THE DARKER SIDE OF NICE
Author sets tale in Southern France
The award-winning author/ screenwriter/playwright Emma Donoghue is a mindful traveller, but not in the meditative, pay attention to the moment, without judgment kind of way.
No, Donoghue’s mindfulness has a distinct purpose. It’s there to register and record everyday experiences as potential fodder for future stories.
Take, for example, Donoghue’s latest novel Akin. The book is set mostly in Nice, France, and it tells the story of an almost 80-year-old professor who has, through sad circumstances, been entrusted with the care of his 11-year-old great-nephew. The street-smart kid lands on the man’s doorstep on the eve of his trip to Nice to revisit his childhood home and to get to the bottom of a family mystery dating to the Second World War.
The author of the huge literary hit Room (shortlisted for the 2010 Booker Prize) and screenwriter of the movie of the same name (Donoghue was nominated for an adapted-screenplay Academy Award) spent considerable time in Nice over the last decade before writing this book.
“I’m always taking notes. It can give an extra thrill even to a weekend trip,” Donoghue said from her home in London, Ont. “It was really that in Nice. When I was mugged by a seagull, for instance, I remember thinking I’ll use this. I’m losing my lunch, but I will put this in the book.”
And she did. Donoghue adds that this location in particular wasn’t just a place to collect stories, but it also became the backdrop for all the stories, making it the first location to actually inspire a whole Donoghue novel.
“It’s a funny mixture. It is an international touristy city, but it is also very French as well,” Donoghue said about the Southern France locale. “It’s very modern. It’s all about pleasure and hedonism and so on, but also it has so many traces of World War II in particular. So it really intrigued me and I thought I could write a novel about quite dark things but set in this very sunny, touristy setting, which makes it a much more interesting mixture. It was the first time I’ve ever written a book because of living somewhere.”
A native of Dublin who has called Canada home since the late 1990s, Donoghue will be talking about the Nice novel and other topics when she is here Oct. 22 for An Evening with Emma Donoghue, one of the marquee events at this year’s Vancouver Writers Festival (Oct. 21-27).
One of those other topics will undoubtedly be Room.
In Room, the story is told from the perspective of a young boy who is being held captive in a small room with his mother. It’s the pair’s relationship that anchors the story. Akin — while it has no criminal and disturbing plot lines and is expansive in terms of geography and time — does see Donoghue delivering another adult/kid relationship that at times can also seem confining.
“Yes, I do like it when people are in some sense trapped together. It’s like Sartre’s line that hell is other people. I enjoy that,” said Donoghue.
Donoghue’s life is busy. She has many projects on the go, including a novel and a film version of her novel The Wonder. And adapting Charlotte Bronte’s last novel Villette into a TV series.
She is also raising 15- and 11-year-old kids, so she says it’s not uncommon to see her typing away on her laptop while she sits in the dentist’s waiting room or in a parked car.
Adding to that packed schedule is the promotion of a book.
“It’s a bit of an effort to go on the road, but on the other hand you have fun times, especially if you can run into friends or relatives as you go along,” said Donoghue. “You certainly eat better. I frequently think, ‘Oh, I wouldn’t be having charred octopus if I was home with the kids.’ "
While Akin is her latest work, Donoghue knows that no matter its success, or the success of other future projects, Room will always be a part of the conversation.
“I never expect to have another Room. I think I was very lucky on hitting on an idea that was so capturing and I certainly don’t expect that to happen every time. It was such a fluke. It sold so many millions of copies,” said Donoghue. “I just feel like I want to keep writing the books that obsess me and get them published. Luckily, because of Room, they tend to reach more readers than they used to, so that’s a permanent plus, really.”
Adding to the life of Room is an upcoming theatrical adaptation. The play, penned by Donoghue, is set to premiere next spring in London, Ont., before moving to Toronto. Donoghue, who already has a large handful of plays under her belt, said it was nice to return to this form for Room, and that adapting it to the stage was easier than writing the movie.
“What do I do? So I got about a dozen books on film writing from Chris’ (her partner Prof. Chris Roulston) university library and I remember feeling like a total loser.
“When you’re checking them out, you’re kind of embarrassed that the librarians see you. Then, you know, you get to the Oscars,” Donoghue said, with a chuckle.