' I want to create a World out of herds '
Jodi Picoult has sold 14 million books - and counting. She tells Anna Bonet why she wants to make us all a little uncomfortable…
YOU HAVE USED YOUR NOVELS TO TACKLE COMPLEX ISSUES, SUCH AS ORGAN DONATION. WHY IS THIS?
I want them to start a discussion. I don’t just want my books to take readers away, but also make them reflect. That often means making people uncomfortable, but that way they’ll learn something about themselves.
WHY HAVE YOU CHOSEN TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE OF ABORTION RIGHTS IN YOUR NEW NOVEL, A SPARK OF LIGHT ?
When I was in college, a close friend decided to terminate her pregnancy at seven weeks, and I completely supported her. Then,
20 years later, I was pregnant with my third child and spotting heavily at seven weeks. I was devastated because, to me, that was already a baby (thankfully, everything was fine). It made me realise that one woman can draw the line differently in her own life depending on what’s going on at the time.
IT’S CERTAINLY A CONTENTIOUS ISSUE IN TRUMP’S AMERICA…
Firstly – it’s not his America! But, yes, I wanted to join the debate. As a writer, I feel I have a responsibility to educate. If you’re fortunate enough to have people listening to you, you think about what you’re going to say.
HOW DID YOU RESEARCH THE NOVEL?
I visited the southern states, which are more conservative than where I’m from. I spoke to anti-abortion activists, went to clinics and even observed procedures, speaking to the women who were having terminations.
THE NOVEL MOVES BACKWARDS IN TIME FROM THE OPENING SCENE. WHY DID YOU WRITE IT IN THAT WAY?
Ever since reading First Light by Charles Baxter I’ve wanted to take on that challenge. I knew this was the right novel to try it with – if I could pull it off, the structure would become a metaphor, because you’re going back towards the moment of conception.
HOW DO YOU WRITE?
I get up at 7am and go for a run or walk. I reply to my fan mail (about 250 messages a day). Then I go to my attic to write. It has a window overlooking the backyard and I have a big desk with my computer and piles of research. I’ll pull up whatever I was writing the day before, edit it, then carry on writing where I left off. I don’t aim for a certain number of words a day, but I’ll stay there until 5pm.
DOES ALL THE FAN MAIL MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE A CELEBRITY?
No, but I do get recognised sometimes. Recently, at the Whitney Museum in
New York, a little girl came up to me and whispered, ‘Are you Jodi Picoult?’ like it was a secret. She told me I was her favourite writer and we took a picture – it was so sweet.
WHICH BOOK HAS INFLUENCED YOU?
Gone With The Wind made me want to be a writer. I read it when I was 12 and I remember thinking: she [Margaret Mitchell] created this whole world out of words – I want to do that.
WHAT DO YOU HAVE IN THE PIPELINE?
I went to Egypt earlier this year to research my next novel. The idea behind it is: who would you be if you weren’t who you are now? What if your life had taken just one tiny fork, and you wound up in a different place?
A Spark Of Light by Jodi Picoult (Hodder & Stoughton, £16.99) out 30th October