April Book- Almost English

happytraveller

Thanks so much for the copy of Almost English; I've just finished reading it. The Hungarian ladies are so wonderfully drawn. Reminds me of my German gran and her sister who were visiting when I had just come home from a first date. Their two questions were 'Vere did you go?' and 'Vot did you eat?' When I said 'To a Wimpy Bar,' they looked at each other and repeated in unison 'Vimpee Bar? Vot is Vimpee Bar? Have you been drinking? Vot is this boy doing taking you to drinking place?'

I did want to smack Laura for being such a ditherer and it did seem to make the story a little longer than I would have liked but, again, if Laura was perfect then there wouldn't have been a story would there. As for Peter, I found myself saying out loud 'Don't listen to him! Tell him to get lost! I bet he hasn't got Cancer!'

Charlotte, what was the inspiration behind these characters? Did you completely fabricate them or were they based on people in your circle?

Thanks very much for such an enjoyable read.

So glad you liked my Hungarians...yes, exactly re: your German relatives. The cross-examination, the outspokenness, the humour and outrage...so familiar.
The inspiration was largely that my Hungarian-speaking maternal grandparents, to whom I was very close, had both died and I missed them terribly, so I wanted to bring them and their world back to life. I did think about telling more of their wartime/post-war stories, but in the end decided that it was their life in England, as foreigners, and relationship with their English granddaughter, that was most important to me.

eppinggran

I think being considered for the Booker counts as success! Interested how you (or indeed authors generally) would measure it though - is it books sold, money made or is acclaim enough?

Good answer, Eppinggran! Thank you. I think if I were the kind of person who felt satisfied with myself, I probably wouldn't be a writer...
Good question too...it depends on the author, I think. My problem is that my day-job is as an editor at a book publisher, so I tend to worry about sales more than perhaps I should. Acclaim is lovely, and cheering. To be honest, though, someone saying how much they loved and related to the novels is one of the highlights.

jackiemc24

I have just started 'Almost English'. Really enjoying it so far. Why haven't I heard of Charlotte Mendelson before?!

It's a mystery...

nanananana

Thank you for my copy. I loved this book. Charlotte were you surprised to be longlisted for the Booker?

Yes, very! I find the best way to deal with prizes is never to expect anything, so that when anything happens it's a marvellous shock. I don't expect Booker triumph in the near future, I admit...too many jokes.

dippedydo

I read this one and also like several others on here When We Were Bad which I liked very much. So yes please suggestions and also I would like to know more about what you are writinf now

So glad you liked WWWB; am proud of that as it was shortlisted for the Orange/Bailey's, which was a huge thrill. Daughters of Jerusalem, my second, is very close to my heart; it's set in Oxford, the completely bonkers town where I grew up, and features, once again, a mother and daughter. Families are my favourite subject, clearly...

pattieb

Many thanks for my copy of Almost English.
I have just started reading it and am enjoying it immensely
I wonder what the hardest part of writing the book was?

interesting question, Pattieb. I think the hardest part was separating my fictional characters from their inspiration. My grandmother was such a powerful influence on me, so loved and much-missed and also so extraordinary, that it was difficult NOT to write about her...but if I'd done that it would have been a memoir, not a novel. I had to invent characters who interested me as much as she did, but who weren't her. Does that make sense?

Stansgran

I haven't read this yet but had reread When we were bad recently and looked at it very differently from my first reading.may I ask if you would ever write a sequel ? I just want to know how they all turn out. I really didn't want that book to end. Your latest I downloaded a sample and it's in the queue to to be read.

Thank you Stansgran. I have an elderly blind friend (a neighbour) who listened to When We Were Bad on audio and is FURIOUS with me for not having written her a sequel. She regularly asks me what happened to Claudia, has Frances sorted herself out, etc etc...
How do YOU think they turned out? Love to know.

minky

I'm another one who enjoyed When We Were Bad to the point that when I read Almost English (shortly afterwards) I kept thinking the family was Jewish when they weren't. Is your heritage/religion important to you? Do you find it a good source for inspiration?

hello Minky - so glad you enjoyed WWWB. I think the point of the family in AE is that it's their foreignness, primarily, which makes them interesting, and also which gives Marina her sense of outsiderishness. And as I'd written about Jewishness in WWWB, I wanted to explore a different subject.
It's very cheering how often people say 'my family is Irish Catholic/Greek/Indian etc. and are JUST like the ones in your book'; feeling different and outsiderish is so common that it really doesn't matter what flavour one's background is to identify with that. But, yes, my MittelEuropean heritage is incredibly important to me, and I loved being able to explore it when writing the book.

