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About the author and blogger ...

Anne Goodwin’s drive to understand what makes people tick led to a career in clinical psychology. That same curiosity now powers her fiction.
A prize-winning short-story writer, she has published three novels and a short story collection with small independent press, Inspired Quill. Her debut novel, Sugar and Snails, was shortlisted for the 2016 Polari First Book Prize.
Away from her desk, Anne guides book-loving walkers through the Derbyshire landscape that inspired Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre.
Subscribers to her newsletter can download a free e-book of award-winning short stories.

TELL ME MORE

Forced migrations: Moth & American Dirt

22/6/2021

8 Comments

 
Here are two novels about forced migrations and which focus on structural inequalities and the particular dangers to women and girls. The first is about the partition of India in the mid-1940s and the second a contemporary novel set in the Americas.
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Moth by Melody Razak

Alma is fourteen, and a young fourteen at that, so I was somewhat alarmed to find she was about to be married. Her parents, both university lecturers, aren’t keen but seem reluctant to disappoint either her or the girl’s grandmother who has arranged the match. Naïvely, they think marriage will offer her some protection from the sexual violence perpetrated against women and girls at times of civil unrest. Welcome to the hitherto comfortable home of a Brahmin family in Delhi in the run-up to the departure of the British colonisers which will see India partitioned into three.
 
The cruelty and chaos of the mismanaged transfer of power is well-handled, showing me more about a period of history I thought I knew. I knew about the millions uprooted – Muslims fleeing their homes in India, Hindus escaping what would be Pakistan – and the trains pulling into termini with every passenger dead. I didn’t know this would spread terror even to the capital. I should’ve known, of course, from similar stories in my own lifetime, when neighbour turns against neighbour, and no-one wins.
 
I liked the focus on the female side of the family, which includes a couple of servants. The younger sister, Roop, is a sheer delight, especially when I realised she was only six, and I liked how Alma becomes more like her in the end. I could’ve done with less of Alma’s Disney princess attitude to relationships, but otherwise Melody Razak’s debut novel is a poignant story of how political turmoil can turn the most settled lives upside down. Thanks to publishers Weidenfeld & Nicolson for my advance proof copy.


American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

I thought this story of a mother and son’s hazardous journey fleeing the drug cartel that had murdered a dozen members of their family in Acapulco to safety el norte might be my kind of novel when it first came out. Then, when it was criticised for cultural appropriation, I didn’t want to be the kind of white woman who says that doesn’t matter. Now I’ve read it, it’s confirmed my faith in the power of fiction to tell the truth about inequalities and other serious stuff.
 
No doubt it has a zillion reviews already, so I’ll just mention a few take-home points for me as a writer. It’s a classic hero’s journey, with lessons learnt from enemies and allies along the way. Except that we’re straight into the adventure, with the status quo revealed in flashback, and no real choice, although much reluctance, about heeding the call. There’s mounting tension, a slight midpoint reversal, and a physical and metaphorical cave in the Arizona desert.
 
Interesting for me, with all my novels, whether in the third or first person, sticking to the main characters’ points of view, was how easily the viewpoint flows between Lydia and Luca and others they encounter, with no loss of momentum. I still had tears in my eyes when a character I barely knew had to die. And though there’s some disturbing sexual violence, it doesn’t have to be directly shown.
 
Read it to improve your own skills as a writer. Read it to remember the migrants’ plight. I didn’t want or expect this to happen, but it’s one of my favourite reads this year. Published by Tinder Press in the UK, I bought my copy.
 
Click on the image for other recommended reads about migration and refugees.


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It was World Refugee Day when I started putting this post together. Then it was the summer solstice here in the northern hemisphere. Now it’s Trotting up to the Post Office with Packages of Books Day (I made that one up).

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Anyway, the flash fiction challenge this week is to write a 99-word story involving a solstice. I’ve managed to link mine to the plight of refugees.



