 Silence
perfect for Penelope
By Chris High
Writers are often to told
to develop their individual voice. How then does an author develop a character
who does not have a voice with which to express themselves? This is a
problem that has been intriguingly solved by Buckinghamshire based novelist,
Penelope Evans, in her fifth book to date, My Perfect Silence,
recently published by Allison & Busby in paperback.
In the book, the central
character, Rose, is 29 years old and has been haunted by the death of
her baby brother for a quarter of a century. As a schoolgirl, Rose takes
a vow of silence and nothing since has broken through. The only constant
in her life has been her older brother, Max. He looked after her then
and looks after her now, but his own life is turning upside down, despite
his fame and success, as his fiancée is murdered and the inevitable
finger of blame points again to Rose.
‘I liked writing Rosie’s
silence because it made her a watcher and a listener,’ Penelope
explained. ‘Through her eyes, the reader can observe others as closely
as she does. She sees and hears everything, even when she doesn’t
understand. There’s a mystery in the book, but the solution is being
paid out right from page one, simply in what Rosie has observed.’
My Perfect Silence
took a year to write from conception to completion, thanks in no small
part to Penelope’s pre-planning and her ability to draw
from experience. ‘I’ve become faster with the last three books
I’ve written – mostly because I now map them out in some detail
beforehand. It means that even when my characters become wayward and complicated,
there will always be a basic thread keeping everything from falling apart.
I am embarrassed to admit that the idea for this book came from life.
I was a year and a half old when my brother was born and brought home.
I tried to feed him a banana when my mother was out of the room and the
result was very nearly tragic. I grew up with the story of how I almost
killed him and hated it. I used to wonder what would have happened to
me if I had killed him, whether my parents would have still loved me.
I never talked about how it worried me, but I suppose it came out in the
book.’
Penelope’s characters
are beautifully drawn, if somewhat multi-faceted. Does the author have
any difficulty with getting into the mindset of her creations? ‘I
don’t have a problem with getting into a mindset - not once I know
who I’m writing about,’ she said. ‘I have worried that
maybe I’m just writing different versions of me. It’s the
old question really – where does any writer get their characters?
I might base a person on someone I’ve met or read about, but the
connection invariably gets lost within a few pages of writing. I don’t
actually know how to write un-complicated characters. It’s one reason
I need my synopses. Without them, the people I write would take the books
in all kinds of directions and just never come home. Rosie and Max in
particular were always going to be troubled. From the earliest age they
have had to adjust to a world that they were responsible for changing.’
Penelope – a former
barrister – also used to combine writing with journalism in order
to pay the bills. ‘I haven’t done so much journalism lately.
I’ve been trying so hard to write a book a year and something had
to give. I used to write travel and the odd historical piece, and once
had a weekly column reviewing health farms for the Sunday Telegraph.
It was the best job in the world and a crying shame it had to end.’
In the book, Max’s fiancée, Caroline, is a very glamorous,
very famous TV journalist intent on dragging her subject’s darkest
secrets into the light. ‘There is nothing of me in Caroline. She’s
much more driven and efficient, whereas I just bumbled from assignment
to assignment, trying not to miss something important.’
My Perfect Silence
is somewhat difficult to categorise. It isn’t Crime, although there
is a crime involved, and it isn’t really a Thriller, despite it
being a thrilling read. The need to be “placed”, however,
does not seem to be too much of a problem for the writer. ‘I understand
the reasons for categories. Readers need to know the sort of book they’re
buying and publishers need to sell authors to the shops and shops need
to know where to place them on the shelves. I see the point of it all,
but I don’t know how to help anyone place me. For a crime writer,
my body count would have to be appallingly low. I write intensely plotted
novels, with intensely written characters. I write about obsession and
the complications of families, which can be more murderous than anything
that happens in a procedural crime story. I kill people off, but not often,
and never just to move the plot along. At the same time, I’ve had
plenty of readers tell me they’ve been more scared reading one of
my books than anyone else’s. I think women readers like me. In a
world where everyone needs a category, I’m my own worst enemy.’
On page one, Rose kills her
baby brother. Was the risk of alienating the reader a risk? ‘I remember
being unable to pick up Jane Hamilton’s entirely wonderful A
Map of the World because the starting point was the death of a toddler
and my own children were tiny. But there was no other way to tell Max
and Rose’s story without an account of the stranger whose very brief
arrival and departure changed their lives forever. So yes definitely,
I think, it was a big risk to have a child die on page one, but it was
also a risk that had to be taken.’
Max, Rosie’s brother,
is a former junkie-turned-Priest of a “new-age” religious
sect that becomes popular through liberal ideas and music. As a result,
My Perfect Silence might be taken as a direct
swipe at “organised” religion. Penelope, to an extent, disagrees.
‘This is difficult to answer. I have no faith, and in that I am
like Rosie. At the end of the book, however, something happens which may
change her mind. The event directly reflects Max’s own view of God,
who is about love and forgiveness and inclusion at every level of existence.
But that’s all by the by. How churches “sell” God is
their own business. I just know if I were young, a mindset that loathes
the idea of women priests, or gays with enough love left over to adopt
a child, would leave me cold. It would have nothing for me.’
There are many obstacles
facing aspiring authors today, not least being the number of books being
published each year. How then does Penelope see a way through the difficulties
for aspiring authors? ‘I should say the biggest obstacles to writing
for a living are time and money. If there was an infinite supply of both,
we could all write what we want, for as long as we want, until finally
someone notices us. So, three tips for overcoming all obstacles? First
- make time to write, every day if possible, even if it’s only a
diary. The more you write, the easier it seems to be. Second - finish
what you start, it’s good for the soul. Third – ignore the
above. If you get a better idea, give up what you’re doing immediately
and write that one instead. David Shelley, my first publisher at Allison
and Busby, told me that. I think he was right.’
 2007
looks set to be a busy year for Penelope Evans. ‘My new book, Saving
Grace, comes out in July, again with Allison & Busby. Meantime,
I’m finishing another book – a ghost story. I’ve been
re-reading Daphne du Maurier and she’s been there, in the back of
my mind, all the time I’m writing. I’m enjoying myself.’
My Perfect Silence by Penelope Evans is available
from June 25th in paperback from www.allisonandbusby.com
Read
Chris High's review of 'My Perfect Silence' here
Parts
of this interview have, or will, appear in other publications and in other
formats.
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