I am delighted to introduce today's Author in the Spotlight
Helen Irene Young
Author of
 |
Crooked Cat
25 April 2017 |
Hi Helen and welcome to Jaffareadstoo....Where did you get the first flash of inspiration for The May Queen?
A photograph of my grandmother aged about ten at Fairford carnival. On the back
someone has written Irene as spring, carnival 1935. First prize awarded by
David Niven. In the image she is squinting at the sun behind the photographer,
she looks shy, but her smile is warm and inviting. I think that’s what made her
win. She had a quiet strength. It’s something I knew I had to write about. It’s
something I knew May would have had too.
Without giving too much away –
what can you tell us about the story?
It’s a coming-of-age tale of one girls search for love and belonging. As a
young girl May lives in Ma’s shadow, bearing the brunt of her fierce temper but
always at her side. Things change when war comes. May makes a new life for
herself in London and although branching out by herself, she is still Ma’s girl.
It is only later, when she returns to the past and her small town, that she is
able to re-evaluate her place in it as someone new.
The May Queen is your debut
novel, have there been any challenges in getting the book to publication and if
so, how did you overcome them?
Many! But that’s the fun isn’t it? The biggest challenge was finding the inner
strength to continue. I had agents ask to see the full manuscript but then tell
me it wasn’t for them. I had Indies ask too, only to say the same. My good
friend Karen Hamilton (whose book is publishing next year with new imprint Wildfire)
told me to write down any positive comments I received, because it’s so easy to
focus on the negative and forget the good. That was sound advice. I have always
been quite headstrong though and I think it worked to my advantage when dealing
with rejection. I knew I’d never give up.
Whilst you are writing you must
live with your characters. How did you feel about them when the book was
finished? Did they turn out as expected?
They worked out better than I expected, for me at least. I adored May and her
friends. Ma was the most difficult to write because she had aspects of my own
mother and grandmother who both died some years back. It was hard going back to
that. It made it very personal. I was happy to close the book on May though in
the end. I left her in a good place. It was like saying goodbye to an old
friend who’s gone to live in a faraway land – bittersweet but beautiful
Which character in the story did
you identify with the most?
May, of course. She was me, but wasn’t. She made me laugh and cry. Seriously, she
did actually make me cry. I remember in one scene towards the end I started
crying as I was writing. I think it was relief more than anything that I was
taking her on the absolutely correct journey. I really went there.
Are you a plotter...or ...a start
writing and see where it takes you, sort of writer?
Plot is all. It doesn’t have to be locked in because things will change as you
move through the narrative, but for me, you absolutely must have an idea of
where you’re heading. On the Faber Academy course, Richard Skinner said that a
narrative is like a river, sometimes it flows fast and others not, but beneath
the surface there are always obstacles (rocks, unseen curves) that determine its
pace. That’s something I think of often when I’m plotting. You have a
responsibility to keep the river moving; otherwise you’ll end up in stagnant
water.
Do you write the type of books
you like to read and which authors have influenced you?
Always. You are only as good a writer as the books you have read and then, only
on a fine day with a fair wind behind you. I swear by regular doses of Anton
Chekov, Thomas Mann, Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Hardy, Virginia Woolf, Henry
Green, Elizabeth Taylor and Irène Némirovsky. They’re masters of the everyday
and on the whole, share an ability to turn a phrase with the lightest of
touches.
What’s next ?
Where rather! Bogotá, Colombia, 1948 and a broken architect trying to build
something new. My narrative centres on an event (El Bogotazo) that changed the
country forever and is told through the eyes of British architect, Luke Vosey.
I’ve had the absolute best time writing this novel and getting to know my
second home (I have family there). I only hope others will enjoy it too.
About the Author
Helen Irene Young is the author of
The May Queen (published by Crooked Cat) and a digital editor. She attended the Faber Novel Writing course and splits her time between London, Wiltshire and Colombia, when she can get there.
The May Queen is her first novel.
Follow on Twitter @helenireneyoung
Huge thanks to Helen for sharing her thoughts about her novel, The May Queen with us today. It's been a real pleasure to have your company today.
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What did I think about it ..
The consequences of family secrets,
and of those events which are sometimes best left buried, is the focus for this
family drama which uses as its focal point the troubled years of the Second
World War.
When the book opens, in the
summer of 1935, we are introduced to May, and her family. Her father works as a
gardener at the local manor house, May’s mother is a rather brusque sort of
figure and Sophie, May’s older sister has brought disgrace upon the family. May
is a young adolescent, just on the cusp of young womanhood and her burgeoning relationship with Christopher, the young son of the manor owner, forms the basis for much of the
early part of the novel.
The author has written a
considerate and thoughtful coming-of-age story which follows May through the formative events which
shape her life during the years of the war, and which will see May grow into
maturity and understanding. The story is divided into three distinct sections and
the author has done a good job in making each section easy to follow and enjoy.
The author writes well, I enjoyed
her turn of phrase and the way she allowed the story to develop at its own
pace. Nicely presented with an interesting cover, this is a debut novel by an
author who I am sure will go on to develop her writing skills in each successive
story.
Best Read With...A glass of home made lemonade and a slice , or two, of cake...
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