Author's debut novel set to be worldwide hit

A novel written by a Guernsey author is set to be launched around the world and has already received praise from well-known authors.

Mary Horlock's "The Book of Lies" is her very first novel and it has been picked up by the world's leading publishers for global distribution.

The book tells the story of two Guernsey children who lived decades apart, and features many well-known local locations, such as Clarence Battery.

While many books may have been set during the Occupation, the book is certainly original in the way it is set both in the 1980s and in the 1940s.

Mary explained: "Well it's a story which is set both in the 1980s and in the 1940s. And it begins with the story of a girl called Catherine Rozier who's a teenager in 1985. And she is about to confess to a terrible crime which is she's just killed her best friend.

"But intercut with Catherine's story is a story of her uncle; his name's Charlie, and he is also making a terrible confession about all the things that happened to him much earlier during the German Occupation. And the two stories interweave together."

After leaving Guernsey to study History of Art at Cambridge, Mary became a curator at the Tate Gallery before she started writing. And Mary says it was always thoughts of home that inspired her.

She said: "I know Guernsey so well, and whenever I sat down to write, I imagined myself back in my old bedroom, looking out over the cliffs above Fermain Bay."

"Although I had lived in London for years, I have always felt that Guernsey is my home, and not just because I still have family there. When I am in London, I miss the sea, the cliffs and the quiet.

They are, they are. Well I was brought up on the cliffs just above Fermain Bay and when I sat down to write I always imagine myself back here.

"I always used to walk along part of the cliffs and think well this would be a very good place for a murder. So it really came from that. And I thought if I wanted to write a book about Guernsey I didn't want to just use it as a scenic backdrop. I really wanted to get to grips with both the geography and the history.

"I have to say that I felt very strongly that there still was another book to be written which talks about some of the things that people don't want to talk about in terms of the Occupation. And because Catherine's a teenager she has that brilliant ability to sort of touch people's nerves and sort of say the things that other people might be afraid to say. So there's a lot of bringing out the myths and all the sort of scandals about the Occupation and I thought it was really interesting from the point of view of someone who lived in Guernsey to talk about that because that hasn't really been done before."

The novel is being launched by publishing giants Canongate in the UK and by Harper Collins in the US and Canada, as well as by Text in Australia.

Novelist Hanif Kureishi CBE, who was named by The Times as one of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945, heaped praise on the novel, saying it is 'an unforgettable and brilliant debut. It establishes Mary Horlock as an original, compelling and powerful new voice in British fiction'.

From Channelonline.


Well, this certainly looks interesting and may help feature Guernsey to a wider audience. Will you read the book? [survey at top]




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