Tag: Before the Leaves Fall

About Switzerland, About writing

The story behind ‘Before the Leaves Fall’

by clareodea4 Comments on The story behind ‘Before the Leaves Fall’

In just a few days, Before the Leaves Fall will be available in Switzerland. Elsewhere, the launch date is October 23rd. Now that the book is so close to being in the hands of readers, I feel I can tell you more about it.

The first interview about the novel was published by newinzurich.com recently. I’m going to borrow a couple of answers from that interview to tell you some of the whys and wherefores of this standalone story, which is linked to my first novel, Voting Day.

First of all, you should know that this is a story about a person who has decided to end her life with the help of an assisted dying organisation. Even though it is a hopeful story about human connection, healing and self-determination, I do think that it might be upsetting for anyone currently too close to bereavement.

So why would I be drawn to such a sombre topic, and assisted dying in particular? Well, it might be partly to do with being middle-aged and seeing the different, often difficult but sometimes beautiful ways life comes to an end. Or as I said in the newinzurich interview:

“Assisted suicide is always in the air in Switzerland, whether it’s peripherally in news stories or through the direct experience of people you know. I’m interested in how it becomes a path for some but not for others, who may even be suffering more.”

Introducing Ruedi and Margrit

One of the conversations my two protagonists have is about what makes life worth living, or not. They are past any pretence and can speak honestly. So, who are these characters? Ruedi is a Swiss widower in his seventies living in Bern. He worked for the Swiss Federal Railways until he had to retire early to look after his sick wife. As a child, he spent time in care and he still feels shame about his origins. Ruedi is freshly trained in the role of facilitator for Depart, a fictional assisted dying organisation, and Margrit is his first client.

“Margrit is in her late eighties and has become quite contrary in old age. She has a strained relationship with her two sons and has lived a life of material comfort but ultimately failed to find meaning or satisfaction in her lot as a traditional wife and mother.  When the two characters realise their paths have crossed before, it sparks some new self-discovery for both of them.”

If you’re familiar with Voting Day, set in 1959 on the day Swiss men voted ‘no’ to granting women the vote, you will recognise these names. Ruedi was a foster child in that book and Margrit, a young woman struggling to maintain her independence, was kind to him.

There are a lot of authors who revisit characters from one book to the next. Jonathan Coe, whom I had the pleasure of interviewing this week in Geneva, has done it a lot, as has another of my favourite authors Elizabeth Strout. Donal Ryan recently released Heart, be at Peace, “a heartfelt, lyrical novel that can be read independently, or as a companion to his first book The Spinning Heart“. I like that way of phrasing the connection, and might borrow it, if Penguin Random House doesn’t mind.

A tale of two launches

For the Swiss contingent, I hope to see some of you at the launch next Thursday, October 9th at 8pm in Stauffacher Bookshop in Bern. There’s a link to sign up for the event (Anmeldung) but you can also turn up on the night and buy a ticket at the door (CHF 15). I’ll be in conversation with Helen Stubbs Pugin and the discussion, followed by signing and apéro, will be in English.

Irish friends, readers and country(wo)men are warmly invited to the Dublin launch at The Gutter Bookshop, Temple Bar on Thursday, October 23rd at 6.30pm. Sarah Moore Fitzgerald will be hosting that gathering and I can promise Swiss chocolate, just as we had for the launch of The Naked Swiss in the same venue in 2016.

I’m very grateful that my editor from Fairlight Books, Laura Shanahan, will be joining us for the Dublin launch. And the Irish Ambassador Aoife McGarry will say a few words of welcome at the Swiss launch.

If you can’t make it to either of those countries on either of those dates, you can really help the visibility of Before the Leaves Fall by ordering it already at your local bookshop or online, and by spreading the word. Part of me is nervous about what reception this book will have but I wouldn’t be taking the leap if I didn’t trust that some readers will find truth in it and new things to think about.

About Switzerland, About writing, Book reviews

Summer reading, autumn happenings (save the date!)

by clareodea4 Comments on Summer reading, autumn happenings (save the date!)

Two high points of my childhood summers were berry picking and wild swimming. Those two free pleasures are still part of my life, and I managed to do both today – pick blackberries in the forest and go for a dip in my local river. With a good book thrown in, the perfect Sunday.

I’ve read more than usual this summer, helped by the fact that I have access to an endless supply of books at my day job working for a book distributor. I’ve just finished The Paris Express by Emma Donoghue, a real page-turner about a train hurtling towards disaster in 1895.