Naninahat

As an aspiring writer I've often written what I think are great ideas for stories. I've even written a few chapters of one or two until I've got a little lost - so my question is really about planning. Do you plan meticulously your books, and if so how (I'm hoping to get a few tips!) Thank You.

hello Naninahat - I'd say your username is definitely a good start! I don't plan very carefully, as I tend to think that's more suited to the work of crime/thriller writers...for me and I think most literary writers it's more a question of working out who the characters are as you go along. I do keep copious notes though. Good for you for trying to write, and getting started - it isn't easy, and determination is the only answer.

jeggings

Following on from naninahat's question - did you get published on your first attempt or did you go the JK Rowling route of getting turned down al ot first? Like many on here I would love to write but my experiences so far have been a little demorialising

Jeggings, it IS demoralising, and the silly thing is that (see my answer to Eppinggran) even when there are successes it's hard to see them as that. I'm sorry you've had bad experiences so far.
My first novel was published, but turned down by several publishers before Picador took it on. So much depends on what sort of a mood the person who reads it is in - as for all of us. So the fact that someone has turned down a novel doesn't mean it's bad, just that they didn't like it personally.
The best advice I can give is to try to turn off the voice which says, particularly to women I think, 'oh you're rubbish, who are you to try? No one wants to know what YOU think' etc etc, and just...WRITE! Then, if you get as far as writing a chapter, then another, just try to go on, and then eventually get hold of the Writers' and Artists' Yearbook, and see what it says about how to find a literary agent. But the most important thing is to stop being hard on yourself, and just...WRITE!

marigolds

Oh dear sorry I am yet another aspiring writer. Do you think the saying that everyone has got a book in them is true? And what are your feelings on self publishing?

Don't apologise! Lovely to hear from you all. It's an interesting question. All of us have had experiences of love and hatred and longing and suffering, so all of us potentially have the material which could underlie a novel. But tuning into what would make the novel interesting - and, in fact, having the stamina to write it! - is much trickier.
Self-publishing...it depends on if the most important thing is to have your words/life preserved for friends/family, or if it's to write the best novel you're capable of doing. If the former, then self publishing is perfect. If the latter, personally I'd say keep working on it until it's good enough to be taken on by an agent, but that's just my view...

aybee

Thank you for my copy of the book which I really liked. I found it very easy to visusalise both the characters and the action - do you think it would make a good film? Are there plans for any of your books to appear on screen large or small?

Thanks Aybee - yes, there's been some interest; When We Were Bad is a bit further along that path though. I'd love it to happen, of course, but am not holding my breath...

marina

I am a Marina too! Rather different from yours I think (hope)

I really enjoyed the book and loved the old sisters - are they figments of your imagination or are they based on people you know?

Then HAALlo, darlink. So glad you liked the book; thank you. They are inspired by my own elderly foreign relatives, though very different from them...

Mrsjunction

Thanks so much for this book... I wanted to know what fascinates you so much about being different - your books seem to focus on characters who are exotic or living far from where they came from...is this because of your own background or is it just an area that interests you?

Interesting...well, first I think that most of us who read fiction, and most writers, have some experience of feeling a bit outsiderish, don't you think? And in my own case, despite looking somewhat and sounding VERY English, I've never felt very English, because although both I and my parents were born here, my grandparents weren't. And, because I was so close to them, and saw them constantly, I never felt quite English enough to belong. Does that make sense?
Also, as a writer, I most enjoy describing characters in quite tight communities, whether it's a family, or a school, or a workplace, who have secret hopes and fears which must be kept secret.

CariGransnet

CharlotteMendelson

aybee

Thank you for my copy of the book which I really liked. I found it very easy to visusalise both the characters and the action - do you think it would make a good film? Are there plans for any of your books to appear on screen large or small?

Thanks Aybee - yes, there's been some interest; When We Were Bad is a bit further along that path though. I'd love it to happen, of course, but am not holding my breath...

Oooooh <keeps fingers firmly crossed>

Thank you! Hope you can still turn pages...