‘THESE AREN'T MY MEMOIRS, OR SOME SORT OF REVENGE NOVEL'
now. Donald says the book is fictional — sewn together from memories of his basketball coach. other kids dads. ot' people he saw in the street. Before being published. it had already receiyed praise from the author .lanice (ialloway. won him a Scottish Variety Award nomination and secured him Scottish Arts (‘ouncil funding for his second novel.
‘I wanted to create this macho perspective on the world. seen by the kind of guy who wears t- shirts that say things like “I do all my own stunts" or “Female Body Inspector". and who thinks it‘s line to teach his son a choke hold. Writing about my own life would have been far too restrictive.‘
Donald realised he wanted his first book to explore masculinity and family relationships after spreading out all the short stories and poems he'd written while studying for his
Masters in creatiye writing at (ilasgow l'niyersity. "l‘here were definite themes emerging. This same family kept appearing in my writing. with these same four people. I wanted to get closer to them and use them to discm er some emotional truths.'
.-\lthough he admits he found it tough writing the passages where Bruce gets the upper hand oyer his sons. he also found it fun writing a character whose moral code comes from a distorted. old school notion of cow boy manliness. 'ln his head he's some kind of hero. when actually he‘s just this small time guy. who gets a kick out of stealing a cup of coffee. or w inning a w restling match with a ll-year-old.‘
Set under the purple jacaranda trees of a South African summer. with braais by the poolside or [tips to the beach at l)urban. the novel reads like a ha/y. beautifully photographed Polaroid of childhood albeit one that is slowly being crushed by Bruce's menacing grip. While there are dark moments in which Bruce tries to hammer his warped \iews home. there are also feather-light passages where the boys spend their afternoons swapping .\lar\el superhero cards. talking about computer games or doing wheelies on their bikes.
'l think a lot of writers from South Africa. jtist like writers from Bosnia or Northern Ireland. often feel some sort of responsibility to write about the politics of that place.‘ says Donald. 'l deliberately wanted to write something very domestic instead. But I also wanted to let the reader feel what it‘s like to live inside this comfortable. white bubble.‘
Although he focuses on the power trip of a bad father. l)onald thinks Bruce's superiority complex is the sort of mentality that also leads to sexism. racism and bigotry. ‘lt's back to that thing of blaming the ‘other' guy. whether it‘s a woman. or a black man. or someone who talks a different language. Walking about with that attitude. sooner or later it‘s going to find an outlet somewhere.‘ he shrugs.
Growing up under apartheid. Donald saw first- hand the ‘complicated moral positions’ that people often found themselves in. Like the 'l‘hornes in (‘lmkt' ('liuiii. Donald's family had a black. live-in housekeeper. ‘lf a family gives work to a black woman who has three kids to support. are you helping them‘.’ Or are you just strengthening the apartheid system‘.’ Are you reinforcing the ‘slaye and master" stereotype. and taking away their dignity'." lle deliberately kept politics as a backdrop to the main plotline. though. as he wanted to “show things. rather than deliver a lecturef
He hopes the book will raise a few questions about gender politics and family life. 'I love films like The Squid and the Whale. [director Noah Baumbach‘s true recollection of living through a divorce in l‘)b’()s Brooklyn] where you see a family breaking up from all angles. I wanted to show the struggle of all the characters to find their sense of what‘s the right and the wrong thing to do.‘
Donald has already started work on book two. a (ilasgow-set story of asylum seekers. but is excited to see how readers react to the Thorne family.
'The best thing would be knowing that people are left wondering how the characters are getting on after they close the book.‘
Choke Chain is out on Thu 19 Feb, published by Jonathan Cape.
FIRST AMONG EOUALS
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A\
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HarperCoI/ins, 28 May.
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