Author Sally Gardner answers our questions!

Back in May/June we read I, Coriander by Sally Gardner. At our meeting that month the book group came up with some questions that they wanted to ask the author. We sent them to Sally, and I'm very excited to be able to post her replies below...

Sally Gardner

What was your inspiration for I, Coriander?

I had the image of a little girl standing at the top of a staircase, looking down and seeing rain beating on the window and a light in a study below. The next part was to get her to walk down the stairs and look in the room, where I discovered there was a man sitting at his desk with a wooden chest in front of him which had light coming from it. I just wanted to know what was in the box and who the man was. This is how the story began.

Were the characters based on anyone you know?

My characters are never based on one person, but are an amalgamation of lots of people, you only the need yeast of somebody to make a loaf.

 

Why did you choose to base the story in that period of history?

I wanted to find a period in history where we had total repression in England, where people were living in a dictatorship. The interim of Oliver Cromwell was such a time. I'm very interested in the historical places that lie between the more glamourous and epic historical moments. It was also the introduction of the scientific man over the superstitious man. Science was to win, but this was a transitional time when people still believed in fairies and magic, a time when they thought that alchemy made gold.

 Did you have to do a lot of research of that time?

Yes, I always do lots of research for my books. I was left a library of primary and secondary sources by a friend of my fathers and that was invaluable. Anything I couldn't find there I found in libraries around London.

Lots of the characters in the book have unusual or interesting names - Coriander, Maud Leggs, Tarbett Purman, Arise Fell, Master Thankless - how did you choose them?

Master Thankless was the name of Samuel Pepys' tailor in real life and I found his name in the Museum of London. Arise Evans was a real man who belonged to the Fifth Monarchists - he was completely bonkers and I thought I should change his name a bit to reflect his rise and fall. Coriander's name needed to stand out and at the same time be broken down into a common religious name/context: 'An' (Anne).

Which character was the most fun to write?

Arise Fell and Maud Leggs because I love creating evil, cruel characters and knowing that I will be able to kill them off or have my revenge on them later in the book.
Have you been tempted to write a sequel?

No, never. I feel it stands alone and it's for people to make up their own minds about how Coriander's future unfolds. The reader can write the rest of her story.

What is your favourite children's book of all time?

I have lots, but I love 'Wind in The Willows' because it conjures up a world that you want to live in - all you want to do is meet Ratty with the picnic basket and go off down the road, or meet toad and have a drive in his car...

Who has been your greatest influence?

I think Angela Carter, Charles Dickens and the Brothers Grimm.

What do you most enjoy about being a writer?

I don't think I'd be able to get a job doing anything else! I love that I'm able to make up my own stories and that other people like them and enjoy reading them makes me one of the luckiest people in this world.

How has your dyslexia affected your life?

When I was young I was very badly bullied because of it, by both teachers and classmates. I couldn't read a whole book or write properly until I was 13 - geography, mathematics are very long words and they were the normal things I was shut out of. I was left alone in school in terms of tuition, expelled from a lot of schools because of my learning difficulties. For sixteen years people thought I was stupid. But luckily my character was strong enough to pull through it, and I had my imagination which is where the story telling began - as a way to escape and in my head I created the books that I couldn't read. So dyslexia has been an imperative part of me becoming a writer.

Are you writing anything at the moment, and if so, what can you tell us about it?

The Double Shadow is my latest novel for young adults. It comes out in November is what you could call a family sci-fi saga. It's very different from my other novels and was the hardest book I've had to write so far. The following blog gives a good summary of it: http://www.lovelytreez.com/?p=473.

Many thanks to Sally for her fascinating insights.