Heartbreaker (68 page)

JMG:
How do you seek to weave the religious with the secular in your books?

SH:
I’m very much opposed to Christianity being in little ghettos, because I think that’s quite contrary to what the spirit of Christianity should be about. Christianity is a very materialistic religion in the basic sense that it involves bread and wine and somebody who died a horrible death—it’s very real, it’s very here and now. And I don’t think it should be locked in a little ghetto, sanitized from the real world. I think Christ himself was out there in the real world, working away in what was, in his day, a secular world.

There shouldn’t actually be any conflict, so when I’m writing about the secular world—as I always do—I think one of the attractions of writing about the ministry of healing is that it really
is
on the forefront. It works in the secular world, and it’s right on the front line in the secular world, meaning there’s all kinds of people—of all faiths and none—and that’s as it should be.

I think it should be for everyone. I like to blur the line, because Christianity has to work in the secular world. It has to operate in the secular world. That’s what it’s all about. So I don’t actually see there’s a conflict. Although today of course, when we’re so used to Christians forming blocks and shutting out the world, perhaps, I think that’s sometimes quite an alien concept. I think Christianity actually should be in the secular world—relating with it and interweaving with it. That’s how I feel, anyway.

JMG:
The concept of healing is explored at great length in the novel— both its positive aspects and the way it can be manipulated to exploit those searching for answers. What about a healing ministry compelled you to make St. Benet’s and its priests so important to the novel and to the characters?

SH:
I came across it, as I said, when I was doing research for the Starbridge books. And then in the early 1990s, I went to a lecture given by a clergyman called Christopher Hamel Cooke. He was the rector of Marlyebone Church in London, and he wanted to turn the church into a healing center. I based my fictitious St. Benet’s Church on his work. He was very traditional from the point of view of being part of a Catholic tradition. It wasn’t Pentecostal healing; he was much quieter, much more low-key. I found this interesting. It had to involve people of immense integrity, because healing can be about power over vulnerable people. So healers have to be very honest. They have to keep themselves honest, work hard at keeping themselves honest and preserve their integrity. I felt that it presented such a challenge to maybe someone who’s such a good, gifted healer—but the temptations must be so great. As a novelist, that sort of setup interested me.

Then I investigated further, and there was another healing center I got interested in, another hospital called Burrswood. There were quite a few of them, actually, in England, practicing the traditional ministry of healing, the laying on of hands. It may be in the context of the Eucharist, but not necessarily, and it’s not charismatic in the sense that everyone’s shouting out and passing out. It’s much more low-key. It is very traditional and I think can be very effective.

And they always work with doctors, that’s the other thing. They’re not just out there on their own. It’s complementary medicine, not alternative medicine; it deals with the mind, body, and spirit.

Burrswood, the little hospital which I just mentioned, has clergymen and doctors working together. And the Marlyebone Healing Center, which Christopher Hamel Cooke founded, also has doctors and clergymen working together. So it’s an interesting combination, trying to deal with the whole person. Because you know how some doctors just think of people as bodies, and some ministers just think of people as spirits. But when you get the two together, you have a much better chance of healing. You can be healed but not cured; it’s not necessarily about being cured. You can have a healing of the spirit, even if the physical illness is not curable; a better quality of life and a better, sort of restful emotional attitude.

JMG:
What about the manipulative side of some healers? For instance, when you take someone like Elizabeth, who, under the guise of one of her many identities, purports to be a healer, and then contrast her with Lewis or with Nicholas.

SH:
Mrs. Mayfield of course is the dark side of healing, the exploiters, and the frauds that are just out for what they can get. They’re just out for the money. There are plenty of them around, that’s for sure.

JMG:
In your opinion, what characteristics are integral for a good healer and minister?

SH:
You have to work very hard in keeping yourself in touch with God. It’s very easy to go adrift, to do an ego trip. I think you have to like people, be interested in people. But also you have to be very well integrated with God. But it’s hard. There’s always such temptations. Pride and that kind of thing. It’s a dangerous ministry, in some ways. Very dangerous.

JMG:
Do you have any special writing routines or rituals that facilitate the process and bring you inspiration and creativity? What are they?

SH:
No. I used to go through techniques of getting up at 5:00 in the morning and having two cups of tea and doing this, that, and the other— but I don’t do that anymore. I’m too old! I don’t think there’s any special routine. I never write if I don’t feel like it, but usually I feel like it. There’s no good in making yourself do it. Nothing good will come out of it. I don’t have any magic moments, or magic mantras which I chant.

It also depends on which stage of the book I’m on. I like to work in blocks of time. I don’t do Monday through Friday. I maybe do two weeks straight and take a few days off to catch up. But of course, life is more untidy than that! I often do get interrupted. But there we are, that’s the way the cookie crumbles.

JMG:
Did you undertake a great deal of research for this particular novel?

