Clee and John Williams, as well as catch up with Peter Swanson, a tremendous writer, who is often described, as a contemporary /updated version of Patricia Highsmith or James M Cain.

It wasn’t long before Angus Cargill of Faber & Faber [London] welcomed us to the gathering, as well as Peter saying a few words -

So if you are not familiar with the work of Peter Swanson, then click here for more information, and don’t forget, Shots Magazine’s bookstore has copies of HER EVERY FEAR with a very generous discount for our readers, so click here for your copy.