Julie Myerson: Interview
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By Mia Hansson
Posted: Mon May 22 2006 -
Time Out admires Julie Myerson‘s ’The Story of You‘, which explores the way a mother is affected by the death of her baby
If you’ve seen Anthony Minghella’s debut movie ‘Truly, Madly, Deeply’, you’ll recall the main character, played by Juliet Stevenson, dealing with the death of her lover by talking to his ghost (Alan Rickman). A similar ethereal thread runs through Julie Myerson’s new novel, ‘The Story of You’, and it’s no great surprise that FilmFour and Minghella have snapped up the novel’s film rights.
‘I was quite surprised,’ admits Myerson. ‘I can see the similarity, but I didn’t think of my novel as filmic. Having said that, Anthony Minghella doesn’t want to direct “The Story of You” himself because he thinks it’s too close to “Truly, Madly, Deeply”.’ Feature continues
AdvertisementBoth artists have an uncanny ability to deal both delicately and head-on with some of life’s darkest places: murder, infidelity, obsession and madness. That’s why I’m perplexed when I meet Myerson: she looks lovely and unaffected, with none of the anxiety that I’d detected in the publicity shots. Her words bubble up and tumble on top of each other in joyous heaps, punctuated by a sparkle in clear blue eyes. She is, in fact, perfectly happy.
‘It’s a safe place to explore fear from. I write about the things that frighten me. Some of the book is autobiographical, like the part when Rosy [the main character] is in Florence and suddenly finds herself staring into the abyss. Jonathan [Myerson’s partner of 17 years] thinks it’s funny, because the women in my novels are always flaky and complicated and trying to kill their husbands! One thing I was trying to do in this novel,’ she adds, ‘is write candidly about a real marriage.’
Myerson’s parents separated when she was 12, and she has no memorabilia from her childhood. Her new stepfather, ‘a wonderful man who brought me up’, left later for another woman and failed to keep in touch. ‘It was like, by leaving, he trashed all the shared memories we’d built up.’ Her biological father committed suicide, although Myerson maintains that this had little bearing on her writing. ‘It always seems a bit neat to me to say that’s where my novels come from. Marriage is about shared history. My father actually cut my mother’s face off all the family photos when they separated… But I wanted to write long before those things started happening.’
‘The Story of You’ is constructed purely from dialogue, internal and external, in the mind of Rosy, a married, middle-aged mother whose baby has recently died. It is an effective study of the power that people have of conjuring up what they need when they need it, and the havoc it causes to the people around them.
‘I sat down with a blank page and could feel snow. I knew then that I wanted to write about a snowy room.’ That was the student room in which Rosy had spent one night in a fully clothed embrace with her housemate, 20 years earlier. The novel is a constant replay and reflection of that memory, and its effect on Rosy’s present: the pain of her baby’s death, and her progressively alienated family.
‘The power of the mind and what we can convince ourselves of is absolutely incredible. People experience things that can’t be explained. I saw the ghost of a boy once, when it walked around my house and woke me up in the middle of the night…
‘But writing has to ring true. I take an unsentimental approach. The only thing I don’t like is very girly writing, because I find it emotionally lazy. I’m always trying to be less feminine in my writing! If you’re going to write about sex, children, babies, any of those things, what I really try to do is not have an ounce of sentiment there.’
At the same time, Myerson aims for emotional suspense. ‘I need to know how people deal with the loss of something from their past that they feel like they can never regain. And I was wondering what it would be like if one could regain something. It hadn’t even occurred to me until a friend said it, that it’s a love story.’
‘A Story of You’ is Myerson’s sixth novel. She wrote her first at the age of 32, when she already had three children. ‘Jonathan was very supportive – or rather, I wasn’t very nice to live with until I’d had a chance to write!’ While the other novels took up to two years to complete, this was an intense four-month affair. ‘When you’ve got children, you have to go away to write. I got up at seven, worked for two hours, had a long breakfast, wrote for three hours, went off and looked in antiques shops for three hours, came back… It was a fantastic experience.’
Where, I wonder, does all that energy come from? Myerson smiles. ‘If you want to write books, you don’t have to look for energy. If everyone leaves me alone, it’s there.’ She pauses. ‘I think, like all my novels, this will be one that you will either love or hate.’
‘The Story of You’ is published by Cape at £12.99.
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8 comments
I've just completed Story of You. by Julie Myerson, What a
deeply emotive, moving story. . So sensitively written esp when deeling with the death of Nicole's dearly loved infant, Mary.
