Melanie Golding is fast becoming a favorite author of mine. The way she blends folktale with reality without ever really tipping her hand on what’s real and what’s fiction makes her books really fun to read. There’s an ambiance to Golding’s works. A reading atmosphere best suited for whiskey, a fire, and dimmed lights. It’s the perfect read for this time of year!
Within the confines of her books, there’s an immense de-centering of reality. She finds the quiet, dark corners of what we believe to be true, and coaxes them out just far enough for us to see the silhouette of something wonderful and monstrous. Sometimes, those things are fantastical in nature. But just as often, they are simply…us. Those particularly eerie and unsettling moments have made me question what I know about folktales and the reality they reflect.
Her new book, The Hidden (The Replacement if you’re in the UK) is out in early November 2021. Check out the review here. You can also read the review of her debut novel, Little Darlings here.
I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to ask Melanie Golding some questions about her upcoming book. I was so interested in her work experiences, her use of folk stories to tell her contemporary and dark tales, and why she brought back a character from her debut.
Check out the interview!
How did you come up with the idea for The Hidden?
The Hidden is in part an elaborate re-imagining of a selkie story, in which a selkie (seal in the water, woman on land) is taken prisoner and made to have children with a human man. Eventually she finds her hidden sealskin and returns to the water. The novel asks the question: what if selkies were real?
Your first novel, Little Darlings, features Detective Joanna Harper. Why did you feel compelled to bring her back in The Hidden?
I felt that Joanna had a lot more to give readers in terms of her story. In Little Darlings you only get a glimpse of her home life, and the biggest thing for her is her relationship with her daughter, so I wanted to explore it a bit more. The Hidden is a book about different kinds of mothers, and Jo has always struggled with her role in Ruby’s life.
I’ve really enjoyed your books because they have such a unique vibe. They blend real world and folklore which can be unsettling for readers in such a fun way. What made you want to write in this genre and with this style?
I think I’ve always wondered about things that can’t be explained by logic and science alone. There’s a whole universe out there, and humans can only explain some of it in terms all of us understand. Even science admits there are things that are there that our brains can’t see, because of our preconceptions about what is real and what isn’t. I love the idea that folk tales are based in historical fact, and that the mystical world hasn’t changed much, only what we choose to be able to see of it.
There’s a trend in your work so far in which folktales and folklore seem to play a major role in your process. What is your research like for these projects?
I start by thinking about what the possible historical roots of the folklore might be. In Little Darlings, I could see that the story could be read in two ways – it might be about post-partum psychosis, and it might be about actual changelings. I wanted the book to retain some of this ambiguity. In The Hidden I could see that the story might be about shape-shifters, or it might originate from a misunderstanding, a human person coming from the sea who was different enough for locals to be convinced they were not the same kind of creature. I wanted to show that really the story is about the bad things humans can do to each other, and that it shouldn’t matter who or what you are (human, shapeshifter, other) for those things to be wrong.
You’ve held a variety of other jobs (farm hand, factory worker, childminder, and music teacher). How has your work outside the traditional writing career informed your writing?
Working on a farm and in a factory showed me what it is to work extremely hard for very little money. Childminding firstly allowed me to make a living while raising my children, but also over those ten years I met hundreds of women who had just had babies, all of them different, with only that in common. All of life is there; you need to know what people are like to write convincing characters. Teaching music still gives me a great deal of pleasure, and I wouldn’t give it up even if I didn’t need the money.
Do you have a writing group or community?
I have a group of writers I meet with regularly in my local area. Most of us are traditionally published. We support each other. They are a great bunch!
What was your road to publication like?
I wrote for years before I decided I needed a structured way to improve, and enrolled on the Bath Spa MA. I went into it knowing that the only way to succeed was to write something good enough to publish, and thankfully the novel I started on day 1 of the course turned into Little Darlings. It looks like quite a short road (started LD in 2015, sold it in 2017) but there were years of writing and rejection before that. Also I’ve always been a songwriter and the daily practise of being a musician really helped me when I needed to knuckle down.
You’re represented by the Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency. How did you find your agent? And what should writers look for in an agent?
I submitted via the usual channels, following the guidelines on Maddy’s website. I was extremely lucky in that I had offers from three agents and needed to choose between them. Maddy and I just clicked on a professional level. She was so enthusiastic and talented, and had always been my dream agent.
What is your daily writing routine?
I have kids so it’s different depending on whatever spanners they are throwing my way! I like to get something done in the morning. If I don’t, I feel like I’ve achieved nothing no matter how much other stuff I’ve been doing that day. I need to write; it’s a compulsion.
What book(s) are you reading at the moment?
I’m reading Clare Mackintosh’s Hostage at the moment (excellent), and I have some really exciting proofs including Annie Ward’s new novel, and Stephanie Wrobel’s upcoming second book. I just finished Teresa Driscoll’s Her Perfect Family – it is fab!
What book(s) most inspired you to write?
I was inspired by many, many books, and I still am. Iain Banks’ The Wasp Factory was an early favourite; a masterclass in shock twist endings and unreliable narrators. Beloved by Toni Morrison showed me how books can also be works of art. Jeanette Winterson’s body of work taught me that genre could be irrelevant, and Lawrence Block’s taught me that it could be clever, entertaining and unputdownable.
What’s your best piece of writing advice? Or do you have writing advice people might overlook or don’t hear often enough?
I don’t like to give advice. I do have an observation which may be of use: Whether you are a pantser or a plotter is irrelevant, in my view. At some point you have to make it up, and whether you do it in plan form or long form you’re still simply making it up. It doesn’t matter at all how you get there, but getting to the end is the first step to making a working manuscript.
So now that The Hidden is out, what are you working on?
I’m always working on something! I have several high-concept thrillers knocking around in my head, and another folk-inspired crime novel I may just need to write next.
What do you hope people take away from reading your books?
I hope they can take away something about themselves. Always when you read a novel you ought to be learning about humanity, and about your own morals. How do readers feel about what happens in the book? Would they have done it differently? Do they believe the folklore is real, or is the more prosaic solution more realistic for them?
Where can people go to find you and your work?
All good bookshops will be able to stock my work, and it’s available online in ebook, hardback, and audio from 9th November, with a paperback due next year. On twitter I am @mk_golding, and on Instagram and facebook I’m @melaniegoldingauthor.
