Notes From The Cotswolds… In praise of a chunky novel… by Penny Parkes

2022/01/19  |  By: BookMinx@BATC  |  Features  |  

Over the course of writing my last six books, I have discovered that readers have incredibly strong opinions when it comes to the optimal length of a book – from the absolute ‘I will not even pick up a book that’s more than 300 pages’, all the way to ‘I want to be transported for as many pages as possible – the longer the better.’ It’s not quite the literary equivalent of Marmite, but nevertheless it’s got me thinking.

Back in the day – when I would pinch the entire family’s allocation of library cards and ‘stock up’ once a fortnight – a chunky novel was my nirvana. Driven in part by practicality, there was an overwhelming desire to check out my maximum escapism quota with those well-worn cardboard tickets. With the benefit of hindsight, choosing a book by weight in the 1980s may have led to some questionable content for a young reader – Judith Krantz, Penny Vincenzi, Jackie Collins, M.M.Kaye and of course our dearest Jilly Cooper were my teenage bread and butter. A few ‘Flowers In The Attic’ and a rather eye-opening adventure with Harold Robbins certainly put paid to any last return to Mallory Towers.

But somehow – gradually, insidiously – these giant tomes have shaped my reading life and, as my exhausted editor will attest, my writing life too.

The blueprint for a story is set in my heart.

Is a book even a book if you can devour it in one sitting? And how many times have I longed for just a few more chapters, a few more nights’ reading, having become so emotionally invested in a novel, in the characters and journeys within? Utterly bereft after turning the final page?

Although, of course, as an adult I find myself time-poor and grasping for opportunities to read. I may tell the people in my life that it’s “part of my job”, but that doesn’t make my twenty-four hours any longer, despite my worrying levels of sleep procrastination.

And so, I have declared 2022 my year to explore – short stories, biographies, slender classic novels that have thus far slipped under my radar. I am game to give short and sweet a try. And maybe, just maybe, this new template will refashion the blueprint in my writing life as well. (As I’m sure my lovely editor can only hope!)

In the meantime, I shall plant another few trees to salve my conscience and invite you to spend a few evenings on your squishiest sofa, under your warmest duvet, travelling vicariously with Anna on her quest to find a place to call Home.

The paperback is out this week (neither too short, nor too chunky) and I’m assured that this particular story lends itself extremely well to a read-a-long with your best friend, wherever they may be. Assuming, of course, they have similar views on Marmite.

With love

Px

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