M.M. Smith on the UK edition of his short novel, ‘The Servants’ : UK SF Book News

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Apr

28

M.M. Smith on the UK edition of his short novel, ‘The Servants’

Posted in: UKSFBN Talks To on 28th April 2008 by Sandy Auden

'The Servants' by M.M. Smith The UK edition of M.M. (that's Mike Marshall to you and me) Smith's short and rather personal novel, The Servants - originally published as a limited edition novella by Earthling Publications in the US - has now been published by HarperCollins.

The Servants introduces us to eleven-year-old Mark, who is trying to come to terms with the break up of his parents, dealing with his new step-dad and having to move from London to Brighton away from his friends and familiar life. His mother's strange behaviour and an argument with his step-dad sends him fleeing the house and he finds himself having tea with the old lady in the basement flat – the flat she shares with the ghosts of the servants that ran the whole house a long time ago…

There's an intriguing sliver of Smith's own experience in his new story: "Part of it was my reaction to the death of my mother," he said. "The idea for The Servants popped into my head, fully formed, one day when I was in Brighton, a few months after she passed away. It took nearly three years before I wrote it, though - I'm not sure why.

"When I did, it came out very quickly indeed, as if it was time I properly went through those emotions. So probably the main theme is the love that exists between the generations - passing in both directions - and the scariness of its intensity.

"The essence of the parent / child relationship is both its profundity and strength and the fact that (in most cases) one knows which one's going to die, and which is going to be left behind, to outlive the other. And what child hasn't wanted to somehow negate that terrible portent?"

Other aspects of the story have a reason for being there too. "Brighton's a place that has a huge resonance with me over the last six or seven years, and it was a place my mother liked a lot, too." But he still made some things up – like Mark's chaotic home life. "I was blessed by being part of a family that (largely) got on with each other, and certainly stayed together."

The novel is being published as a 'short literary novel' and is vastly different to his recent dark, serial killer books. "I've never been very good at sticking to one genre in particular... I have still been writing the occasional Michael Marshall Smith short story in the background when I have the time - and the right idea. I believe in presenting an idea in the genre which most suits it, and it's just been the case that the last several novel ideas have fitted best in a more 'mainstream' market - though The Intruders does take a significant step away from that.

"I believe that The Servants will be the start of a new line in what I do, though. I've always wanted to have the chance to write longer stories of the fantastical set in the present day, and now the door is open... I'm sure more will come. When I get the time..."

For more information about the author, visit the Michael Marshall Smith website.

Source: Michael Marshall Smith

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