Meeting with a legend - Bernard MacLaverty
Photo: Author Bernard MacLaverty © Robert Burns
I just had the loveliest chat with the legend that is Bernard MacLaverty! He was in great form and more than happy to navigate the tech - with a little bit of help from his family - so we could record a podcast episode. Watch out for it in a few months when it is released on our Bookcited! podcast.
His book Midwinter Break has recently been released as a film, starring Ciaran Hinds as Gerry– apparently their mothers met regularly ‘for a cup of tea and a chat’ in the old days – and the brilliant Lesley Manville as Stella. It is a deceptively gentle story about an older couple who go to Amsterdam for a short holiday. But it turns out to be more tumultuous than Gerry expects as it seems that Stella is bored in their 44 year marriage and tired of Gerry’s increasingly problematic alcohol consumption. She has an ulterior motive for making Amsterdam their winter holiday destination but you’ll need to read it yourself to find out what happens.
The book is a lovely read with all the little details and keen observations which are so characteristic of Bernard’s writing. The everyday situations he relates are familiar to most of us and his characterisation is superb. I love the way the dialogue between Gerry and Stella flows in such a way that you can hear the Belfast accent and cadence of the sentences in your own head. It really is a master class in story form!
Bernard’s preferred genre is in Short Story Writing and his sixth most recent collection Blank Pages and Other Stories is definitely worth reading if you get the chance. Although he has lived in Scotland for many years his Belfast upbringing is reflected in a lot of his stories –from school days to the effects of the early days of the Troubles which was ultimately instrumental in his move away in the mid seventies. His other 4 novels also draw on inspiration from his early years – they are Grace Notes, Lamb, Anatomy School and Cal
I could have chatted to him all day and am truly honoured to have had the chance to meet him albeit virtually.
Blank pages and other stories by Bernard MacLaverty
The Anatomy School / Bernard MacLaverty
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