the writer is a lonely hunter

More debut novels

by gailaldwin

Continuing the theme of debut novels, I’m delighted Kathryn Stockett’s The Help, is enjoying much success. Not only is it a hugely successful book but the recent film adaptation made $166 million at the box office in the USA. Skeeter, a young 1960s Missippissi woman collects the stories of black maids and the hardships they routinely suffer, in a bid to become a published writer. The narrative breaks one of Elmore Leonard’s 10 rules of writing, in that regional accents are not used sparingly. As a reader, it’s a challenge to ‘tune into’ the patterns and sounds of the American south, but worth the effort. Aibileen’s voice is particularly strong, showing her maternal side, and the relationship with Mae Mobley, the child of her white employer.

Another debut novel that breaks the same rule about using dialects is The Tin Kin by Eleanor Thom. Set in 1950s Scotland, a gypsy called Jock is murdered and the story shows the consequences for his family and later generations. Some of the alternating narratives are in full dialect, giving characters like ‘Auld Betsy’ the grandmother a distinctive voice.

In my manuscript Manipulation, I have a character with a Scottish accent. Bearing in mind the success of the above novels, I can but hope that Elmore Leonard’s rules are there to be broken.

To read more about Elmore Leonard’s 10 rules of writing click here.

writing

The writer is a lonely hunter

by gailaldwin

I make a habit of reading debut novels to get a feel for the competition: who’s been successful, the quality of the writing, what makes a book stand out amongst the millions of manuscripts that are submitted. Some get recognition quickly, like Pidgeon English by Stephen Kelman which was shortlisted for the Booker. The story is told from the viewpoint of an eleven-year-old boy, newly arrived from Ghana, and completely unaware of the dangers of becoming involved with the gang culture of East London. My favourite debut novel is currently After the fire, a still small voice by Evie Wyld. Set in Outback Australia, the novel provides a vivid sense of otherness and the on-going effect of involvement in conflict, in this case, the Korean War. I’d like to write a book as powerful as that! I didn’t realise until quite recently that The Heart is a Lonely Hunter was the debut novel by Carson McCullers. I took the book on honeymoon over twenty years ago, thinking my husband and I would read aloud to each other. Perhaps it wasn’t the greatest choice for a romantic interlude, particularly when the the test match was on television, and I finished the book by reading it silently. The title stays with me though, which I’ve now adapted to acknowledge the challenges of being an isolated writer: the writer is a lonely hunter.

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