In our new column ‘A Book That Changed Me’, we’re asking some of our favourite authors to wax lyrical about a book that inspired their latest work or their writing practice. In this instalment, Jane Harper shares how her thrillers (including Exiles, out this week from Macmillan Australia) were influenced by Roald Dahl’s The Witches (1983).
Jane Harper. Image: Katsnap Photography
How did this book come into your life?
I received The Witches as—to be frank—a totally unsuitable gift for my seventh birthday. A full 35 years later I still have that same copy, still with the original wrapping paper folded over to protect the cover. I’m aware there are probably some lingering childhood issues talking here, but in my heart I consider it to be the most terrifying book I’ve ever read. My parents really should have discreetly hidden it until I was older, but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and say they didn’t know any better. I was their first child, The Witches had only been published four years earlier, it had amusing illustrations by Quentin Blake, and it had yet to traumatise an entire generation of young readers with nightmares of being quietly absorbed into an oil painting.
A full 35 years later…In my heart I consider it to be the most terrifying book I’ve ever read.
What is the book about?
I probably don’t need to tell you. You’ll most likely have read it and have hopefully worked through your own subsequent trauma since then. For anyone who had parents who were quicker than mine at filtering inappropriate material from the birthday present pile: the story welcomes us in with the icy car crash death of the young protagonist’s parents, bounces along to a warning chapter that will plant a seed of deep mistrust towards every adult woman in your life, and ends with the High Witch conducting a nail-biting AGM in a hotel conference room. Five stars, from first page to last.
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What do you love most about it?
Books can touch your life at every age, but I believe they absolutely shape you as a child, and The Witches left a mark deeper than most. It was the first book I’d ever come across where things weren’t completely alright at the end. The boy’s parents were still dead, he was still very much changed by his contact with witches, the families of other children derailed by their magic had no resolution. As an adult reader, I’m not particularly drawn to books that are overly dark, but The Witches was the first book to open my eyes to how broad and wide fiction really can be.
What elements of the book changed the way you think about writing?
It’s all about the impact and connection with the reader. As a modern children’s classic, The Witches seems a long way from my own novels, which are Australian mysteries for adult readers. But there are outstanding books in every genre and what I admire about The Witches—and what I always aspire to create in my own novels—is that compelling hook that pulls readers in, characters who keep you invested, and that all-important ebb and flow and delicate balance of light and dark that runs right through the story. It’s not easy to do, and to be able to do it in a way that’s both simple and complex enough to engage young readers is a masterclass in itself.
The Witches was the first book I’d ever come across where things weren’t completely alright at the end.
If you could choose, in what way/s would you hope you or your book could influence other writers?
My biggest hope would be to encourage aspiring writers to believe in the book they want to write. Writing any novel is a mammoth undertaking, and writing a debut novel particularly can seem like an impossible task. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the process and the fear that all your work may not pay off, and you can lose years to false starts and self doubt. Focus on the things that are within your control and find a process that works for you—there’s no right or wrong way to get the words on the page. Every single day, new publishing deals happen, new books hit the shelves and new authors are discovered. Write the story you want to tell, knowing that there is absolutely room for you to join them.
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Exiles is available now from your local independent bookseller.
Jane Harper will be touring in September and October. For event details and bookings, please visit janeharper.com.au
Read the previous instalment in our ‘A Book That Changed Me’ column, with Chris Womersley talking about Anthony Powell’s A Dance to the Music of Time.
