Return to Mandalay (54 page)
My late mother-in-law, Hazel Innes, also acquired many books about Burma, which I have used in my research, notably Sue Arnold’s autobiographical
A Burmese Legacy
, Helen Rodriguez’s autobiography
Helen of Burma
, H.E.W. Braund’s account of Steel Brothers and Company Ltd in Burma,
Calling to Mind
and Alan Carter’s
Last Out of Burma. Helen of Burma
was particularly invaluable to me in writing about Maya’s war. Again, my characters are not related to any real people I have read about here, many details have no doubt been absorbed into this story, but it is fictional and my own.
Of other books I have read during my research, the ones that stood out were
The Glass Palace
by Amitav Ghosh, which allowed me to dip fictionally into the world of the final Burmese dynasty in 1885 – and thanks to Claire Zolkwer for recommending this book to me – and of course George Orwell’s wonderful
Burmese Days
. The story of the Ngau Mauk ruby is apparently a true one and was derived from information on the internet, as was other material about Burmese rubies and chinthes.
Thanks to my husband’s ‘Burmese family’ especially Suu Suu and Tin Mya and the others we met during our stay in Myanmar in November 2012 such as Ben, the driver who took us to Maymyo. And to other people we met and talked
with there who may have made a contribution, thank you too.
Grateful thanks as always to Alan Fish, who read and commented on an early draft of this novel. And to my husband, Grey, who listens to every scene I read to him and always finds something useful to add. As I have said before, he is the best travelling companion a writer can have and a good problem solver to boot. Thanks to my daughters, Alexa and Ana, for answering random queries about language, music and things technical and for their unflagging support of my books. And to my son, Luke, for information about Copenhagen and computer scientists. Thanks to June Tate for her ‘riches of the heart’. Finally, thanks to friends who have supported me during the journey of this novel and to readers who take the trouble to contact me to tell me that they enjoy my books. And to anyone I have forgotten. Thank you all!
Rosanna Ley lives in West Dorset. Here she writes about the relationship between landscape and creativity …
There are little hotspots all over the world to which groups of creative people are drawn. But why? Surely it’s not simply a question of contacts and existing artistic infrastructure – though clearly this helps. Is it something to do with landscape? And if some landscapes provoke more creative responses than others, which kind does it for you?
In the west country of the UK we can do wild and bleak or cute and scenic. We get a lot of rain – but this is why the grass is always greener. There are more writers, musicians, potters, artists, weavers, sculptors and glass blowers here than anywhere else in the UK. And tourists of all nationalities brave our English weather and come in their thousands to visit our galleries, exhibitions, mills, shops and craft centres. But what is it about the landscape that inspires creativity?
Is it perhaps the sense of history? Age can certainly give a landscape a vibe – Lyme Regis, Charmouth and the Jurassic Coast of Dorset have a sense of history which literally clings to the fossilized rocks, the cliffs and the beaches. Roman roads and ancient forts abound. In the novels of Thomas Hardy, Dorchester provides an artistic legacy too – of the writerly kind.
Visitors are equally inspired by the golden sandstone cliffs of West Bay – as recently featured in ITV’s crime drama
Broadchurch
. Following
Broadchurch
, visitors (known locally as ‘Broadies’!) have flocked to West Bay to see for themselves those amazing, towering honey-bricked cliffs.
Or is it perhaps the tranquillity of a natural landscape – be it coastal, woodland, upland or riverside – which appeals to the creative mind and feeds our desire to get back to nature and away from the noise, turmoil and stress of busy city life?
Sometimes, walking along the vastness of Chesil Beach, you feel solitary, humble, affected by Nature. It’s liberating.
Artists here in Dorset often talk about the quality of the light for painting. The rocks range from the orange sandstone of West Bay through to the Blue Lias of Lyme; where there is light there is always shadow.
As for Fuerteventura … There is a late-afternoon light that tints the landscape with a deep yellow and turns the sand (and blonde hair!) an unearthly golden green.
Whatever the personal response to landscape, it seems that this is a relationship and a dialogue between individual and place. Landscape brings out the creativity in us all. It encourages us to reflect, express ourselves and even to change our thinking.
Landscape might offer a glimpse of memory and the past – as it does for Ruby in my second novel when she first sees the turquoise lagoon in Fuerteventura, otherwise known as the ‘Bay of Secrets’, which became the book’s title. It might even offer a glimpse of the future.
I always felt I belonged to West Dorset. It’s my ‘soul home’. And I’m always happiest writing where there is a sea view. It may be in my local cafe in West Bay with the high bank of ginger pebbles and the waves right beside me, the harbour and the sandstone cliffs beyond. Or in Fuerteventura on the Playa de Castillo watching the surfers ride the wild waves. It might be a tranquil summer day or bleak mid-winter. The sea lets me dream – it does it for me every time.
Discover
‘Elegant storytelling at its best … the gentleness and authenticity of Rosamund Pilcher, with its strong sense of place, family and friendship. What a winning combination!’
Veronica Henry
When Tess Angel receives a solicitor’s letter inviting her to claim her inheritance – the Villa Sirena in Italy – she returns to her mother’s homeland, only to discover some long-buried family secrets.
Six months after her parents’ shocking death, journalist and jazz enthusiast Ruby Rae has finally found the strength to move on. But as she tries to do so, she unearths a truth her parents had kept from her all her life.
