Tim Pears on being shortlisted for The Redeemed

11th May, 2020

Watch Tim Pears reading from his 2020 Walter Scott Prize shortlisted book in our exclusive video.

And in this Q&A he talks about writing the final book in his West Country trilogy.

Q: How do you feel about being shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction?

It’s a great honour.

 

Q: Have you ever considered yourself a historical novelist?

Not really, I thought I was a contemporary novelist, it’s been a surprise to find myself writing novels set in the past.

 

Q: How did the people and times you write about in this novel first lodge in your imagination?

My mind returned to the place I grew up – in the West Country – and gradually shifted backwards in time as well. The characters were inspired by particular qualities in people I know, and developed from there.

Research was fundamentally important, and absolutely fascinating – but there are dangers: first, that one will disappear into the research and never come out; second, that the facts will overwhelm the narrative. Who knows whether one succeeded in preventing this?

 

Q: Do you think historical fiction can help in times of crisis like these?

History, whether fiction or fact, can always help. Without it, we are lost in the chaos of the present.

Apart from research,  I normally read one book at a time. For some reason, at the moment I seem to have different books in different rooms, for various times of the day.

Oral history: Voices Against War by Lyn Smith;

Memoirs: A Radical Romance by Alison Light and Corduroy by Adrian Bell;

Novels: Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell and Bosnian Chronicle by the incomparable Ivo Andric.