What I'm just dying to find out is did Julie ever open that top cupboard drawer and were those pearls still there? Sorry but I'm just so curious!! Mmm..I suppose we'll never know.
Hello Susan. I am truly sorry to have caused you offence, and can only assume that my comments have rubbed a sore spot in you. If that is so, you have my sympathy. Perhaps you, like me, have lost a child? Or perhaps you've had the torture of watching one self-destruct.
You say "I've read your self-publicizing on the Telegraph, the Times, and just about anywhere where Myerson's book is mentioned" Do you not think it natural that one author would relate to another's work - especially where two mothers' shared experience is concerned? But I take your point: I do want to publicise my book. There's little point in writing one if it is not to be publicised, don't you think?
I shall make no comment on your opinion of me "... you're starting to look like a bit of a vulture (unlike Myerson)" except to say that I am happy to report that it is not shared by all.
However, you do me - and more importantly the charities I support - immense disservice to suggest that I "profit" in any way from sales of my books, and that the only "charity" is "my pocket". On the contrary. Both charities' details are included on my website, and I invite you to contact them to ascertain that they have already benefited from the proceeds of book sales - and with the generosity of purchasers - will continue to do so.
The venture has actually cost me more than has been raised to date for the charities. ALL PROCEEDS ARE FOR TEARFUND AND CARE FOR THE FAMILY. I HAVE MADE NOTHING.
I do hope this will put your mind at rest. You may like to read the article I have posted on my blog on this subject.
Very best wishes to you, Mel Menzies
Mel Menzies - i've read your self-publicizing on the Telegraph, the Times, and just about anywhere where Myerson's book is mentioned... you're starting to look like a bit of a vulture (unlike Myerson). stop trying to profit from tragedy - the only "charidee" is for your pocket. grim state of affairs...
Dear Mel,
What can I say except I think what you are doing is a very good thing. Education seems to have failed in the so-called developed world, so trying to teach in the Third World (as it is called) is very difficult. Women are at the mercy of boyfriends, husbands, fathers and male relatives. Yet, in the freedom of modern British life, they are often the slaves of liberated living. They go along with drinking, drugtaking, casual sex, driven by the need to be considered attractive and one of the group. Yes, education is badly needed, but so is a code of moral ethics, religious or humanitarian, because without this, I don't think education can succeed. Today, religion and family life are mocked, but it is needed more than ever. That is why I feel such outrage against the Myerson mother and father, and the reason that this correspondence started. I will be buying your book, and urge what friends I have left to do so too. I wish you well, and hope your vital work will help to ease the pain I know you are feeling.
Thank you Anna Kaye for your sympathies. I watched The One Show on BBC tonight and saw Christine Blakely in Africa with children who lost their mother due to AIDS. Like the presenter, I couldn't stop crying. My daughter went through tests before having her baby because she was afraid she might be HIV+ (she wasn't). I desperately want my daughter's story to become a bestseller because all the proceeds are for charities - one educating teenagers about the dangers of drugs; the other helping mothers and babies born HIV+ in the developing world. I want nothing for myself.
Mel you have my sympathies. I have known children, fortunately not my own, who died this way. It was many years ago, but the pain remains. One thing that worries me about the Myerson affair, is that the young man was never proven guilty of violence or drug taking in a court, and can one accuse a person of this and then publish books or articles, without their permission? The whole thing strikes me as very opportunistic, both parents conniving to cash in on a tragedy. No better than a 'literary' reality show.
Strong words in the above comment. I have never read Myerson's work, but I know what I think about it nevertheless.
Julie Myerson's son is said to have described his mother's decision to write his story as 'obscene'. I, too, am a bestselling author, and my novel, A Painful Post Mortem, is the story of my daughter's 13 year heroin abuse during which we had to practice tough love. Five years after kicking her habit, she wanted me to write a book and I refused because, by then, she had a baby. But I did collaborate on a magazine article with her. Within weeks she was dead, victim of a spiked drink. I believe she was targetted by dealers.
Can it ever be right for a mother to expose her child in this way? My book is available on my website and Amazon. And my motive? All proceeds are for charities benefiting children.
As an academic involved in English Literature, I never had a great opinion of Meyerson's books. However, now I realise her main aim in life is making money, so if that is what she and her magistrate husband want, so be it. I for one, will never encourage anyone to read her books (I cannot call them writing) and will actively avoid outlets which promote her published material.