Mutch ado about something: varied careers and inspiration
The Karoo has also left an indelible mark on the Eastern Cape author’s psyche
Armed with a pharmacy degree from Rhodes University, Barbara Mutch set out to help others and it was only years later that she became a published author of three books, two of which are set in the Eastern Cape and surrounds.
Growing up in Gqeberha, Mutch spent family holidays in the Karoo and it left an indelible mark on her psyche, inspiring the plot and characters for books she was to write decades down the line.
“The Karoo was where I first got to experience the dramatic landscape, the endless skies and the cryptic plants that make up the veld. In many ways, its starkness became a metaphor for the life of the housemaid, Ada, in The Housemaid’s Daughter, and the isolation felt by Frances, on arriving in Aloe Glen in The Fire Portrait,” says Mutch.
“Both young women had to struggle for acceptance, both would look out at the koppies and the dry ground and yearn for the softness of rain. Ada learns to play the piano, Frances begins to paint what she sees about her, and in this way they each find a path to the recognition they long for.”
The granddaughter of Irish immigrants who moved to Cradock more than a century ago, Mutch, who divides her time between a home in Surrey, UK and her South African base in Simon’s Town, has a keen interest in history which she researched at Rhodes University’s Cory Library.”
Makhanda itself was also a rich source of inspiration.
“I have always been interested in history and so Grahamstown was a fascinating place to explore, with its rich past.
“My first book, The Housemaid’s Daughter, was set in Cradock, and was inspired by my grandparents’ lives. My grandfather started a branch of Cuthbert’s Shoes in the town, and my grandmother taught music at a local school. She also taught me to play the piano and her influence is felt in the musical theme of this novel.
“The Housemaid’s Daughter became a bestseller and was translated into 14 languages, with the tagline: ‘An epic journey, an uncertain love, an enduring friendship’.”
Since this initial success, Mutch has written another two acclaimed books — The Girl from Simon’s Bay and, her most recent, The Fire Portrait, yet writing was not the career path she originally chose after she matriculated from Collegiate Girls’ High School in Gqeberha.
“I always loved to write but never imagined it would become a career for me! Instead, I headed in a scientific direction,” she says.
“I studied pharmacy because I enjoyed science, especially chemistry and I wanted to translate that into a job that would help people who were ill. It was only many years later that I began to write, as a hobby, never imagining I’d be able to produce a publishable book. It took time. For example, The Housemaid’s Daughter took me six years to research and write. And, as an unknown author, you need not just a good story, but luck and timing on your side.”
Before she hit her keyboard to weave engrossing tales of history and romance, Mutch’s interests, skills and enquiring mind took her in a host of different career directions.
“I have had an eclectic career that has encompassed pharmacy, computing, consulting and, finally, writing. This variety has actually been an unexpected bonus because it has given me the chance to meet people from all walks of life and offered an introduction into worlds I would not have experienced if I’d remained in one field only. All grist to the mill for a novelist.”
A plant enthusiast, Mutch wove this pastime into her latest book, focusing on the arid landscape which makes survival so tough in the Karoo.
“The Fire Portrait was inspired by my interest in the Karoo of my forebears, and the memories of holidays in the region. The stark beauty of the landscape, the unique plants, the resilience needed to survive in such tough conditions, the volatile political scene during the 20th century all fed into the two novels I have written about the area.”
In order to accurately describe the landscape her heroine found herself in, Mutch set about finding the perfect botanical setting for Aloe Glen, the remote hamlet where the young English artist settled in the 1930s.
“It was a time of drought, the Great Depression and the steady march towards World War 2. The setting for the fictional Aloe Glen is a product of imagination and research, situated somewhere along the railway line between Worcester and Matjiesfontein. I spent time — on the ground and via satellite/aerial imagery — looking for an appropriate site. Both Kirstenbosch in Cape Town, and the Karoo Desert Botanical Garden in Worcester, were essential for researching the aloes that Frances, the heroine of the book, paints.”
This meticulous accuracy may have been honed by the scientific rigours of her pharmaceutical studies at Rhodes and her years in this field also crop up in her literary work.
“My pharmacy background does weave its way into my books — albeit discreetly. In The Housemaid’s Daughter, when Ada’s young daughter becomes ill and is prescribed medication, the pharmacist is at pains to describe the dosage instructions and to make sure the child completes the course. In The Fire Portrait, I was able to draw on my experience to describe the demise of one of the characters and in The Girl from Simon’s Bay, the heroine works in a hospital to a strict regime of patient care.”
Mutch, who is working on a new book, has a home in Simon’s Town, the setting for The Girl from Simon’s Bay.
“It’s heritage as a British naval base for a century-and-a-half provides wonderful material and a dramatic setting. My novel explores that heritage and was published in 2017. It follows the life of a local nurse, Louise Ahrendts, who meets a Royal Navy officer during World War 2. Will he survive the conflict? Can their forbidden relationship develop? And how will she be affected by the evictions of the 1960s?”
Simon’s Town is also the setting for the inaugural Books on the Bay, the Simon’s Town Literary Festival where Mutch will be speaking to broadcaster Nancy Richards about The
Girl from Simon’s Bay on March 10.