[ Search for Articles ] [ Visit Our Interviews Page ]

An Unpardonable Crime
by Andrew Taylor
Buy This Book via Amazon.com

AUTHORLINK: What is the central theme of your book? It seems that it's more of a love story or Thomas' coming-of-age story than a thriller or crime book, as the publisher's promotional material suggests. Did I miss something in the read?

TAYLOR: The novel was always designed to be more than a mystery. It's a historical novel and a love story. It also offers a sideways glimpse of Anglo-American relations nearly two centuries ago. Many British reviewers did not treat it as a crime title per se but as a literary thriller or historical novel.

AUTHORLINK: Why did you decide to make Edgar Allen Poe a character in your book, and why, then, did he not become the central character?

TAYLOR: Poe was the trigger for the novel. The whole thing started when I was re-reading his short story "William Wilson," and realized that Poe had drawn heavily on his own school days in England. Young Poe, in other words, was walking the same streets of Regency London as, for example, Jane Austen. As you know, Poe is not the narrator. It would have been hard to give a boy of that age (he was 11 when he left England) an active central role in the sort of novel I wanted to write. His part is intentionally subtler than that. He haunts the novel. Without realizing it, he links the characters and knits together the elements of their lives. See pp 47 and 6-77 (the start of section VI), which shows exactly how crucial he is. "Poe was like the pintle of a hinge—sometimes barely visible, yet the still point around which the whole business revolved," Captain Ruispidge comments many years afterword. "He waits at almost every twist and turn of Shield's narrative."

Perceptive readers will also find echoes of the stories and poems Poe wrote in later life. An Unpardonable Crime invents incidents etc. which prefigure Poe's work as an adult.

AUTHORLINK: Did Thomas take on a life of his own as you wrote?

TAYLOR: Yes, particularly because I was writing in the first person, and in as close an imitation as I could manage of early 19th Century English. His name and some of his character come from one of my own forbears, a very obscure Victorian poet.

AUTHORLINK: How did you develop the specific character of Edgar for the story? What materials were available to you in your research? I realize you've done a lot of research for this piece. Is Sophia based on someone you have known?

AUTHORLINK: The book's afterward (p 485) describes where I started my research into Poe's life. The problem is, the biographical materials relating to his early life are very scanty—and often flawed and inaccurate as well. But this was an advantage—to a novelist, least, if not to a biographer. Often I could fill the gaps-- for example, the memoirs of the American minister (aka ambassador) in Regency London gave invaluable glimpses of the lives and concerns of Americans in England; similarly, contemporary memoirs and letters reveal what life was like in English schools of that era. The crimes— from embezzlement to building scams to murder—usually had real-life contemporary prototypes too.

Sophia isn't based on a single person, but I drew heavily on the little known Journals of Clarissa Trant when I was writing about her. Clarissa was an impoverished Anglo-Irish lady, and her private diaries give glimpses of what young women of the period were really like.

AUTHORLINK: You are quite well known as a novelist in England. How do you think An Unpardonable Crime will be accepted in America?

TAYLOR: I am, of course, delighted that An Unpardonable Crime is being published and with such enthusiasm—in the United States. But it would be foolish to predict its reception. Better to leave that question to Americans!

AUTHORLINK: Thinking back to your first publishing contract, how did that come about? Did you have an agent? If so, how did you find him or her?

TAYLOR: I wrote to a publisher, enclosing a couple of sample chapters. She asked for the rest of the book and then made an offer. I didn't have an agent--they were less common when I started than they are now. After two or three books, I asked my publisher to recommend one.

AUTHORLINK: How did you find your first publisher?

TAYLOR: Her company published the sort of novels I liked to read (and aspired to write). I was very naive, and very lucky.

AUTHORLINK: Did you have to make many revisions to the original manuscript for the publisher? Did you do any special crafting or reshaping of the work knowing that it would be released in the U.S.? Or did you design the work with the American market in mind from the very beginning?

TAYLOR: I do most of my revising before the publisher sees the book. The British editor suggested I clarify a few of the plot points. The American edition is identical to the British, apart from the title (the British title is The American Boy).

I didn't write with the American market in mind from the start--though of course I cherished some hopes in that direction. It's impossible to predict marketing decisions, especially those in other countries, so I try not to be tempted!

AUTHORLINK: What factors enabled you to publish into the U.S. market? Who made that decision at HarperCollins UK to take the book to America.?

TAYLOR: HarperCollins UK naturally wanted to sell the book in the U.S. The Poe connection was obviously a factor here, but perhaps even more important is the growth of interest in historical fiction of all sorts--on both sides of the Atlantic.

AUTHORLINK: Who is your agent now? Who is your editor, and what sort of job do you think each one is doing for you?

TAYLOR: My agent is Vivien Green at Sheil Land (one of the major London agencies); Julia Wisdom is my editor at HarperCollins. I've worked with her for many years; and at Hyperion, I work with the excellent Mark Chait. They are all highly professional—and pleasant to work with.

AUTHORLINK: What are your working habits? How many hours a day do you write? What are your office surroundings like?

TAYLOR: I work most days, though I slacken off at weekends. If I'm writing a first draft, I can write up to about six hours a day. But it's very draining. I tend to set myself targets—if I do 6,000 words of first draft in a week, it's respectable; if I do 10,000 words I feel I deserve to relax at the weekend; if I do more, I know I'm on a roll.

AUTHORLINK: Which book among the many you have written was your toughest challenge and why?

TAYLOR: Definitely An Unpardonable Crime, and for a number of reasons: the sheer length; the complex plot that had to work on many levels; the need to get the background and the language as authentic as possible. I began to spend more time in the 19th Century than in the 21st.

AUTHORLINK: What advice would you offer to a struggling author who is trying to break into the marketplace? With respect to the craft? With respect to trying to sell himself/herself?

TAYLOR: As to craft: write, write, and write. You can learn a great deal from other people, but in the end it has to be you and that blank page. It is the hardest challenge of all—and for me it still is.

As to selling your work: network all you can—this is becoming increasingly important; learn how the book trade works and how it interacts with other media; go to reading groups and signings; talk to authors. Gradually you get to know people, and openings may appear.

Think about how you can market yourself, as well as your book (again, this is increasingly important, which is perhaps a pity).

AUTHORLINK: Have you had to personally market yourself? If so how?

TAYLOR: I promote my books a good deal, both with other crime writers and by myself. Later this year I'll spend a week in Norway and Denmark, a week in Canada, and I have events planned from the north of Scotland to Land's End in the far southwest. And there will be others. It's vital to market oneself--but sometimes hard to preserve one's writing time, which is even more important.

Visit Andrew Taylor's web site at: www.andrew-taylor.co.uk

—Doris Booth