Last Writes

I am always on the lookout for new sorts of crime fiction, and the debut novel Tethered--released recently in Britain (but available in the States since last summer)--is most definitely different. I must warn you, however, that this story, written by Boston-area author Amy MacKinnon, is more than a bit disturbing.

Its British cover (seen at left) makes my skin crawl; the imagery is as creepy as MacKinnon’s narrative, which is filled with damaged people. A synopsis of Tethered sets the scene beautifully:

Clara Marsh is an undertaker who doesn’t believe in God. She spends her solitary life among the dead, preparing their last baths and bidding them farewell with a bouquet from her own garden. Her carefully structured life shifts when she discovers a neglected little girl, Trecie, playing in the funeral parlor, desperate for a friend.

It changes even more when Detective Mike Sullivan starts questioning her again about a body she prepared three years ago, an unidentified girl found murdered in a nearby strip of woods. Unclaimed by family, the community christened her Precious Doe. When Clara and Mike learn Trecie may be involved with the same people who killed Precious Doe, Clara must choose between the stead-fast existence of loneliness and the perils of binding one’s life to another.

Taking place in Brockton, Massachusetts, this tale is multi-layered, suffused with insight, compassion, and human pain. Tethered is sure to haunt, and maybe make readers question what value life still has when it’s riddled with suffering. As wonderfully evocative as it is disquieting, this dark novel will embed itself in your mind as surely as the plaintive cries of a lost child.

So while MacKinnon was in London not long ago to attend a party held by her UK publisher, Orion, I arranged with publicity manager Gaby Young to interview her. It gave me the chance to ask this author about her writing history, her background in politics, and how she died during his first experience of childbirth.

Ali Karim: Although Tethered is touted as your first novel, you’ve done a good deal of scribbling in the past, right?

Amy MacKinnon: I was a freelance reporter for a few years and admit to having one novel under the bed. It was dreadful. I took [Ernest] Hemingway’s advice to “write what you know,” so I wrote a humorous take on the drama of suburbia. The only problem being that I’m not terribly funny.

AK: Do you come from a bookish family? And what did you read in your early years that made an impression upon you?

AM: I come from a blue-collar family, which emphasized hard work and integrity. Books and reading were a luxury. I didn’t own many, but my good Mom took me to the town library every Saturday. I’d borrow anything and everything from Mad Magazine to Judy Blume to Kurt Vonnegut. I remember in a high-school English class being exposed to Albert Camus’ The Stranger and that being the single most transformative reading experience of my life.

AK: Can you tell us when you first started writing?

AM: I left behind a career in politics [she was once an aide to U.S. Representative Gerry Studds and later served as chief of staff to Massachusetts legislator Paul Haley] to stay home with my children, and while I never regretted it, I did miss having something all my own. One night while nursing my youngest, I started writing my obituary. I recommend it to everyone; it helps clarify one’s goals. Soon after, I started freelance reporting. After hearing Jonathan Franzen say writing The Corrections was the most fun he’d ever had, I thought I’d try my hand at a novel. I can attest that writing is indeed the most fun I’ve ever had. Just goes to show how (thankfully) boring my real life is, I suppose.

AK: What about crime fiction? Have you read much in the genre?

AM: I don’t mean to be oppositional when I say this, but I dislike labeling books. Certainly it’s necessary for organizing them in stores and libraries, but, really, isn’t nearly every good story based on a crime? The Bible is rife with them, [Fyodor] Dostoevsky too. I don’t choose my reading material based on anything other than whether or not it’s a good story. If the writing is exemplary, well, then I’m doubly pleased. I read YA [young adult fiction], women’s fiction, crime, literary fiction, middle grade, thrillers ... People who claim to read only one genre are severely limiting themselves.

AK: Do you consider yourself a crime novelist?

AM: Most days I struggle with simply calling myself a writer.

AK: Who else’s work do you enjoy reading?

AM: My absolute favorite writer is Ian McEwan (On Chesil Beach). Or perhaps it’s Ann Patchett, Cormac McCarthy, Dennis Lehane, Margaret Atwood, Charles Frazier, Karen Fisher, Lois Lowry, or Stephen King.

AK: How did you find yourself hooking up with Orion Books?

AM: I sold world rights to Random House America in October 2007, and four days later they sold my novel at auction to four foreign publishers, including my beloved editor at Orion, Sara O’Keeffe. She’s been a phenomenal advocate for my novel.

AK: Now that you have U.S. and UK editions of your novel, are you finding interest from foreign publishers?

AM: As of today, Tethered has sold to nine foreign publishers. As a debut novelist, I feel blessed.

AK: I heard somewhere that your uncle was once in the undertaking business, just like Clara Marsh. Would you care to tell us something about that relative of yours?

AM: My uncle is a man of great faith, much like the character Linus in the story. There’s a scene where an elderly woman tells Linus that he’s surrounded by spirits waiting for him to show them the way home. My uncle had a similar experience and I’m certain it’s true.

AK: At times, Tethered can be a rather tough read. Did you worry about writing on the subject of death and the effect it has on families, especially when the loss of children is involved?

AM: Life is hard, especially now. Losing a child is the absolute worst fear of every good parent. Unfortunately, too many of my friends have experienced the loss of a child. At the book’s end, when Clara recites the names, those are their children. I have a very different take on death than many. After the birth of my first child, I contracted a massive infection, died, was revived, [was] placed on life support, and was in coma. It’s an absolutely lovely experience to die; the hard part was coming back. But I’m a mother first and foremost.

AK: Publishers like series characters. Without giving away the end of your novel, can you say whether you have further plans for the players in Tethered?

AM: The characters in Tethered are at rest now. I can’t imagine where I’d take them next. I do, however, have plans for Clara to make an appearance in the novel I’m working on presently.

AK: Finally, what books have you enjoyed reading lately?

AM: Other than the usual suspects? Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects is a startling read and I just received her next one, Dark Places. Wow! My dear friend Lynne Griffin has a book about to be published [that] crime readers would love, Life Without Summer. Anyone who enjoys a hilarious series with a mature woman reporter/detective, I suggest you try Hank Phillippi Ryan’s Prime Time series. Finally, one of the consistently best out there has to be Laura Lippman. Anything by her will leave an intelligent reader reeling.

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A short excerpt from Tethered can be found here. Author Amy MacKinnon also writes a blog, The Literary Maze. And you can listen to a podcast by MacKinnon here.

(Author photo by Sigrid Estrada.)

READ MORE: “The End: Amy MacKinnon’s Novel About Death Was the Start of a Whole New Life, by David Mehegan (The Boston Globe).