SH:
Most of the healing research I’d already done, as it had come up in the previous books. I read through the books that I quoted from,
Mud
and Stars
and
A Time to Heal
. It was mainly getting Gavin’s background, the practical details, that was my main research.

JMG:
Is there anything in particular that you’re working on right now? What can your readers look forward to from you next?

SH:
After
The Heartbreaker,
I thought I’d retire, but it didn’t work out! I’ve been published now, believe it or not, for forty years. My first book was published in 1965, when I was twenty-five. And so I thought to myself, forty years is enough, for God’s sake! But I really couldn’t get to grips with the thing, and finally, last August I thought, Oh, screw it! I’ll go back to work.

But I’m going to do something rather different. This time I’m working on a whodunit. A mystery. A murder mystery, so it will be very different. Well, not
too
different in some ways. More than that I’d better not say! It will be what Graham Greene used to call an “entertainment.”

READING GROUP QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION

The Heartbreaker
is told from the points of view of two narrators: Gavin and Carta. How is this an effective narrative technique? How do these different perspectives impact your understanding of the novel? How are Gavin and Carta different in their personalities and approaches to life? Which similarities do they share?

Were you surprised to learn that Richard’s paramour was a male prostitute? Does Richard give any clues to Gavin’s gender, and if so, what are they? Why do you think Richard chooses to confide at least part of his secret to Carta? What about her inspires trust, not only in Richard but in others as well?

Why does Carta leave a high-powered job to become a fundraiser for St. Benet’s? How does she incorporate the skills from her law career into her new vocation? How is she well suited for this task, and what does she consider its most challenging aspects? What type of law career do you think she’ll pursue in the future?

“How horribly hard it is to be a Christian!” thinks Carta on page 191. What does she mean by this statement, and who in the book might echo it? In what ways does Carta struggle with her own spirituality? How does she view her faith as something to work for, rather than simply experience? Have you ever had a similar struggle?

Why does Gavin want to attend Richard’s funeral? How does his presence there throw the other events of the book in motion? Do you think his life—and the lives of others in the book—would have been different had he stayed away?

St. Benet’s plays an important role in
The Heartbreaker
. What does this healing center represent to those who take comfort there? Do you have a similar place in your life? What is it?

“What’s so foolish about wanting to be loved?” asks Richard on page 12. How does the search for love inform not only his character’s actions but also those of Carta, Gavin, Gil, and others? How does love damage each of these individuals? How does it improve their characters?

Do you think that Elizabeth ever truly cared about Gavin? What about Elizabeth initially attracts Gavin to her? In turn, what about Elizabeth might have compelled Carta’s husband Kim?

Gavin refers to Jesus as “The Bloke.” What does this word evoke to you? Why is Gavin cavalier in his attitude toward Christianity, and how does his mindset change as the novel unfolds? Who are the biggest influences in this transformation?

Gavin nicknames most people—from Carta to Nicholas to Jesus Christ. What compels him to do so? What do you think Carta or Nicholas might have nicknamed Gavin?

What characteristics do the holy men in this novel—Richard, Lewis, and Gil—share in common? How do their approaches to ministry differ? What is your impression of their personal lives?

Each of the three ministers in the book has an effect on Gavin. How does Nicholas’s initial attitude toward Gavin affect the younger man’s life? How does the mindset of Lewis change toward Gavin as the book unfolds? Finally, how does Gil’s interaction with Gavin shape both men?

Gavin is haunted by the specter of Hugo throughout his life. What does he regret about his relationship with his brother? What does he value about it? Do you see any parallels between this relationship and the one Eric shares with Gil?

The figure of Asherton casts a menacing presence throughout the book. How does he achieve power over others? What enables those like Nicholas and Sir Colin to see through him immediately? How does Asherton’s public façade differ from his private one?

Gavin characterizes evil as “crawling all over everywhere” (page 407). How is evil an insidious presence in the book? How do the characters struggle against it, both literally and figuratively? Can you name some examples of evil lurking in the shadows of everyday life?

How does money play an insidious and damaging role in the book? Name some instances where wealth is used for good and for bad purposes.

How do Carta and Susanne make peace with one another toward the end of the book? What attracts Gavin to each of them? How do they seek to protect Gavin? How is his journey toward redemption a partnership with others, and in which ways is it a solitary pursuit?

How do Gavin and Carta seek mentors to help them along their spiritual journey? Why is this beneficial? In your opinion, what characteristics comprise a good healer and minister?

The author, Susan Howatch, sprinkles the book with literary references—from Dickens’s
A Tale of Two Cities
to Dante’s
The Divine Comedy
. What purpose does this achieve? Similarly, how do the quotations that begin each section guide the book?

SUSAN HOWATCH was born in Surrey. After taking a degree in law, she emigrated to America where she married, had a daughter, and embarked on a career as a writer. When she eventually left the States, she lived in the Republic of Ireland for four years before returning to England. She spent time in Salisbury—the inspiration for her Starbridge sequence of novels—and now lives in London.