I had the pleasure of reading Maris Morton’s first novel A Darker Music which I read prior to publication and endorsed whole-heartedly. It’s a terrific book, which went on to win the inaugural Scribe Cal Fiction prize for 2010. Her latest offering should prove equally enjoyable. Here Maris joins me to talk about The Herb Gardener.
” Thank you, Nicole, for inviting me to contribute to your blog!
Even though its only available as an e-book until mid-June, Ive already been getting fabulous feedback for my new novel, The Herb Gardener. Readers have been commenting on the good balance between the romance and mystery, and the way the characters develop and interact. Naturally, Im delighted! The only breath of criticism Ive heard so far came from an older reader who said, with a bit of a sniff, that it was a bit sexy. Sigh.
Like my first novel, A Darker Music, this one is set on a farm in Western Australia, but is a very different story, set on a different farm: its more up-beat, for one thing, with a happier ending, at least for the good guys. The setting is one I know well, with the town of Berricup based on a town where I lived for many years, and the farm very similar to one that belonged to friends of mine, where I stayed for a happy time doing the research, drinking in the atmosphere and taking in the details. The olive grove in the story belongs to the real farm, and the dead kangaroo with the front paw missing. I changed the house, though. Well, I had to give the builders something constructive to do!
I think all fiction has to be based on reality if it is to be convincing enough to take the reader along for the ride. The art is in taking bits and pieces of reality memories of people, places and incidents and patch-working them to form a new shape that serves the story you want to tell.
Having always been a great fan of crime and mystery fiction, this is what I set out to write. But, having said that, Im not interested in adding to the endless shelves of police procedurals or tales of psychotic serial killers (excellent though many of them are) but rather in examining the kinds of crimes that can be committed by ordinary people living (apparently) ordinary lives. Im certain that there are crimes committed every day that never become the focus of police investigations; crimes that can seem trivial, although their consequences can be devastating. These are the ones that fascinate me. To make such stories work, though, its necessary to create characters credible enough for their inter-relationships to generate the kinds of tension that can lead to some form of violence.
While Im writing I come to love my characters, both the good and the not-so-good; as I write I stand up close to them, imagining how they feel, hearing their voices And when its finished, I miss them, and wonder what theyre doing now.”
Read some of the great reviews for The Herb Gardener here.
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