The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Carole Johnstone’s Mirrorland delves into the misty depths of memory, writes Nora McElhone
There can be fewer better accolades for a debut novel than a glowing review from a bestselling author. For Scottish writer Carole Johnstone, who has set her debut novel Mirrorland in an unsettling underworld, positive feedback from none other than Stephen King has been a dream come true.
“King was my very first writer crush,” she enthuses. “I started reading his books when I was 14 years old, and I’ve been reading them ever since. When I wrote Mirrorland, I chose a quote from Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption as its epigraph, partly because the story features in the novel itself, but mostly because Stephen King’s writing has had such a huge influence on mine.
“To have my writing compared to his in any capacity at all is as difficult to get my head around as seeing his wonderful blurb on the cover of my own novel!”
In Mirrorland, Carole explores the relationship of a set of twin sisters whose lives take different paths. When one of the sisters goes missing, a journey back into Mirrorland beneath the imposing Edinburgh home of their childhood ensues for her twin.
According to Carole the inspiration for her story’s setting was her grandparents’ “big creepy, and very eccentric house in Leith where I spent a significant amount of my childhood”.
The idea of exploring memory and its ability to change and adapt over time has always intrigued the writer and it seemed fitting that she should explore it in her debut novel: “I’m fascinated by memory,” she says.
“In particular, the rather unnerving fact that all of our memories are, to a greater or lesser degree, false. Every time we call up a specific memory, depending on our mood or why we’ve chosen to recall it, we attach new emotions, perceptions and interpretations to that memory. We overwrite it.”
As a result, says Carole, “the significant memories, the big ones we return to again and again, become the ones we can trust the least”.
Take a mistrust of memory and throw in a complicated twin relationship and you certainly have the recipe for an intriguing story that reflects Carole’s love of Agatha Christie. “I love stories that are full of clues and twists and misdirection. The most satisfying thing for me as a writer is if I manage to completely change a reader’s mind about an event or a person, so that what they believed at the beginning of a book is entirely changed by the time they reach its end.”
Her twin central characters are another fascinating source of material for the author. “Twins, particularly identical twins, are so interesting to write about,” she reveals. “Because they have such a unique perspective. Their bonds are generally much stronger; you have to wonder what it would take to break them.”
Anyone who agrees with King (and who are we to argue) and loves Mirrorland won’t have too long to wait for Carole’s second book, which is already in the pipeline. “I am editing it as we speak – although I can’t say too much about it yet. It’s a very unusual murder mystery set in the Outer Hebrides.”