Thu 23 Jan
6.30-9pm
Indie Novella brings together prize winning author Sue Amos (Teardrop) and BBC Scotland's Martin Raymond (Lotte) in conversation to discuss their new novels, their personal approaches to historical fiction and why they choose to tell stories.
Teardrop is a historical crime novel set in 1950s Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. It follows rookie female journalist Jazz Bartelot who joins the crime desk at the Colombo courier. When Jazz and reporter Sonny receive a tip-off that a body has been discovered in a newly built reservoir on the country’s east coast,they travel between spice markets and hopper stalls, interviewing Tamils, expats, and indigenous tribes, following leads that dry up quickly under the hot sun. The book won the 2023 Watson Little x Indie Novella Prize and shines a light on community dynamics in a post-colonial society.
Martin Raymond’s novel Lotte tells the story of Charlotte Raymond who in 1933 was committed to Stirling Asylum for what was cited as hysteria, and within a matter of days, was dead. Her story then disappears from history for the next 85 years. The children she left behind do not mention her name and it takes a chance encounter by her grandson, to uncover the story of a woman who history had erased.
Both writers will discuss what draws them to historical fiction, and how they found a way into the stories these books tell.
Sue Amos's first novel A Painted Samovar explored her maternal Jewish roots, whilst her latest explores her paternal Sri Lankan roots. Sue will delve into how her dual heritage has influenced and inspired the stories her novels tell, and explore the rise of historical fiction set in Sri Lanka. And Martin will explore his approach to the delicate process of fictionalising the last days of Lotte Raymond, the grandmother whose story was hidden for him. He will share how he discovered his Grandma's narrative and the process of turning it into a story.
This is Sue’s third novel, but her first traditionally published and under her real name, whilst this is Martin's debut novel - he calls himself an unrepentant late starter. The two authors will discuss their journeys to publication, owning a name and starting late. Finally, they will talk about stories, and why they choose to tell them.
After a freelance television career, Sue Amos took a career break and began to write in her spare time. Inspired by forgotten, misremembered scraps of history, she wrote two novels under the pen name Sarah Roux. Her first, A Painted Samovar is a homage to her maternal Jewish grandfather while The Chronicles of Harriet Shelley gives voice to the first wife of the poet, Percy Shelley.
Submitting her 3rd novel to the Watson Little x Indie Novella Prize, Sue decided she needed to come out from the shadows to write under her real name, having an inkling this would prove to be auspicious! Born and bred in North London, and now resides in the Chilterns with her husband, son, and dog, Teardrop also represents a tribute to Sue’s Sri Lankan heritage and her work shedding light on the post-colonial culture of her ancestors. Teardrop won the 2023 Watson Little x Indie Novella Prize.
Martin Raymond is an unrepentant late starter. After working in communications for the NHS, teaching in schools and universities, plus some broadcasting with BBC Radio Scotland, he studied creative writing at Stirling University. His work has been longlisted for the Watson, Little x Indie Novella Prize and shortlisted for the VS Pritchett Short Story Prize. His short stories have appeared in the New Writing Scotland annual collection in 2019, 2020 and 2023. Lotte is his first novel.