A 100-year-old professor leads an underground rebellion this August...

Our August newsletter!

Hello from drizzly Manchester Scribblers,

We’re reading some glorious manuscripts this month (closing this month), setting up event schedules for the four new novels we are bringing out this Autumn and Winter and finalising our move to Faber Factory for EBooks (I have HUGE respect for software engineers, coding requires a lot of hot drinks on tap to keep me sane!)

This newsletter is a special edition, because we have the pleasure of interviewing our first novelist of 2023, Rachel Grosvenor. Her feminist fantasy ‘The Finery’ will be released in August via a launch at House of Books and Friends, Manchester - join us on Friday 19th of August here - (and then will tour at various bookshops around Wales!)

About The Finery:

Tyranny is in the air in the city of Finer Bay, and Professor Wendowleen Cripcot would like to be left alone, thank you very much. The memories of the last one hundred years are quite enough to be getting on with, if only these young upstarts from the government body, The Finery, would stop trying to control her every move. With the eyes of a dictator upon her, there are not many places to hide…but Wendowleen has never been one to back down from a fight (just ask her pet wolf), and insurrection is brewing underground.

Enjoy the interview!

The Finery presents a vividly imaginative and richly detailed fantasy world. What were some of the most exciting and challenging aspects of the creative process? Were there any specific aspects or details of The Finery that you had to cut or leave out?

Rachel: The process of writing The Finery was created in a strange time for the world. It was the start of the pandemic, and while I had already written and developed the idea of Wendowleen and Wolf, The Finery came together as a whole during that period. So, much of what I was writing was inspired by my imagination, and it was often challenging to bring levity to the page. However, it was also a medicine, and building a fantastical world to step into was definitely something that got me through lockdown. I did have to cut out a few things from the story, but that’s always the way. During every first draft I write, I allow myself free reign to create. This means that sometimes I can write thousands of words about something that doesn’t really drive the narrative forward. An example of that would be my 1.5k words on a sandwich Wendowleen ate in a market scene! I absolutely loved that scene, but really, the only thing it did was take away from the tension of the narrative.

A wry, sometimes sardonic, centenarian, Professor Wendowleen Cripcot is a unique and highly memorable protagonist. What were the key inspirations behind her creation? Which of her qualities do you think make her so memorable to readers?

I’m a big fan of characters like Granny Weatherwax (Terry Pratchett), older women who take no nonsense from anyone, and real people like the wonderful Miriam Margoyles, who is hilarious in her honesty and confidence. Wendowleen was definitely inspired by these sorts of people. I hope that what makes her memorable is her quiet confidence. She is a woman who doesn’t need other people, quite happy to strive ahead alone. And yet, she knows how to accept help and offer it, and that is a key component in a well-rounded person.

Wendowleen's resilience in the face of ageist dismissal and gaslighting (which often echoes the experience of many elderly people today) adds a great depth to her character. What motivated you to centre an older protagonist? What do you think readers can take away from Wendowleen's determination?

Ageism is rife among women, and I’ve experienced it myself, repeatedly being called the intern at the university I worked at (I’m a Doctor of Creative Writing, something some staff couldn’t seem to remember), and I’ve also witnessed the ‘disappearance’ of older women from society. I have many older female friends and surround myself with their wisdom. I am grateful for them. The older I get, the more likely I am to be able to take down an army in a fantasy tale. When I was in my twenties, I wouldn’t have been able to take on a government at all! Wendowleen is proof that life doesn’t stop when you retire, and that you still have a lot to offer the world. And they, in turn, have a lot to gain from you.

Wolf, Wendowleen's lazy companion and supposed carer, provides companionship and levity, creating a delightful dynamic between himself and Wendowleen. If Wolf were absent from the story, how do you think Wendowleen would change? What role does Wolf play in shaping Wendowleen?

Wendowleen is a very self-contained person (she and I have that in common). I have found that of all the animals I’ve met, it is dogs that help you meet others, get you out of the house, and who are reliable. Wolf, therefore, made sense in terms of a type of carer for Wendowleen, who doesn’t really need one. His role isn’t to do the housework as other the carers in the story might, but to lend her emotional support, even when she might argue that she doesn’t need it. Without Wolf, I don’t think Wendowleen would be so confident. He reminds her of who she is, capable, and worthy.

The underground world of the partisans adds a compelling layer of intrigue to The Finery. What did you draw on when creating the partisans? Did any real-life moments or movements inspire their creation?

The partisans were a real life movement who opposed the soviet occupation in Lithuania. I myself visited Vilnius to learn more about them, while plotting and researching The Finery. The real life partisans lived in the forest, in bunkers. It was this idea that sparked the plans for the partisans underground community, which obviously develops into a world that houses them for a long time. To understand how one might live underground, I visited the extensive tunnels the Viet Cong used during the Vietnam war. The partisans in The Finery have the same hidden entrance and exit that they used, and also disperse smoke from fire in the same way. So, real life absolutely inspired the partisans.

The underground world of the partisans adds a compelling layer of intrigue to the novel. Does the underground world draw on any real-life fears? Do you think humanity will ever have to move underground?

The underground world is drawn from reality, and when writing, I often think of the saying, ‘the truth is stranger than fiction’. I don’t doubt that with the technology we have today, an underground labyrinth could be made to be habitable for an extended period of time.

The policies of The Finery have been compared to Conservative policies- could you share what you drew on when creating these policies? What inspired you to weave such connections into the narrative?

When I was thinking about Director’s desires for the land, I looked at two things – Stalin’s Five Year Plan, and Conservative policies. They were also inspired by what was going on around me at the time of writing. The pandemic caused lots of different governments to behave in different ways, and I pulled from some of those behaviours – hence the curfew. I wanted to create a world that the reader could imagine themselves in, and to add some realism to the fantastical. For example, if a reader was enjoying it but thought, ‘well, surely not,’ they would then be introduced to real history that has changed the world. The Finery is a fantasy novel, but it’s not so far removed from our reality.

Defiance against tyranny is a prominent theme throughout the book. Apart from this, are there any other significant messages or broader themes you hope readers will take away from reading The Finery?

Communication can stop wars. Everything that happens in The Finery is really drawn from one moment of miscommunication (I won’t go into spoilers). But the point is, if the people in that moment had taken the time to try and understand what the other was saying, the land of Rytter would be very different. Cancel culture is rife now, and I find it really scary. Not everything is black and white. Communication is key – let’s talk to each other, try and understand what’s going on in our lives, our backgrounds, our thought processes, that are driving beliefs.

Fantasy, as a genre, allows for exploration of complex societal issues. What made you choose the genre of fantasy to address political themes in The Finery?

I am a huge fantasy fan! My mind always goes to the magical when writing, and so I really wanted to delve into my desire to write a fun novel that battled serious issues.

The book has been praised for its wry humour and political elements. Could you discuss how you balanced these elements with the darker themes of totalitarianism and oppression? What effect were you hoping to achieve through this balance?

The way that people cope with oppression is often through humour. We laugh, so that we don’t cry. It’s a way to pick up moral, and it's utilised well by great authors such as Terry Prachett, too, who strike that divide between serious content and witty narrative. The land of Rytter is a serious place, but the people are just like us – they want to laugh.

Grab a copy of The Finery here, or from your local bookshop or library.

See you next month Scribblers - or join us below for weekly inbox joy…

Love Isabelle x