The Night Rainbow Comes to America by Mariam Kobras
This is a special book, a wonderful and magical book, and you should read it! To celebrate the US launch, I did an interview with Claire. Here is what she has to say about her first published novel. Please meet Claire King.
1. The Night Rainbow is your first published book. Tell us about it! What gave you the idea to write from a 5 year old’s point of view?
It is! The Night Rainbow is set in southern France, and although it deals with issues like grief and loss is essentially a story of how we can find hope and friendship in our darkest hour. It is told from the point of view of five-year-old Pea (Peony in English, Pivoine in French) who lives in a remote farmhouse with her sister Margot, and her heavily pregnant mother (Maman). The story starts shortly after the death of Pea’s father.
As for writing from a child’s viewpoint, I didn’t set out with that as an objective. The viewpoint became clear after I knew who the main characters were going to be in the story – Maman, Pea, Margot and Claude. The cast of characters in The Night Rainbow is quite small, and the story really had to be Maman’s or Pea’s. But Maman is, understandably, very depressed and her view would have been quite stifling and miserable. Pea on the other hand, although affected by the family tragedy, is full of childhood joy. The meadows and the orchards are her playground, she finds delight in the tiniest things and there is a freshness and a naivety about the way she deals with the adult issues that I think changes the way that the reader sees them too.
I know that writing from a child’s point of view is risky, but for The Night Rainbow it was the only way. So far the reviews have been wonderful, so I hope lots of American readers will take a chance with it!
2. Did you find it difficult to write in the voice of a child? How did you decide which words and phrases to use, and which wouldn’t work?
It was difficult, but then writing in any voice other than your own is difficult if you are to be consistent and engaging. It wasn’t the hardest part of writing the book…
I was very much inspired by my own children, who were 4 and 2 when I wrote the book. Their speech patterns and indeed their ways of thinking guided me, and then I constructed a fictional voice which I hope finds the right sweet spot between authentic childishness and readability for the adult reader.
Because of the inspiration I drew from my daughters, I feel as though a magical time in their lives has been caught up in this novel, a time that could otherwise have easily slipped from memory in the whirl of their growing up.
My editor at Bloomsbury, Helen, was very thorough when editing The Night Rainbow. Pea’s voice was the thing she was most rigorous about and would pull me up wherever she felt a phrase or a word was too grown up, even within the context of it being an adult novel.
3. You live in southern France yourself. Is The Night Rainbow in any way autobiographical?
Not even slightly!
4. What is your favorite part in The Night Rainbow?
My favourite part of The Night Rainbow depends upon who is reading it. It’s a secret moment, between you - the reader - and me, and you’ll know when it happens. And I love to hear back from readers, so please feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions or comments after you’ve read the book!
5. Was The Night Rainbow the first book you ever tried to get published? Are there more novels hidden away in your desk drawers?
No, I have my practice book, like many authors. Mine is set in Ukraine at the end of the cold war. It generated quite a bit of interest, but nothing concrete, and I lost momentum with it and moved on. But it’s got a lot going for it and I’ve been wondering what to do with it. I think I may just have figured it out, so watch this space!
6. Which authors would you name as your greatest influence?
Gerard Manley-Hopkins, Philip Larkin, Siegfried Sassoon, Maya Angelou, Carol Ann Duffy – poetry had a huge influence on me, especially when I was younger.Then authors like Enid Blyton, Walter Farley, Judy Blume and Jilly Cooper because when I was young they kept me reading and reading and escaping into their worlds. Rudyard Kipling, too, for his playful, elastic use of language and storytelling.
More recently, oh so many to name. Maggie O’Farrell, Audrey Niffenegger, Louis de Bernières, Jodi Picoult, Isabelle Allende, Christopher Brookmyre…Although all these writers have influenced my taste in writing, and my love for language, they aren’t necessarily a direct influence on my writing style. Because let’s face it, combine that lot and you’d get a very strange creature indeed.
7. What book are you reading currently?
I’m reading Kate Atkinson’s ‘Life After Life’. I also have ‘The Stranger’ by Albert Camus on the go, and the short story collection ‘What we Talk About When we Talk About Love’ by Raymond Carver. Those last two are slim volumes that I carry in my handbag and slip in and out of. I have a huge to read pile at the moment, and once I finish work on my next book I am planning a major read-athon.
8. You’ve gone the traditional way and subbed for an agent, and you were quite successful! You’re published by Bloomsbury! What were your best and worst experiences on this road?
I have not had a worst experience related to finding my agent and being published by Bloomsbury. Really, it’s a joy and a privilege and I’m over the moon about it. There are so many ‘best’ experiences I don’t know where to start. Perhaps the most magical moment for me was when I went to the offices of Bloomsbury in London, to meet with them when they were considering The Night Rainbow but hadn’t yet offered on it. Publishers can seem to be such hulking and impenetrable things when you’re a writer submitting a novel. I was terrified. But then I met the people at Bloomsbury and everyone was lovely, and everyone had such enthusiasm for my book. It took my breath away: Bloomsbury. Loved. The. Book. That. I. Wrote.
Amazing moment.
9. You’re sitting at your desk. What do you see?
A mountain, currently snow-capped. a Gaudi Owl who keeps me on the straight and narrow. Several mugs, each with it’s own purpose, and my computer, also known as a window into an infinite number of other worlds.
10. Today is your US release day. What would you like to tell your American readers?
Dear American readers, I am so thrilled that The Night Rainbow is being launched in the USA today. I’m really sorry I can’t be there in person to chat and to sign books and to celebrate. But I am raising a glass to you all from France. I hope you love The Night Rainbow, and I look forward to hearing from you.