The novel is based on the true story of a derailment and, to create her characters, Emma Donoghue used the biographies of real people who were either on the train or could well have been. She says she drew on more than 40 articles about the accident in 26 publications. To find out more about the individual lives, especially uncelebrated ones, she “ransacked the wonderful hoard of French bureaucracy filae.com”.  The result of all this – apart from a gripping, richly-imagined story – is that you find out what became of the main characters in later life.  

Recent favourite reads include Tell Me What I Am by Una Mannion, Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers, Love is Blind by William Boyd, Audition by Katie Kitamura and the unforgettable Clear by Carys Davies.

Meanwhile preparations for the publication of my new novel Before the Leaves Fall are continuing and it’s time to save the date(s)! The Swiss launch of the book will take place in Stauffacher Bookshop in Bern on Thursday, October 9th at 8pm. The event is being generously sponsored by the Irish Embassy. Full details at this link.

Two weeks later in Dublin, the Gutter Bookshop in Cow’s Lane will host the Irish launch on Thursday, October 23rd, time tbc. All are welcome. I’m extremely grateful to both bookshops, who have a great record in supporting authors.

In between, I’ll be at the Frankfurt Book Fair for work and will hopefully steal a moment to present my book to Literature Ireland, which publishes a catalogue of translation-worthy new Irish fiction titles. I’d love to see the book translated into the Swiss languages as Voting Day was.

Before all that, September has some literary treats in store. I’ll be attending the annual Le livre sur les quais festival in Morges on the weekend of September 5th-7th. The full English programme has been published and it includes Natasha Brown, Alan Hollinghurst, Caroline Bishop, Mark O’Connell, Claire Massud and more. I’m very pleased to be interviewing Padraig Rooney about his biography of Annemarie Schwarzenbach, one of the most interesting Swiss women of the 20th century. That event is at 1pm on Saturday 6th in Hotel La Couronne.

At the end of September, the wonderful Jonathan Coe is coming to Geneva as a guest of the Société de Lecture. I will be interviewing him in the elegant salon jaune on Monday, September 29th. There’s lots to talk about in his latest cleverly-plotted, satirical, dark-yet-funny novel, The Proof of My Innocence.

With all that hopping around, I hope I get to see some of you over the next couple of months. For now, let’s enjoy this summer feeling and any good books we find along the way.

About Switzerland, About writing

Before the Leaves Fall gets a botanical cover

by clareodea11 Comments on Before the Leaves Fall gets a botanical cover
Cover design by Becky Fish

One of the milestones of publishing a book is the moment when the cover design is revealed. I’m delighted to share the cover of Before the Leaves Fall with you today, along with the first endorsements the novel has received from authors Liz Nugent, Annie Lyons, Anne Griffin and Martina Devlin.

These amazing authors all gave their support unstintingly and I appreciate their generosity hugely. So here are the quotes, which I hope will whet your appetite for October.

‘This is a beautifully written study of Ruedi and Margrit, loosely connected by their past, bonding over a life changing decision causing both parties to reflect on their lives and relationships without sentimentality. The short length of the novel lends itself perfectly to the life expectancy of Margrit. Profoundly moving, I loved this book.’ — Liz Nugent, author of Strange Sally Diamond

‘A beautifully written story of unlikely friendship and the choices we face as we reach the end of our lives. Profound, poignant and refreshingly honest, this is very much a novel for our times.’ — Annie Lyons, author of The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysette 

Before The Leaves Fall once again shows O’Dea as a competent writer, unafraid to examine the relevant and vital issues of ordinary lives in Switzerland. The power of self-determination shines through in this touching read.’ — Anne Griffin, author of The Island of Longing

‘A poignant account of the lost boy trapped inside an old man, and his chance reconnection with a woman who touched his life when hers is almost played out. Told with compassion, wisdom and insight, it considers how death can offer a new perspective on life. It stayed with me long after I reached the end.’ — Martina Devlin, author of The House Where It Happened and Charlotte.

This evening I sent off my feedback on the proofreader’s changes, which basically involved me agreeing with everything she marked up, bowing to her superior knowledge about hyphenation and the difference between ‘on to’ and ‘onto’. The next time I see the manuscript will be between the covers of a printed book! If you’re stuck for reading material in the meantime, have a look at the websites of the four talented writers above and take your pick.

I can’t wait for October. But I also want to enjoy this time before, when I can dream big about the book, hoping that it gets widely read and positively received, and that people understand – as Liz, Annie, Anne and Martina have done – that it comes from a good place.