A Conversation with the Legendary Creator, of Flavia de Luce ALAN BRADLEY

The smell of wood smoke drifts on the breeze as somewhere in the neighbourhood someone puts another log on their fire. The air is fresh and clean after a soaking rain shower and filled with the rich earthy smell of amber, crimson and gold autumn leaves littering the sidewalk and clinging to your shoes as you climb the three steps to the front door of the old bookshop. Opening the door you are greeted by the comforting scents of old books, apple cider and cinnamon.

The ancient wooden floorboards creak and crack beneath your feet as you make your way along the dimly lit aisle between the ancient walnut shelves lined with magical journeys, fascinating characters and exciting adventures yet to be experienced. The soft glow of a reading lamp and the low murmur of amiable voices let you know you’re nearing your destination. Exiting the shadow of the towering bookshelves you behold a small group of fellow bookworms patiently waiting in exuberant anticipation for the legendary wordsmith. You take the only empty chair left in the circle, a Napoleon III ebonized salon chair with balloon-back and good lumbar support and immediately you sense you are among friends.

A hush falls over the room as a well modulated baritone voice begins, “Welcome to the Reading Room, my friends. We’re glad you could join our conversation.

Please join me in welcoming our esteemed guest, award winning Canadian author, Alan Bradley, known for his Flavia de Luce mystery series, which began with the acclaimed “The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie”.

Thank you kindly, Alan, for talking with us. I must say, I’m sincerely honoured that you have joined us for a chat.

James: How has life been different for you since we last spoke, my friend?

Alan: Deprived of friends and family, and with food and petrol shortages looming, we manage to bumble along from day to day. And yet, compared to many, we are among the privileged few. Strange times!

James: Yes, strange times indeed.

What do you most value in a friend?

Alan: Constancy.

James: Very true, Alan. You summed it up in a single word.

Proverbs 17:17 - “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”

That is not true friendship which is not constant; it will be so if it be sincere and actuated by a good principle. Those that are fanciful and selfish in their friendship will love no longer than their humour is pleased and their interest served, and therefore their affections turn with the wind, and change with the weather. Swallow-friends, that fly to you in summer, but are gone in winter; such friends there is no loss of. But if the friendship be prudent, generous, and cordial, if I love my friend because he is wise, and virtuous, and good, so long as he continues so, though he fall into poverty and disgrace, still I shall love him. - Matthew Henry

Describe yourself in three words.

Alan: Quiet, bookish, boring.

James: Often we pay the most attention to those with the loudest voices and the most to say. In doing this, we underestimate the power of the quiet ones. This person says little but listens a lot. If you watch carefully, you may see that he or she is taking everything in. When they finally speak, the rest of the group are often astonished by the power of their ideas or the insights the quiet one shares.

Still waters run deep, my friend.

Who in your life most inspired you?

Alan: In the beginning, my mother and my grandmother, both women of immense and surprising knowledge, who always took time to share it with enthusiasm and without question. I wrote about my mother in the memoir, The Shoebox Bible. She still amazes me. And latterly, to my wife, Shirley, who has hung on so bravely from the outset of this whole phenomenon.

James: Is there a difference between a writer and an author and if so, how would you make the distinction between the two?

Alan: I’m probably wrong, but I’ve always thought of a writer as a person who writes newspaper and magazine articles, and an author as someone who writes books of fiction. But surely, it has to be more complicated than that.

James: An interesting perception.

Do you have a favourite Flavia de Luce novel?

Alan: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie was (or so I am told by my publishers) the most award-winning mystery ever. To me, it was a dive into the dark without a parachute. But the exhilaration persists, even after more than ten years. The book remains a best-seller in several countries. It’s hard to top that.

James: The accolades for: Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, are well deserved.

What part of The Grave’s a Fine and Private Place did you find the most challenging to write?

Alan: The details about a certain marble tombstone, although based on information gathered while attending a literary festival in Italy, were incredibly difficult to pin down, due, perhaps, to the impact of WWII upon the quarryman trade in Italy.

James: What part of The Grave’s a Fine and Private Place did you have the most fun writing?

Alan: My researches into the London Necropolis Company were great fun: especially the funeral train timetables, which smacked of the Golden Age of detective fiction. I’d love to have taken a ride on it – but not as a paying customer, of course.

James: Which of the Characters in the Flavia de Luce novels do you relate to most and why?

Alan: Flavia, of course. She talks to me 24 hours a day, and she’s certainly not shy. You wouldn’t believe some of the things she contemplates in the butter-churn of her mind.

James: If you were to write a spin-off about a side character, which would you pick?

Alan: Perhaps Undine, Flavia’s pesky but persistent niece, who knows far more than any little girl ever ought to.

James: That’s interesting. I’d definitely want to read those adventures.

What is the single question no one ever asks you that you wish someone would ask?

Alan: “How would you like to house-sit my cats in the Cotswolds?”

James: Ha ha. That’s both funny and coincidental. Have you experienced pet sitting in someone else’s home?

A couple of years ago we decided that perhaps going south for the winter as we had been doing was not a good idea and looked for somewhere else to spend our winter. I had been to B.C. in February and people were out on the golf courses and homeowners were out cutting grass. We had been told that it rarely snowed in Vancouver and when it did it was very little and melted in no time.

We joined Trusted House Sitters, got our police background checks and scheduled several sits in Vancouver and the islands lasting six months. Guess what they experienced one of the worst winters with as much as three feet of snow in a single day!

We enjoyed the pet sitting but won’t be spending the winter on the west coast any time soon. We are, however, thinking about pet sitting in the U.K. to visit family and research our family trees.