It’s day two of Home Grown Talent week and we’re talking about The Treacle Well by Aberdeen-born, Highlands-based writer Moira Forsyth
‘A captivating exploration into the inner workings of an ordinary, Scottish family and the consequences of a devastating tragedy’, The Treacle Well is a story of two twins, Daniel and Caroline. After the death of their mother and their father’s remarriage they are sent to separate boarding schools. Then, a dramatic accident when they are students divides them again. The repercussions last for years, as they cut themselves off from the relatives who raised them, the cousins who adore them. Underneath the stable family life their grandparents worked so hard to establish, run currents of insecurity and restlessness, and a secret only one person is able to uncover.
Moira Forsyth grew up in Aberdeen, lived in England for nearly twenty years, and is now in the Highlands. She is the author of three previous novels and many short stories and poems published in anthologies and magazines.
Moira Forsyth on The Treacle Well
What was the most interesting thing that happened to you during the process of writing this book?
I left my full-time day job and became instead a full time editor and author! That was when the novel, which had been creeping along slowly for several years, really began to be written with its final shape. In terms of the writing process, I became very focused indeed. Being an editor makes you a better writer I think – you become harder on yourself. I did a lot of rewriting.
To what extent have your personal experiences influenced this book?
My sister and I had only one cousin and the three of us played together constantly as children. As grown up women, we have coped with illness, bereavement, divorce, and other normal but difficult changes in our lives. I had had the idea for a long time of writing about what kind of women three children with a golden childhood might become, and what they might cope with on the way. That found its way into The Treacle Well, though I was some way through it before I realised I had finally used it.
This is my most autobiographical novel, in the sense that it’s set in the place – Aberdeenshire – and among the people I knew growing up. It’s not about my family and none of the events happened to me or to them, but the novel is rooted in my background and childhood. The ethos of the people of the North East of Scotland is in my bones I think! So that’s right through the novel. I did complete my first year of secondary school, as Esther does, during the typhoid epidemic in Aberdeen – that’s a real event.
How have you established a sense of place in your writing?
I usually write about places I know and can ‘see’ as I’m writing about them. I write about houses a lot and can visualise them – every turn of the stair, every room off the landing, what the fireplaces are like, how the kitchen is set out – all of that is so clear in my head I hope I’m also getting it across to the reader.
What do you hope readers will take from your book?
I hope they will feel they know the characters really well, and live with them as they read The Treacle Well. I’d want readers to close the book feeling perhaps sad about the loss that permeates it, but with a sense too that something has been resolved, and the three little girls are still close and loving, and have drawn Caroline at last into that circle too.
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?
It’s increasingly hard for me to have any time for private reading, but reading for pleasure remains the great pastime of my life. More than that – I can’t bear the thought of not having a book ‘on the go’. I re-read authors I love; I read literary biography; crime for the fun of it. There are a few authors whose next book I’m always looking out for.
Do you have any tips for people looking to take up writing for the first time?
Read a lot. Read everything you can get your hands on – especially in your chosen field. If you want to be a novelist, read fiction short and long; a poet, read poetry. Pay attention to how good writers draw the reader in and make them believe in what they’re reading. A strong writers’ group is fun and can be a tremendous help. The Dingwall Group in the nineties, full of extraordinary writers and chaired by the brilliant Brian McCabe, was immensely important to me.
Ewart Reading group on The Treacle Well: ‘This is a quiet little book that draws you into the world of a Scottish family with strong bonds and secrets.’
Ewart reading group has been meeting for a long time in the Ewart Library in Dumfries. It is made up of a real mix of people – male and female, of varying ages. They run with a group of 10 members, and there is a waiting list to join. The group is one of many in Dumfries and Galloway who are supplied with collections of books to read and review by the local library service. These come in book bags with a review form, including a space for marks out of 10, which can be passed on to other groups. Literary taste within the group varies greatly, which makes for good discussion. All the members are very sociable, interesting people with busy lives which can make keeping to the topic a problem sometimes!
This is a quiet little book that draws you in to the world of a “good “Scottish family with strong bonds but also with secrets and restrained emotions. It has a very Scottish atmosphere with its geographical descriptions and use of language including the Northern Scots style for some of the older characters. The claustrophobic atmosphere of the treacle well is felt throughout the novel, with clear references to the source of the title. It shows how women’s lives are affected by people around them and shows the difficulty of escaping family bonds and expectations.
How would you describe the book in three words?
Scottish family saga
Get involved
Find out more about The Treacle Well by Moira Forsyth, published by Sandstone Press
Read about all the fantastic Scottish authors taking part in Home Grown Talent Week.
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