Here is an extract from a virtual interview with Books 4 Spain
Twitter: @books4spain
What inspired you to write Death in the Sun and
how much did you know about Spain before writing it?
The
villagers in the real Almagen love a rumour and from time to time they refer to
a woman being buried up the mountain. And you only have to drive through the
dilapidated plastic farms on the Almeria coast to have shivers up and down the
spine. It's very sinister. I have been to Spain every year since I was
seventeen (that's lot of years) and have had a village house in the
Alpujarras for a dozen years. My understanding of Spain was formed on that
first trip when I visited Franco's tomb at Val de los Caidos outside Madrid and
sat with battalions of old men in suits weeping on the steps outside. They were
weeping for Franco. I didn't understand. On subsequent trips I formed a love
for the desolate Extremadura region which is landlocked and produced a
generation of sailors who found the New World. With Spain, it is certainly a
case of 'the more you know, the less you know'.
What did you learn about Spain, its people,
culture and history as a result of writing Death in the Sun.
The taboos
around the Civil War are beginning to fade, but very slowly, and as guirris, we
are still very much on eggshells, but you can have conversations now that
wouldn't have been possible, say, 15 years ago. The war itself, at a local
level and forgetting (if we can) the brutality of Franco, had little that was
good on either side. The longer history, of Moors and flamenco and bullfighting
is still prevalent and an infathomable puzzle to the outsider.
Would you set another one of your novels in Spain?
I have every
intention of doing so. The long story-line of the DI Staffe series requires him
to track down and encounter the killer of his parents: an ETA terrorist in
hiding in Extremadura - still my favourite part of Spain. I would love to write
a history of Spain as told through its fiestas. I would even do all the
research myself!
Do you remember your first encounter with Spain
and, if so, what was it?
In Barcelona
1978, a mussel fisherman mistook me for his nephew and insisted on taking me
home to his wife, who fed me and told him he was a fool. They kept us for three
days. Barcelona was a dusty and dangerous place then, more like Tangiers than
its modern self and the only way we could get from Barcelona to Madrid was to
stow away on an army bus. It nearly got us arrested.
Has your encounter with Spanish culture changed
the way you live?
I certainly
like to hop from bar to bar in England as in Spain, and go out to meet new
people and have new conversations, which is how it works in Spain but I am fundamentally
reserved in a way that defines me as immovably English and whilst I live to a
totally different rhythm when in Andalucia, there is very little of that
domestic routine which I bring back with me to England. When I'm home in
Derbyshire I automatically become slightly less gregarious and flamboyant and
eat more potatoes and less rice, though our intake of Ribera and Rioja is
probably above the national average and we always have a Recebo jamon on the
go.
Is there one thing in particular about Spain
that you love?
Speaking in a
foreign language is peculiarly liberating, especially when you lack command.
People seem to like a well-meaning buffoon. It's a cliche, but the sun does
make an enormous difference to one's life, outlook, and behaviour. Drinking
brandy in the village square until two in the morning, watching children play
and waiting for it to become cool enough to sleep is the greatest joy.
Is there one thing in particular about Spain
that drives you mad?
The
middle class of my generation can be terribly snobbish and when you look at how
'far' Spain has come since 1975 that is probably not surprising but often I
find it easier to get on with the old and young in Spain. I suspect the racist
tendency is a manifestation of this and I was appalled watching the Spain-Italy
game in the Prado district of Madrid (like Kensington) to witness the abuse
that Mario Balotelli received. Lewis Hamilton gets the same.
People are always very curious about a writer’s
daily routine, do you have a set routine or is it ever-changing?
I prefer the
mornings and also like writing on the hoof. When in Spain, I have a routine in
which I go for bread and fruit first thing in the morning, then to my friend
Eduardo's Bar Fuente where he lets me sit in the comedor. I write 500 words
over a cortado, then have a chat. Then another 500 words over a sol y sombra. I
know when it's going well because there'll be another 500 words over a glass of
his own 'Terreno' wine. Sometimes, the day just drifts straight into lunch. There's
a whole section on the Writer's Life on my website adamcreed.co.uk (awful plug,
I know!)
If you had to recommend one book to someone who
knew very little about Spain, which one would you recommend them to read.
Robert Elms'
love of Spain is infectious and he wrote a book called 'Spain' about 20 years
ago. It is a snapshot of modern Spain in evolution. If that is out of print, it
would be Giles Tremlett's, 'Ghosts of Spain'.
What book are you reading at the moment?
'A Late
Dinner' by Paul Richardson.
