“THIS place is where I started reading,” Tessa Hadley told a capacity audience at Redland Library on June 10.
“It was an extraordinary gateway to the addiction that shaped my life.”
As a pupil at St John’s Primary School, Tessa visited the library every week. “It was almost church-like in those days,” she said, “and I loved the sense of mystery and enchantment.”
Devouring classics such as the Swallows and Amazons and Anne of Green Gables, Tessa developed a passion for books in a series. So, when she promoted herself to the adult section of the library she was drawn to novels by a single author, including the Anglo-Irish writer, Elizabeth Bowen.
Although at only 10 years old, Tessa didn’t understand the sophistication of Bowen’s work, she loved the sense of place and possibility it created. She said: “Reading books before you can understand them holds out the promise that life is more interesting and complicated than it appears to a child.”
While still at school Tessa was bitten by the writing bug, but it was not until she was married with small children that she began to write seriously. Her path to success, however, wasn’t easy. After several manuscripts had been rejected, Tessa enrolled on an MA course in creative writing followed by a PhD in English literature, both of which honed her skills and helped her find her authorial voice.
In 2002, her first novel, Accidents in the Home was published by Jonathan Cape and she went on to write seven more novels, four collections of short stories and a novella, The Party, which is set in 1950s Bristol.
Asked by an audience member how she maintains her inspiration, Tessa replied: “You just have to sit there and keep trying. It might only be 100 words, but what you write on a bad day can be as good as a better day — you just have to put in the effort.”
In the end, perseverance is worthwhile. As Tessa said: “There’s a sheer physical joy in your own books. It’s blissful that other people pick them up and cross the threshold into the world that you have created.”
This event was organised by the Friends of Redland Library. Details of future events can be found on our website FriendsOfRedlandLibrary.org.uk