We’re over half way through Home Grown Talent Week, the gift that keeps on giving! Today, we’re pointing you in the direction of The Last Treasure Hunt, a modern media morality tale with bite.
Featured by Waterstones as a Best Debut this year, The Last Treasure Hunt explores press ethics and our obsession with fame and celebrity.
At the age of thirty, Campbell Johnstone is a failure. He’s stuck behind the bar of a shabby pub, watching from the side-lines while everyone else makes a success of their lives. When Campbell tries to rekindle a relationship with Eve Sadler, a childhood friend and rising Hollywood star, a single shocking night – the novel’s shattering twist – changes everything. Campbell is about to discover the bittersweet taste of fame, and in the process, struggle to save his soul and overcome his own self-delusion. The Last Treasure Hunt is a modern morality tale delivered with great intelligence and sly wit.
Jane Alexander on The Last Treasure Hunt
What inspired you to write your novel?
I’ve always loved treasure hunts, and as a child they were the closest I could get to the kind of adventures I loved to read about in Enid Blyton books. I couldn’t uncover wicked plots and foil kidnaps and burglaries and so on, but I could search for treasure. As an adult I rediscovered treasure hunts through Geocaching, which is a kind of hi-tech, crowd-sourced treasure hunt – and that’s when it occurred to me that a treasure hunt could be a good way to structure a novel. One of the things I was writing about was old friendships, and a treasure hunt seemed like a perfect way to take us back to Campbell’s childhood and to explore that combination of co-operation and competition that’s often a part of friendship.
How have you established a sense of place within your writing?
Campbell’s journey in this novel takes him from Glasgow to London, back to Moulin where he grew up, and finally to Glenelg. One of the things I wanted to do in shifting between London and Glenelg in particular was to explore a kind of tension between being at the centre of things, and being on the edges, an unrecognised observer.
For the sections set in the Highlands I spent some time in and around Glenelg, making ‘sketches’ in words, trying to capture the smells, sounds and sensations of that landscape as well as how it looked. It was important to me that those descriptions were rooted in a real place – and if you were to visit Glenelg, you’d be able to follow in Cam’s footsteps and find where every treasure hunt clue was hidden.
To what extent have your personal experiences influenced this book?
I did draw on experiences of my mid to late twenties, when I and many of my friends had a sense of being stuck in our lives, with things not quite having turned out as planned. I think it’s quite common to respond to that kind of feeling by making dramatic life changes – though perhaps not as dramatic as the change that Campbell makes.My personal experiences of reading influenced this book, too. I’m always writing the book I’d love to read; one of my favourite authors is Iain Banks, and having read all his novels I wanted to write my own contemporary Scottish story, filled with the kind of characters you feel are like your own friends.
What do you hope readers will take from your book?
Among other things, it’s a novel about deciding what really matters to us, and how we value those things – and I hope that even though Cam is a flawed person who makes some dubious choices, readers will be drawn into his situation, so that they accompany him on his journey and ask themselves: what would I do, in his shoes?
At The Reading Agency we aim to support people on their reading journey throughout their lives. Why is reading for pleasure important to you, and how do you choose what to read?
Ever since I was a child reading has been a huge part of my life. Books offer an insight into other lives and into your own life; adventure or companionship; they can unsettle you or comfort you; they can be a private pleasure or a sociable one. It’s the most amazing thing that you can walk into a library and take home an armful of books, and each of those books contains a whole world. I choose what to read based on recommendations from friends and family, reviews in newspapers, and sometimes on a beautiful cover design.
Do you have any tips for people looking to take up writing for the first time?
When you’re beginning to write, you need to allow yourself to produce apprentice work – so try not to burden yourself with unrealistic expectations. Your first pieces of writing may not be works of literary genius, but that’s okay. Jane Austen’s first scribbles probably weren’t, either. Putting pressure on yourself to be a ‘good writer’ can be paralysing, so rather than writing to impress (yourself or anyone else) try to write for the pleasure of it. Enjoy it!
Duloch Library Wednesday Afternoon Reading Group on The Last Treasure Hunt: “Interesting, gripping and fast-paced.”
Duloch Library Wednesday Afternoon Reading Group has been meeting on a monthly basis for over 10 years. Their different tastes in books often lead to very interesting and lively discussions. They love sharing a mutual love of books and having a good gossip over a cup of tea!
’We found the book interesting, gripping and fast paced. It gave a different perspective on how individuals can get “caught” by the media – a very innovative idea! We especially liked the fact that the places described were identifiable: Glasgow, Moulin and Glen Elg.
The characters were believable, especially Campbell. We felt for him and wanted to protect him from some of the consequences of his decisions. Making one decision led him into all sorts of bother and left him feeling bad about himself, but that could so easily be any one of us. The main focus of our discussion was on how accurately the book reflected today’s society and the “status” that being a celebrity brings to individuals and that clamour for recognition – but at what cost?
It took some of us a while to work out the characters and had to look back to reference them a few times. The duality of time was also a little confusing, but overall a very good read. Interesting, innovative and descriptive.’
Get involved
Find out more about The Last Treasure Hunt by Jane Alexander, published by Saraband Books.
Read about all the fantastic Scottish authors taking part in Home Grown Talent Week.
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