Interviews in MID-DAY Print
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Monday, 16 May 2011 07:11
INTERVIEW FOR 'SECRETS & LIES'


1.    Chick lit. Do you fear that your latest novel could be straitjacketed thus?

The tag of ‘chick lit’ per se doesn’t worry me particularly, mostly because I know that some very clever people (eg. Helen Fielding) are very skillfully producing material in the genre, which is read by millions. Many chick lit books also tackle difficult themes, albeit in light, readable, accessible ways (eg. Marian Keyes’ latest book, ‘This Charming Man’ is about domestic violence). My only concern with the tag being applied to ‘Secrets & Lies’ is that it may be a misnomer as most people expect chick lit to contain dollops of romance and comedy (the book world’s equivalent of the rom-com, I suppose) and this book doesn’t have much of either of those. Also, the slight pejorative sense carried by the term generally works as a huge turn-off for men and perhaps lots of potential female readers who may otherwise enjoy my book.
 
3.    Child sexual abuse is merely hinted at in this story… was it a deliberate technique?

Detailing that aspect of the story would have led to another book, I think, and perhaps another 100 odd pages! These are the kind of choices a fiction writer has to make, deciding how far to take authorial ‘omniscience’ to tell the story from different characters’ points-of-view. Lily’s own story had to take a back-seat as the main thrust of the narrative is the friendship of the four women who were involved in her death.
 
4.    Why do the women in Secrets and Lies lead such predictable lives? Even a character like Anita, the rebel, has stereotypical struggles. In your opinion, are women, world over, fighting the same battles they did years ago?

Sadly, I don’t believe there have been any dramatic changes. I can speak only for British working life but the glass ceiling still persists and, when you’re both Asian and female, you’re definitely facing a double-bind.
 
5.    You have led a brave life yourself, having made unconventional and brave choices. What would you describe as your greatest challenges and your happiest moments as a career woman, mother and writer?

I don’t see myself as ‘brave’ – just a pragmatic sort who generally gets on with the job at hand! But I’m an incurable optimist as well so that must help in the things I need to face. My daughter brings joy in curious ways; her learning disability means that, sometimes, the tiniest of achievements can bring masses of joy. I’m proudest of myself when I manage to juggle being all those things (mother, wife, daughter, friend, career woman, writer etc etc) with some amount of success – although there are nights when I fall into bed unconscious because I haven’t an ounce of energy left!
 
6.    Secrets and Lies is largely about power politics in marriages and in extended families. Do you choose to consciously write on the darker side of marriage?

Actually that’s the next book, the work-in-progress! I consider ‘Secrets & Lies’ a study of friendship, an exploration of how nourishing a force friendship can be in women’s lives and the lengths women will go to in the name of friendship. It’s also about guilt, and how past actions can sometimes infect every aspect of life.
 
7.    Samira’s character holds a special charm, as does her family. Did you find yourself treating some of your characters with more empathy than the others? How much of an insider are you in this book?

I’m an insider in as much as I identify with the friendship aspect of the book. As I and a large part of my friends and acquaintances moved into our forties, I found that female friendship was becoming an important support system and I wanted to explore this. I liked all four of the main characters in ‘Secrets & Lies’ and there’s bits of me lurking in each one of them.
 
8.    You have a sharp ear for conversations – be it with the girls in class, the mom-in-law and daughter-in-law or the women who lunch. Does people watching come naturally to you? Has this ability done a lot of value add to your novels?

I think you have to be an observer to be able to write convincing fiction. I’m fairly gregarious by nature and am surrounded by people a great deal so I guess at some level, I’m ‘people-watching’ all the time! I do enjoy writing dialogue as it seems to fly from my head straight onto the page with barely an effort at all.
 
9.    How would you describe your own evolution as a writer over the years in choice of theme and treatment?

I’ve tackled the themes of marriage, divorce, first love re-found, bereavement even in my first three books and was consciously taking on a lighter, happier theme with this book, which was fun. I’ve also experimented a bit with first-person/ third-person narrative styles etc, although I’ve never strayed out of the realm of fiction. My biggest challenge was with the historical novel I wrote in 2007, both in learning how to research and using research material for translating into fiction. I do like trying my hand at slightly different things each time so, one day, I might turn my hand to non-fiction or children’s writing.
 
10.     How have the promotional tours been? Any fascinating insights from your readers that make you examine your own novel in new light?

Always! It’s great meeting readers because they suddenly bring meaning and reality to what is otherwise a very lonely craft. Yesterday, I was with 60 college students in Delhi, conducting a sort of fiction master-class, and the Q&A session was at least as illuminating for me, as I hope the class was for them!  
 
11.    And finally, what next? Have you begin work on your next book? Do you blog?
 
 No, I’m not a blogger but only because I already have rather a lot on my plate. But, now that I’m resigning from my job and moving back to India, it’s something I might contemplate, perhaps as an add-on to my website. I’m hoping to set up a residential unit for young people with learning disabilities in Delhi, and a written record of its progress (or not, as the case may be!), will be fascinating for me to have a look back on when it’s done. I’d like to think it could inspire others in some way too.   


