About Mary Finn
Mary Finn worked for years as a
magazine journalist with Radio Telefis Eireann, the Irish Broadcasting service.
She lives in Dublin with her son and works as a freelance writer. Anila’s
Journey is her debut novel and was inspired by an original 18th Century
portrait, which hangs in the National Gallery of Ireland (and now graces the
front cover), as well as a lifelong fascination with India.
Q&A with Mary
Finn
1. Anila is an incredibly strong and
determined heroine of the story – how easy was it to write her
character?
The first image I had of Anila was of a very small
girl, standing on a flat roof, waiting impatiently for her father. The
second was of her quite a bit older, standing in a room where there were stuffed
birds, making a pitch for her talent as an artist. These images grew into
the two separate narratives Anila tells – her childhood story and her present
adventure. Once I had these two strands, I recognised her character and
what had happened to her and she became very familiar to
me.
2. Where did the inspiration for the story come
from?
Most of it came from the painting,
An Indian
Lady, by Thomas Hickey, from the National Gallery of Ireland, which is
featured on Jim Bunker’s lovely cover design. I thought that the Lady
looked both independent and soulful. People in the Gallery stop and stand for
ages in front of this painting. I began to wonder what the sitter’s life
might have been like. But Anila is not the Lady; nor is the Lady Anila’s
mother. The painting kickstarted my imagination, however, so I bless
it.
3. Although primarily a read for teens, does it also
have a wider appeal and if so, who?When I was writing I wrote
for the reader I am myself, and I am an adult. Adults have told me they
have enjoyed the book very much. Perhaps we are too much inclined to
segregate books by age or genre or whatever. I would not put any age on
what I imagine the readership might be.
4. What authors with similar appeal do you enjoy
reading?
I love the historical novels of Rose Tremain and Sarah Dunant, and, for young
people, Adele Geras. I love Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina and the
stories of Chekhov: they show you a Russia that histories can’t. Even if a
story is contemporary I will be more attracted to it if it opens up a world,
with its detail and colour. The best picture books do this too. I don’t
like sparse plotty things with endless dialogue.
5. It’s very evocative of time and place – what research was
involved in order to write the novel?
Enormous!
Truly. If I had stopped to think and been sane about the project, I would
not have attempted it but I think I was possessed by the need to write Anila’s
story. It’s a period novel, so obviously there was all that history to
discover, but it’s also an investigation into another culture/cultures, another
climate, another eco-system. I read so much, from Bengali folktales
to East India Company ships’ logs to accounts of pianos travelling up the Ganges
in the 1770s. Also lots of modern Indian fiction because novels have so
much useful detail. I found websites which showed me the birds of West Bengal in
wonderful close up. I got lots of useful advice from the Botanic Gardens
in Dublin, a treasure-trove. Best of all, I went to Calcutta eventually and met
the wonderful Bunny Gupta, a historian who steered me past my worst mistakes
(wrong clothes! wrong use of language! wrong names!). But I loved all the
research anyway. I’m a bit wiser now.
6. This is your debut novel. When did you first feel that
one day you’d write a novel?
I can’t really say. I worked
as a writer, as a journalist, so I always wrote for a living. But as a
child I wrote fiction and lots of it. I think I’m just a late starter.
7. What advice can you give would-be children’s authors in
getting published?
I can only relate my own experience. I sent an enormous
(originally the story was much longer) manuscript away to three
publishers. I got encouraging replies from all of them, though equally
they all turned it down. But Walker’s reply was a bit wistful, a bit “we’d
like to see it again if only you would take it in handâ€. So I did, and
they did, and then it all happened very smoothly. They had faith in
it. I can only wish my experience to be replicated for others. One
bit of advice: trust your editor and try to do as she (it’s usually a she)
says. They really do know best.
More About Mary Finn
As a child:
I was an only
girl, with two brothers, and my father adored me, which is a wonderful start for
any young female. On my first ever holiday when I was six, he took me to West
Cork, his home county, a beautiful part of Ireland. I remember saving hay,
which I thought was a heavenly activity that should happen in the city too,
every day. I remember the wind singing in the telephone wires, which I thought
was a noise from another, friendly world, probably heaven. Both my parents
were teachers and reading was just what one did. I was taken to the
library when I was six, and truly I have never left. But I also loved
swimming, and horse-riding (which we couldn't afford) and having Enid
Blyton-type gangs and adventures. I always had good friends.
As an adult:
I still
love West Cork, I still love reading and I still have good friends - some things
last. I know that kindness is the only thing that matters. It's what you
remember most about people at any age. The best thing about being an adult
(there are some, honestly) is that this truth is now hard-wired into your bones.
Also, you really don't mind quite so much what other people think about
you. This is liberating and saves on clothes. Somewhat.
As an artist:
I
wish I WAS an artist. Also a dancer, a singer, a wood turner, a dress
maker, a penguin whisperer. But it seems that if I have to choose then I
am a writer.The best definition I have found of a writer is this: "A writer is
someone who finds writing to be much more difficult than other people do who are
not writers." That's true. It makes you a very good reader
though.
10 Things You Didn't Know About Mary
Finn
1. I make very fine pancakes, real French-slim crepes, that I serve
with maple syrup and proper vanilla ice cream.
2. I love walking around
cities on my own or with a companion. I know my way around Paris quite well by
now.
3. I like cats and dogs equally and for different reasons. Don't believe
for a minute that you have to choose.
4. Scottish accents are the absolute
best, in my book.
5. I have a very desirable blood type - O Neg. - so I feel
obliged to give blood regularly, though I should be better at it.
6. I hate
having to raise my voice. It makes me cross.
7. My son, then four, and I once
met Roald Dahl in Galway.
8. I very much like where I live (Dublin) but I
would prefer it if we had four distinct seasons as they have in New England.
Mind you, I think we used to.
9. I flew a plane twice, for a few minutes.
There was a real pilot around as well, however.
10. I like good
manners. Even babies can have good manners.
More About Mary Finn