The crossing

She couldn’t prove they were her triathlon medals, but he gave her the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes the shortest, the skinniest, proved the toughest, enduring scorching days and freezing nights. They marched, jogged, uncomplaining; they melted into the shadows at his command. Crossing in summer was madness with dark’s protection paper thin. Tonight, the solstice: riskiest of all. Yet she pleaded, everyone did, handing him wads of cash. Desert’s dangers the final stepping-stone on freedom’s trail. Now, minutes from departure, she arrives with a baby on her hip. Slim chance they’ll reach America. Certain death unless she tries.

Thanks for reading. I'd love to know what you think. If you've enjoyed this post, you might like to sign up via the sidebar for regular email updates and/or my quarterly Newsletter.
8 Comments
D. Avery link
22/6/2021 05:24:01 pm

Slim versus certain. The paper thin protection stretched thinner at the summer solstice.
Good take on the prompt! Tense and real.

Reply
Anne Goodwin
24/6/2021 11:38:31 am

Dreadful odds. Plus the fact that if this were last year she'd have her baby snatched from her and kept in a cage if they did reach supposed safety.

Reply
Norah Colvin
23/6/2021 11:49:32 am

Both books sound interesting, Anne. I like that the second surprised you. Cultural appropriation is a hot topic at the moment so I'm curious about your reaction to it.
Your flash is great too. There are so many things that would make that crossing difficult, but the alternative demands it, particularly with a young one on the hip.
I thoroughly enjoyed the interview with BoxOfficeGirl. Yes, I listened all the way through. It was like being in a readers' group, listening to what others had to say about the book. Her enthusiasm was contagious. My copy from Inspired Quill arrived yesterday and I am almost finished reading on my iPad - tonight I hope. Congratulations on another great book, Anne, and a wonderful review.

Reply
Anne Goodwin
24/6/2021 11:41:25 am

Thanks, Norah, and especially for watching the interview. Tracey has only recently started doing this but I think she's a natural. It was lovely to work with her and, of course, it helps that she was so enthusiastic about my novel. I'm sorry it's taken such a while for your print copy to arrive, but helpful to know. Thanks for your patience.

Reply
Charli MIlls
24/6/2021 04:44:54 am

Thank you for an honest perspective on American Dirt. I've been on the fence, following the controversy of appropriation. Your point about the power of fiction to tell the truth is well made. You carry the book's them into your flash to with great insight.

Reply
Anne Goodwin
24/6/2021 11:49:14 am

I was well prepared not to like it but I could not lie! It could be that I don't know enough about the topic to be critical, but I felt it fleshed out the little I did know. And it was true to my most recent exposure to the issues which was through a BBC news story from Clive Mirie, where he spoke to both vigilante groups and volunteers leaving flagons of water for migrants to find. It seems such an empathic response to hardships so many ignore, I'm curious about what motivates the backlash, especially after Rebecca's comments below.

Reply
Rebecca Glaessner link
24/6/2021 08:11:58 am

Powerful flash piece Anne. Your insights are inspiring. What a way to incorporate the prompt, wow.

I just had to look up Jeanine Cummins to read her story, which she doesn't share much of on her own platform. However I discovered that her husband was an undocumented immigrant, and that American Dirt represents the hardships of the refugees in a way that doesn't take advantage of their pain. That would be a tough story to craft.

I don't often diverge from sci-fi but learning about our own world through hard-hitting, gritty and honest stories can only ever strengthen us (if we have the capacity and energy to experience those stories), and I'm always seeking those out, especially those of different cultures as of late. I've added American Dirt to my to-read-next list. Thanks for the recommendation Anne.

Reply
Anne Goodwin
24/6/2021 11:57:27 am

Thanks, Rebecca. Interesting point about her husband. I imagine that made the criticism extra painful.
Yes, sometimes hard to step outside our own genre but great when something catches our eye – and works. I'd love to know how you get on with American Dirt.

Reply



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