INTERVIEW FOR 'SECRETS & SINS'

1. What's your take on infidelity?

It happens! And is therefore as valid a subject in contemporary fiction as any other. Having said that, I don’t think it’s a novelist’s job to moralise on any issue. Hopefully what I’ve done in ‘Secrets & Sins’ is explore the issue inside out, show how easily people can get drawn into unthinking affairs, expose the highs and the lows and the possible fall-out. Despite not wanting to take a moral stand, I was conscious, however, that the issue is dealt with rather sympathetically in the case of the main protagonists, Riva and Aman. Therefore I made a deliberate narrative decision to introduce two other couples going through similar problems but, in their case (especially via the character of Susan), I hope I show the terrible heartache too of people affected by infidelity.

2. Guilt leading to family values take front seat rubbishing real love, of course with the whole gamut of ups and downs. Do you really believe that following the untrodden path of giving in to your deep dark desires could be fatal?

Not at all. As happens in the book (and in life, I guess!), some people are merely luckier than others when it comes to following their desires. I had a male friend who had just read the book email me to say how sorry he felt for Aman, especially because Riva appeared to have come out of their relationship, not just with her golden image intact but also with her marriage oddly improved by it. As a matter of fact, my very first book, ‘Ancient Promises’ also deals – albeit differently – with the issue of adultery but, in that case, the female protagonist does follow her desires through, seemingly going against everything family and society expected of her. Life generally does not offer a neat formula for any issue, and nor, by that same measure, should books!


3. How much of you can be found in Riva Singh, since she's also a famous writer in this novel?


It all started with my publishers in the UK asking me to write a love story with a Bollywood superstar as one of the protagonists (this because Bollywood is now quite a well-recognised concept in the west and people are getting rather curious about it). Now, because I know almost nothing about the world of cinema, I decided to cast a novelist as the other half of the love story because writing is a job I do know something about. Essentially, I was halving my research requirements by doing this. Of course I was aware that readers would wonder whether Riva was me and, at my launch in Delhi, I joked that ‘Secrets & Sins’ could be seen as the untold story of Shah Rukh Khan and Jaishree Misra (well, a girl can dream, can’t she?). Alas, it’s nothing of the sort and Riva and I share very little. We don’t even share a writer’s life because she’s a full-time writer and, until recently, I was juggling novel-writing alongside a full-time job in London. Besides, she’s a much-acclaimed Orange prize winner but, again, a girl can dream, can’t she ….     

4. How come a name like Aman Khan? Was it a deliberate choice as Bollywood is agog with the Khan brigade, so it could easily sound a bell to a reader sitting anywhere in the world?

Absolutely. Even Sharmila Tagore, who launched my book in Delhi, said, “He had to be a Khan!”


5. The thrills and spills of finding your lost love outside marriage is a subject dealt with over a million times, in Bollywood, Hollywood and other cinema as well as other mediums like books and theatre. What was that one force that kept you going in coming up with such fabulous writing and dealing with not-a-very-novel theme?

You’re right, it’s an age-old theme in books and movies. Which I took as a challenge. But what I was particularly interested in exploring was the idea of decency, which can be seen as a rather fuddy-duddy, old-fashioned value. We live now in an age of feminism and go-getting individualism, where we are taught to go out and grab with both hands anything that we have set our hearts on. But I wanted to know if most people – when faced with a moral dilemma like Riva’s – would end up doing the ‘decent’ thing. That to me is the essential theme of the book. Oh, and thanks for the compliment about my writing!


6. What gives you the highs and the lows? In writing and in life?

In writing, the biggest highs come when readers appear to love a book and email me from all over the place (Russia, most recently!). I’m less bothered about reviews, although it’s obviously terrific to get good reviews too. The biggest highs in life are more difficult to define. I’m rather a boring family type, when all is said and done, so I really do love hanging out with hubby, daughter etc, travelling to interesting places and sampling different foods.
I’m also in the process of setting up a residential facility for developmentally challenged adults along with a few other parents and this has recently been a huge thrill because the Delhi government has given us a building on three acres of land to start us off and, suddenly, we’re making fantastic progress after many years of head-banging-on-brick-walls


7. How long did it take you to write the book?

Well, I was contracted by Harper Collins in the UK to give them three books in three years. I’ve been spot on with my deadlines so far - ‘Secrets & Lies’ came out in August 2009, ‘Secrets & Sins’ in August this year and I’m presently madly trying to meet my September deadline for the third in the trilogy so it can come out in July next year, in time to catch Britain’s summer holiday market. You do the sums but remember that, alongside the writing, authors also have to do the publicity hoopla, which can really cut into writing time.


8. Do you think it calls to be made into a film just like Riva's book finally gets an offer for a film?

Without a doubt, ‘Secrets & Sins’ is perfect for a cross-over film like, say, ‘Monsoon Wedding’ or ‘Bend it like Beckham’. Keeping fingers crossed!


9. Did you ever think of changing the plot to getting Riva and Aman happily together for ever after as an ending? And Joe and Kaaya continuing with their romping sessions till eternity and Ben dying a silent death?

Don’t give away too much of the plot! But, to answer your question, I’m a real sucker for happy endings and always struggle with myself  if I feel I can give a character a better deal than he/she is getting in my book. I’m afraid I don’t make a very vengeful god so you’ll rarely find one of my characters coming to a vile and bloody end.


10. When is the book out on stands?
 
It’s out abroad and in Delhi and is, I believe, due to trickle down southwards in India by September. The publishers are planning a south Indian tour – three or four cities – so do look out for these events on my website. I’ll also be at the Hay-on-the-Beach festival in Trivandrum in November and at the Jaipur festival in January 2011 and will keep all this updated on my website:
Last Updated on Thursday, 07 December 2017 12:23