Cathie Hartigan

Cathie Hartigan-

Cathie Hartigan was a pianist and a music teacher until she swapped keyboards and became a writer and teacher of creative writing. She talks to us today about the novel that has impacted her the most… 

A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth

The sheer size of Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy creates an impact. Its fat spine takes up four books-worth of space on the shelf. I took this monster thirteen hundred page novel with me on holiday twenty years ago and although I was in Italy, for much of the time I was transported to India.

But it wasn’t the foreign travel that provided the book’s greatest hook for me. At the heart of the novel is a simple question. A question that is central to so many great romances: Who will Lata (the heroine) marry? There are three contenders and they’re each so strong that I wished they could all be successful! But only one is really suitable – Lata knows this and amidst the upheavals of family, religious and political division she eventually makes her choice.

The realisation for me, that a single idea should provide the backbone of such a vast and complex novel made a huge impact on me. How often had I begun writing without much thought about where I was headed? I imagined myself minus a spine. All my insides floating about in a bag with nothing to hold them together. Eeek! Now, I have to know the big question that my story will seek to answer before I begin to write. Sometimes I know the answer, but not always.

Vikram Seth is a wonderful writer. The characters were friends and family that I cared about even when they behaved badly. His style isn’t dense and difficult (although I was very grateful for the family trees at the beginning) but conversational and often humorous. Lucky new readers can get it on Kindle. Dropping a print copy on your foot is another way it would make quite an impact.  

Cathie Hartigan is a prize-winning writer and the founder of CreativeWritingMatters, an on-line writing resource. She is also an organiser and reader for The Exeter Novel Prize.

www.creativewritingmatters.co.uk

Twitter: @cathiehartigan

https://www.facebook.com/cathie.hartigan

by

Laura

I'm Laura. I started Novel Kicks back in 2009 as I wanted a place to discuss books and writing - two loves of my life. As someone who has anxiety, these two things give me, and I am sure countless others, a much needed escape.
There is a monthly book club, writing exercises, prompts, reviews, author interviews, competitions and guest posts. I cover many genres and I hope there is something for everyone.
I grew up by the sea in Dorset and currently live in Poole with my husband, Chris and three cats. I love writing and have a BA (Hons) in Creative Writing from Falmouth University. I am writing my first book. If only I could stop pressing delete. Chris has threatened to stop it from working. Haha.
I have always loved creative writing since I was in first school and would very much like to meet my teacher, Miss Sayers, to say thank you for all the encouragement she gave me then.
When not writing, I love reading, cats, Disney, singing (I can't sing but this doesn't stop me,) and falling into a good TV show or film. If I could step into any fictional world, it would be amongst the characters in ABC's Once Upon a Time.
I love reading many genres and discovering new authors.