Author Interview: Meg Rosoff

Today I have the honour of welcoming one of my favourite authors to the blog, Meg Rosoff. She’s won prizes all over the shop and blown me away continuously with her novels. Picture Me Gone, Meg’s sixth novel, is a gorgeous look at how sometimes it’s the journey that provides the answers rather than the destination.

1. I never know what to expect from your next novel; each is so unique and different to the last. Is this something you aim for?

I have a bit of a horror of writing the same thing over and over so I really try to avoid repeating voices or themes of stories. I also have a lot of subjects I want to explore – gender, power, sexuality, parents and children...so I don't really need to repeat. Yet.

2. Mila’s realisation that adults don't always have the answers is an inevitable one, but not one that usually so clearly cut. Why did you decide to make it such a focus of Picture Me Gone?

YA novels nearly always get rid of parents or have terrible parents in them, and I was interested in a child who has a really good relationship with her parents – but still has to negotiate the limitations of adult wisdom.

3. The snowy landscape of upstate New York seemed to complement the feelings of all the characters in Picture Me Gone. Do you think that settings can be as important to a novel as the characters and plotline?

Definitely. How I Live Now opens with an amazingly beautiful springtime that contrasted strongly with the outbreak of war. In Picture Me Gone, winter is a time of burrowing in and wearing layers of clothing – maybe a time to hide secrets under many layers of stories as well.

A few quick ones!

4. Favourite story world?

Not sure what you mean by this. If you mean what story world do I most like to disappear into, it would definitely be stories of the early 20^th century explorers who climbed Everest and K2 and Annapurna. I find them riveting.

5. Dream holiday location?

The Suffolk coast, overlooking the North Sea.

6. Current read?

I’m reading Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo, about the lives of rubbish pickers in the slums of Mumbai. It’s amazing.

Thanks so much Meg! I implore you to pick up one of Meg’s novels and discover what I love so much about them. Picture Me Gone is out now!

Sophie

Why are tearjerkers so appealing?

A few weeks ago, I was watching a booktuber talk about her top ten tearjerkers (I can't for the life of me remember who...) and I started mentally listing all of my favourite tearjerkers. I had so many more than ten! Most people hate to cry so what’s so appealing about bawling along to a good book? Why is it seen as something so intensely powerful? Why do we put ourselves through the agony over and over again??

When a book makes me sob then I know it’s good. They may sound silly, but I don't cry easily and if characters that aren’t real, experiencing things that aren’t real provoke such a physically emotional reaction from me then that author is doing something right. That writer has woven their woven their words around their characters in such a way that they became real. They became so important to me that their pain was my pain. Such a strong connection is made and those books leave a mark.

For me, there’s something very different about crying when reading to crying for myself. One I enjoy and the other I avoid at all cost. And yet I’ve read The Fault in Our Stars twice, Lynda Waterhouse’s Soul Love countless times and I have fond thoughts about the final four books of the Vampire Academy series. It’s these kinds of books that stay in my heart and in my thoughts, and ones that I recommend over and over again.

Do you like a good tearjerker? Do you have a favourite? Why do you think there’s such an appeal to them?

Sophie

Blast From the Past: The Book Thief

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Orginally published in 2005 by Picador (Australia)

My edition: 2012 paperback from Definitions

What’s it about?

Narrated by Death and set in Nazi Germany, The Book Thief tells the tale of Liesel, a stealer of books. Moved to a new town to live with new parents alone, this is her struggle to survive as the bombs begin to fall.

Why now?

With the film adaptation currently filming, I’ve been flooded with screen shots, trailer reaction and gorgeous, gorgeous quotes and I’m feeling rather left out. And it’s Jenny from Wondrous Reads’ favourite book and I trust her taste.

The verdict:

I feel like everybody loves this book. It’s one of those books that everyone has reacted so viscerally to that they have to tell every person they talk to about it. I was looking forward to discovering a book like that. Sadly, I was disappointed.

