The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Amanda Roberts

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Amanda Roberts

Summary: Sue opened The Roots of the Tree intending to see how it would fit into her reading schedule - and finished it 3½ hours later. She was delighted to have the opportunity to chat to Amanda Roberts when the author popped into Bookbag Towers.

Date: 29 March 2017

Interviewer: Sue Magee

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Sue opened The Roots of the Tree intending to see how it would fit into her reading schedule - and finished it 3½ hours later. She was delighted to have the opportunity to chat to Amanda Roberts when the author popped into Bookbag Towers.

• Bookbag: When you close your eyes and imagine your readers, who do you see?

Amanda Roberts: Someone who is so absorbed in the words on the page that they've forgotten it's dinnertime! But seriously, I know authors are advised to think about who their potential reader is throughout the process of writing and editing, but I really didn't. I just wanted to write the story. My readership is proving quite diverse - whilst I feel that the novel may appeal mostly to a female reader of no particular age, my biggest fan (that I know of anyway) is a 50-year old man who lives in the same village as me and has read it twice and cried both times.

• BB: What was the inspiration for The Roots of the Tree?

AR: It is based on my mother's true story. I felt it was such as good story that I just had to attempt to write it.

• BB: How closely did you adhere to your family story when writing The Roots of the Tree. Your research was impeccable - was it extensive?

AR: I would describe it as a mixture of true story with a healthy dose of fiction woven into it. The central event is entirely true - my mother did find out that the man she had thought of as her father all of her life actually wasn't and she was in her early 60s when she made this discovery in exactly the same way as Annie does in the novel. The lengths to which her parents had gone to keep the truth from her are also identical and the effect this discovery had on Annie is very similar to how my mother reacted - my mum actually thinks she went further 'over the edge' than I pushed Annie.

However, as a family we didn't try to find out the truth for various reasons, one being that I didn't think my mother was strong enough to cope with whatever we may have found. So the process of unravelling the truth is a purely fictional account - except for the information provided by the elderly aunt - and Lily's story didn't happen; that is my own invention.

I did do a lot of research. I wanted the novel to be realistic: what my mother discovered (and Annie discovers in the book) is incredible anyway, but it is entirely true, so I thought it was important that everything else was possible and credible; that it could have happened. I needed to provide realistic answers for all of those difficult, How did they manage to do that? questions. For instance, how my mother's birth certificate gives her the surname of her supposed father even though he didn't even know her mother at the time of the birth. I've found the actual record of her birth through online sources and it gives her the maiden name of my grandmother and no father's name. The two documents are completely different, so I contacted the General Register officials and the explanation I provide in the novel is an accurate account of the information they provided me with.

I also spent time at the Imperial War Museum in London where you can apply to go through the written archives of WW2 regiments. I found one that suited my purposes and incorporated the actual movements, activities and wartime experiences of that regiment into the novel. I also read a real-life account of a POW, a survivor of the Japanese camps - these sources are credited in my acknowledgements at the end of the novel. Finally, you can find records of POWs in the National Archives - although I imagine today that is probably all digital rather than on microfiche!

• BB: I loved the title, by the way! Where did you get the inspiration?

AR: I have to admit that the title was not down to me. The novel was originally published by Book Guild and their editors put forward a list of suggested titles. I wasn't happy with my own title - which was 'The Hidden Truth' and wanted something with more impact. I thought The Roots of the Tree was perfect.

• BB: Which do you believe is more important: what a child acquires from the father at conception, or the parenting the child receives later?

AR: For me, it's the parenting. I know there are certain genetic conditions/traits that are inherited and a talent or a certain gift can be passed on, as can medical conditions, but I'm not a great believer in behaviour or character being passed on. I think we are all in control of our own development as human beings once we arrive on this earth and whilst we all have different limitations - we can't all be a genius at maths, for instance, no matter how hard we try - we can exert an influence. It is the parenting that helps to mould and shape the child and it is parenting from which the child learns. Take my oldest son for instance, who is now 17 and football-mad. I don't believe he was born with a love of football, but the fact that his father is a life-long football fan and took Sam to watch live games from a very young age has instilled a love of football in him. Years of watching football on TV, at live games and playing it has given him a tremendous knowledge of the game. That isn't genetic, that's learning.

• BB: I was left with the sense that had Frank been honest with Annie none of the problems would arise. Do you think that there are ever occasions when there should not be honesty about the circumstances of a child's birth?

AR: That's a difficult one. I would have to say honesty is always best, based on my experience of watching the devastating effects of finding out the truth at a late stage in life. I think you have to ask yourself why you are keeping the truth a secret and be honest with yourself - and worrying that the truth might affect the way the child thinks of you isn't a good enough reason. I can understand that back in the 1940s, when my mum was born, society was very different and it wasn't acceptable to have a child outside marriage, but even then, a child doesn't think like that. I asked my mum how she thinks she would have reacted if they had told her the truth - either as soon as they could or as soon as she was able to understand it. She said she would probably have had a tantrum, been cross and sulked for a few days but she would have quickly got over it. Instead, she found out much later in life and it's taken her years to get over it - in fact, she probably never will entirely come to terms with it - she read your review of my novel and was in tears.

• BB: Did you find it at all painful to write a story which had its roots in your own family? Was it painful for the family - and was there any reluctance to share what had happened?

AR: I think it was more emotional than painful for me. It's difficult to describe how it actually felt - I suppose the closest I can get is to ask you to think back to how you felt when a relationship that you thought was going to last for ever was ended by the other person when you least expected it (I'm sure we've all had one of those) and you felt compelled to write about what happened and how you felt for the entire world to read. It's putting your emotions on display for anyone to inspect. I found I had to create some distance between the story and the reality and I did that partly by making the characters in the novel very different to the real-life people. As I've already said, I also wove in a lot of fiction.

It wasn't painful for the family for two reasons. Firstly, by the time we discovered this secret there was only one member of the family left alive who could remember what had happened all those years ago and even she was a bit vague as she was quite young at the time; by the time I started writing this novel she also had passed away. Secondly, I didn't tell anyone I was writing it - except my sister - until after I'd been offered the publishing deal. At that point I had to confess to my mum and I was prepared to walk away from the whole thing if she had said it was a problem for her. She didn't though. She said it couldn't hurt her any more than it already had and I think she felt quite flattered to be the subject of a novel. She refused to read the manuscript though until it appeared as a book, which was quite nerve-racking for me. Fortunately, she loved it.

• BB: I was very impressed by the structure of the book: I was constantly pulled in to read 'just a little bit more' - until I'd finished! What training have you had as an author?

AR: I have to confess - none. However, I have always read and I have a degree in English Literature. I've attempted several novels in the past but not completed them and I am a member of a local writer's group.

• BB: You've got one wish! What's it to be?

AR: To be top of the best-sellers list!

• BB: What's next for Amanda Roberts?

AR: I am currently writing my second novel and it's slow progress because I have a day job editing magazines which keeps me very busy. I've also completely changed the concept of this new novel since I first started writing it so I'm having to sort through the material, work out what I can use and re-write. I hope to finish the first draft this year so I can start editing and preparing for possible publication.

I'm also working on some children's stories. I don't really see myself as a children's author, but a friend came to me with some stories based on her childhood in Uganda; she needed a writer to work with so I decided to give it a go.

• BB: There's a lot for us to look forward to there, Amanda. Thanks for taking the time to chat to us.

You can read more about Amanda Roberts here.

Check out Bookbag's exciting features section, with interviews, top tens and editorials.

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