This week I am delighted to welcome Eva Glyn (who also writes as Jane Cable) to my blog to talk about a particular aspect of her latest novel, The Croatian Island Library.
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Library is the third of three linked but independent books. The other two are The Dubrovnik Book Club and The Santorini Writing Retreat. Each book is notable for Eva/Jane's talent for creating real-life settings and transporting the reader to the place in question, as well as being stories you want to dive into.
Here's what Eva/Jane says about the friendships in her books:
WHY FRIENDSHIP STORIES FASCINATE ME
In truth I find stories of friendship far more fascinating than romances. Perhaps because they are so universal, and deeply engrained in our experience. Perhaps because I’ve had far more friends than lovers and they’ve been much more varied, so why wouldn’t I want to write about them?
I generally start by selecting three, or in the case of The Dubrovnik Book Club, four very different characters from the motley crew rumbling around in my head, then throw them together, and see what happens. At first they are bound to circle each other a bit, while probably being terribly nice (I struggle so hard to write nasty people as viewpoint characters), but then a few tentative connections begin to form, and a few cracks to appear. Because as a writer you need the cracks to let in the light.
However disparate the people, it’s important to me that their friendship forms naturally, as it would in real life. The key to this is getting to know the protagonists really well before starting to write so when they hit the page they are fully formed human beings. You could say that the first friendships in any book I write are the bonds I form with the imaginary people in my head.
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The viewpoint characters in The Croatian Island Library are Ana, the thirty four year old captain of the catamaran who loves her life on the waves; librarian Lloyd, a British widower in his fifties beginning to move beyond the sharpest of his grief; and twenty-two year old crew member Natali who wants nothing more than to keep her head down in case the others realise how stupid she is.
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Lloyd came to me first. In fact he’d been running around in my head for a while; a thoughtful, intelligent man whose loss left his world in tatters but is beginning to realise he needs to move on. But as I imagined him on the bus from Dubrovnik airport I realised he’d been to Croatia as a student, his experiences leaving him so consumed with guilt he’s determined to keep his earlier visit a secret.
Next was Ana. She’s a friend of Meri’s, one of the minor characters in The Dubrovnik Book Club, and just as feisty. Or so she appears. But the reality is that she’s facing an uncertain future, terrified of losing her boat, and torn between what’s in her heart and familial duty. None of which can she feels she can share with her crew. She’s the project leader after all.
And Natali, dear Natali. She’s been told she’s stupid so often she genuinely believes it, and far prefers the company of her dog, Obi, to humans because Obi loves her unconditionally and never judges. She does want to connect with the others though, she can just never work out what to say. Until, of course, something happens which starts to pull them together.
Being aware I’m writing this for Susanna’s readers, I’m sure the underlying of the premise of friendship forged through adversity sounds familiar. It’s a saga, isn’t it? Well obviously The Croatian Island Library isn’t historical, so technically it can’t be, but to all intents and purposes, perhaps it is.
It’s a story of everyday people, told in an uncomplicated manner but with tons of emotion
It’s set firmly in a location that readers come to know well and where the sense of community is strong
There are obstacles a plenty for the characters to overcome, but there’s always hope
And a little romance along the way.
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For Susanna, writing her fabulous Wartime Hotel series as Maisie, the unlikely friendship is formed between Kitty, Lily and Beatrice. For me it’s Ana, Lloyd and Natali. But it just goes to show the universal power of stories where friendship conquers all.
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You can visit Eva's author page on Amazon by clicking here.
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