As I started The Book Thief, I was wracked with nerves. Will I love it? Will it take me forever? Will it destroy my heart? I was thoroughly surprised by how easy it was to read and I sped through it. At just under 600 pages, I never thought I’d have this review ready for today but I read it in two days! Zusak’s writing is stunning and so involving. Death’s narration is such a unique view point and I love the way that he discussed humans and their lives. And yet I still didn't fall in love with The Book Thief.

I’m rather wary of war novels. They put me o edge in ways that I don't enjoy and can't quite pin point. I felt none of that with The Book Thief and yet the novel was a stark portrayal of a view of World War Two that doesn’t get considered very often: the German everyman. You’re not taught about the effect on the average person flinching under the rule of Hitler, about the people who don't buy into his poisonous words, the ones who risk their lives for the persecuted. It’s eye-opening and heart-breaking, and yet I still wasn’t feeling the connection I wanted to.

Leisel, while a brilliant and engaging heroine, didn’t stick in my heart anywhere. Only Hans, Leisel’s foster dad, and Rudy Steiner, Leisel’s best friend, had any impact on me. They were the most complex and interesting characters in the novel, bar Death himself and Max. And yet, with everything that happened in the final chapters, the bit that I was warned would make me sob my heart out, nothing. I didn't even get choked up! And I think it was merely down to the fact that I didn't connect with the characters properly. It’s a shame and I definitely finished the novel disappointed that my heart was in one piece and I didn't go back to work with tear-streaked cheeks.

Still not convinced?

-  You want to see the film right? You know the rules: book before film.

-  It’s narrated by Death.

Sophie

Finding It - Cora Carmack

Pages: 323

Publisher: Ebury Digital

Release Date: 10^th October 2013

Edition: e-proof

Source: NetGalley

Other Titles by this Author: Losing It, Keeping Her, Faking It

Kelsey Summers is looking for love in all the wrong places.

Spending a few months travelling around Europe – with no parents, no responsibilities and a no limit credit card – Kelsey’s having the time of her life.

But when she completely embarrasses herself in front of the hottest guy she’s ever seen, she soon realises there’s more to life than the next party.

What she doesn’t realise is that although she’s on a journey to find herself, she will end up finding The One...

I thoroughly enjoyed Finding It and I thought it was a huge improvement on Losing It. I think I’m becoming a Cora Carmack fan.

To me, Carmack’s writing didn’t have the faults I found in it with her first novel and it was striking enough that I noticed it within pages. The clichés were more or less gone; the characterisation was stronger, though there were a few stereotypes; and I sensed a firmer style in Finding It. Through her characters and their actions, Carmack has a bold, intense and current prose style that I started to really like and connect with this time around. I didn’t find myself cringing or grimacing at the writing at any point like I did in Losing It on occasion.

I loved the backdrop of Europe for Kelsey’s story. I really disliked her in Losing It in the way she tried to push Bliss into losing her virginity and I was a little hesitant about reading a novel surrounding her. She surprised me though. Her development over the novel is fantastic and some more of her mind and history is revealed and hinted at with each chapter. The tension caused by this between her and Hunt was intense and well done. Though I do think that though what she experienced was awful, I do believe it was a clichéd way out.

Carmack brought me back in after that disappointment with Hunt’s secrets. I found myself guessing something different with every couple of chapters and the big reveal was completely unexpected; I was definitely impressed. I also loved the way it pushed Kelsey to take on her own issues and make some difficult and brave decisions. To have this grand adventure against the background of Europe was all of the ‘ic’s: dramatic, romantic and epic. It made me even more determined to go on that trip myself, if only I had daddy’s limitless credit card to fund it like Kelsey did...

I flew through Finding It and became really invested in Kelsey and Hunt’s story so I’ll definitely be getting my hands of Faking It and looking forward to Cora Carmack’s next novel.

Thanks to Ebury Digital/NetGalley for the review copy.

Sophie