My step into uncharted waters

May 7 2010 by The Journal

Delving into the past for inspiration offered author Janette Jenkins a new writing process, as well as new book, of course. Sam Wonfor talks to her.

WRITING Angel of Brooklyn marked a departure for Janette Jenkins. The author, who lives in County Durham, had set her previous novels to a backdrop of first-hand experience.

“The first two books were very different and I found them sort of easy to write,” she says.

“They were set in my lifetime, in the 70s and in places I knew really well.”

While her debut, Columbus Day (2000), was set in Blackpool, Another Elvis Love Child (2003) was told from the author’s native Bolton.

“For my third book I wanted to relaunch myself in a way,” she says.

“I knew I’d have to do something more ambitious, so I decided to try historical fiction.” As well as a canvas of possibilities, this decision also committed Janette to a whole new, and comprehensive research process.

“At first I found it quite hard because I’m not an academic and the research almost put me off,” she admits.

“But in the end, I got really hooked and enjoyed it.”

Although initially undecided on when she wanted to set her story, Janette, who studied literature and philosophy at Bolton University and did an MA in creative writing at the University of East Anglia (where she was taught by the late literary heavyweight, Sir Malcolm Bradbury), did have some clear ideas about the premise within which the story would unfold.

“I had no idea what the book was going to be about, but I just knew that I wanted to write about a stranger coming into a community,” she says.

“Then I started thinking about the time around the First World War. This was sort of in living memory for me because my great grandfather was in the War and my great grandmother was alive when I was alive.

“It was one of the only wars in recent-ish history that there was no real communication. A lot of the time it was all to do with hearsay and newspapers and gossip. I thought that would work well in the story.”

In terms of locations, Janette was keen to offer a real contrast between where the stranger – a new bride – had come from, and the tiny, rainy Lancashire village where she was arriving.

“Coney Island, New York is a place where, even at that time, women could lead quite different lives,” says Janette.

“For these little villagers, it would seem quite an outrageous existence. This woman had enjoyed foreign food, and a freedom that they would never have dreamed about.

“I thought it would be interesting for this woman to be a foreigner, but not. She’s foreign to these villagers, but she speaks English.”

And so the story took shape.

In 1914 Jonathan Crane returns to his Lancashire village home, accompanied by his former Coney Island showgirl bride, Beatrice, who subsequently becomes the focus of predominantly positive attention in the village.

But when the men head off to fight in the Great War, Beatrice, who is determined to keep a secret from her past buried, becomes an object of suspicion and jealousy for the women left behind.

Ultimately her secret, which tells the story of how she became known as the Angel of Brooklyn, proves to be Beatrice’s undoing.

First published in 2008, the book came out in paperback last year.

“And what was really exciting for me is that it was made into a talking book,” says Janette, who lives in Durham with her 13-year-old daughter and partner, Simon Stallworthy, the director of the city’s Gala Theatre.

“It was told by an actress called Willow Nash. She really acted all the voices. It must have killed her,” she laughs, “It’s an unabridged version.”

I wonder whether, considering her other half’s day job and her own experiences (during her third year at drama school, Janette walked away from the front of house and headed for the solitude of a writer’s desk) whether she harbours any stage-adaptation ambitions for her Angel.

“I’ve never thought of that. I can’t imagine Angel of Brooklyn on a stage. Lots of people say they could see it as a film though.”

But for now, Janette is immersed in her next book. “It’s another historical novel – set in Victorian London,” she says.

The story is about a crippled 15-year-old girl who goes to work for a doctor – an abortionist, who works in the theatrical world. When he becomes involved in a murder, she gets the blame.

“It’s quite ghostly as well... but I don’t want it to sound too bleak,” laughs Janette. “There are some jokes in there.”

:: Angel of Brooklyn is published by Vintage at £7.99.