Teen author on path to literary success with ‘Deliverance’
A FORMER Wingen Heights pupil, Christine Pather, who matriculated last year is already on the path to literary success with her debut novel selling internationally.
The book Deliverance is a compelling read about the survival of victims of abuse.
The fictional novel focuses on three teenage siblings and their far from glamorous lives, despite being a part of an elitist family in New York City.
She said the book explores common, but very rarely spoken about realities in the lives of youth when it comes to issues such as abuse and homosexuality – as seen through the experiences of the siblings through different “transitions” in their lives.
Commenting on what was the inspiration behind her book, Pather said: “To be honest, there are so many contributing factors that I wouldn’t even know where to begin. But what I can say is that I did and I still do find inspiration from everyday things that I’ve ever witnessed, heard or have affected me personally.
“But with this story, I focused a lot on the different characters’ strengths. I played to that. I put them all in these situations to see if they’d crumble or if they could overcome their adversities or whatever stood in their way.
“And the reason I played more to this character trait is that I believe this is what made the story.”
The book explores some very strong characters, emotionally, through Skylar, Kylar and Melissa.
“But I also created very weak characters like Richard and Shaney.
“Their strength is what defined them and hence what defined the story. I realised that there was something worthwhile exploring about ‘deliverance’ when I realised that it didn’t mean just because the kids in my story didn’t have a happy beginning, that they couldn’t have a happy middle or end – I wanted to give people hope,” said Pather, “while at the same time still keeping true to the tragedy of the tale.
“I also included a vital part with the problem of a teenage boy (Cameron) being scared to essentially ‘come out’, not only because he was worried about what his father could do, but also because everyone (including his older siblings) still considered him a child. It later can be seen that although Cameron is the youngest, he’s capable of responding to things and acting more maturely than they initially expected of him,” explained Pather.
The characters and storyline in her book are purely fictional, she said.
“I did, however, write about some underlying issues such as abuse and homosexuality. Abuse is a key element in Deliverance because I wanted to focus more on the psychological effects it could have on a person and not just the physical harm.
“Abuse is not a matter to be taken lightly because it’s something that can affect a person detrimentally for a very long time and it’s a really sad thing to have to go through because even after the abuse stops, it doesn’t really because the underlying emotional attributes still linger.
“I also wrote about homosexuality because throughout most of my teenage life I’ve had a few friends and met some new people but they all didn’t want to share who they really were because of fear of how the world would judge them… and personally I think that’s wrong; they should be exactly who they are and not pay any heed to that kind of judgement.”
Pather took a gap year to pursue her literary dreams.
She said she started writing Deliverance when she was 16 and has dedicated the book to her mother.
Raised by a single mother, Pather said she witnessed her mother’s unyielding determination, strength and drive to go after what she wished, hence Pather was strongly motivated to be and do the same.
“Through the book, I wanted to shed some light on the issues mentioned and also write about the possibility of hope for the future because life doesn’t end there.
“I also was inspired to find the perfect balance to meet a reader’s expectations, while still finding ways to exceed it and surprise them which is a part of the writing process that I rather enjoyed,” she said.
While Deliverance is her first publication, Pather is working on a Young Adult fantasy trilogy.