Denzil Moyaga speaks to The Insect Farm author Stuart Prebble about how worlds overlap to form a tale of mystery around the lives of two brothers. Book reviewed last week
What inspired you to construct such a complex, yet relatable story?
I don't very often have dreams that I remember, but I do have a rather horrible recurring dream that at some time in the distant past I have killed someone. The circumstances are always vague, but when I wake up I sometimes spend 15 minutes or so still thinking that I have been involved in a terrible crime and am trying to elude detection.
So, for a novel, this thought came back to me, and I set about weaving an elaborate thread around the themes of guilt and the distortions in reality caused by long-term memory. I set the story with some universal themes of love and jealousy, which I think many people can relate to, so I hope readers of any age or background will find themselves drawn into the plot.
In the story, what is the significance of time, and what does it say for the people around the 1970s that "Jonathan" could get away with murder?
It is fascinating to consider how far we have come in today's "Big Brother" society, in which many of us are under surveillance the whole time through security cameras, mobile-phones, or our use of credit cards and the web. Today there would be no chance that Jonathan could get away with what happens to Harriet; no doubt that's a good thing, but we have paid a high price for it in terms of personal privacy and freedom.
It is always a sad case when bad things happen to seemingly good people. Did loss for the two brothers provide the ultimate shield so they were not suspected when questions came knocking?
It feels probable that the police were not as rigorous in their pursuit of the cause of the fire because of their natural sympathy for Roger's disability and the circumstances Jonathan finds himself in. Also, Jonathan's highly convincing act as the bereft husband seems to be enough to put them off any scent of his culpability.
Some people are open to the idea of different romantic partners or ‘genres of music’, as Harriet puts it. With the advent of social media, for those who are not, things can get awry. Would Jonathan's reaction have been worse if Harriet’s infidelity were splashed on a cellphone screen?
I think that times and social mores change, but some aspects of the human condition are timeless. Men have been committing terrible crimes through lust or jealousy or betrayal since we were all in the caves, and they will probably go on doing so way into the future. I hope that I portrayed Jonathan's jealousy as primordial - sufficiently powerful to overwhelm his civilisation or restraint. That was the aim.
The "benevolent god” Roger, almost not taken seriously in the story, proves to be more than what meets the eye. What should we learn from this about disability, which is sometimes confused for helplessness?
I was really keen to portray Roger as a fascinating character full of surprises and hidden depths. At one level, he has a mental handicap and can hardly function in the modern world. On another he is a "master of the universe" manipulating events not only in the world he created, but also in our own. This is intended to be an extra treat for readers who spot it, and like their stories to be multilayered. I leave them to decide whether or not Roger is God.
Jonathan was born in 1951, the same year you were born. And you also both went to Newcastle University. Are there more similarities, and why did you get so so close to home?
I think most novels have an element of autobiography, it's part of what gives them their authenticity. Some readers have kindly said that The Insect Farm evokes the spirit of its time effectively, and that must be because I lived through them. As well as my age and education, like Jonathan, I also have an older brother. However, mine is far smarter than I am, our parents did not die in a fire, and neither of us has murdered a member of our family!
Will we be hearing more of the brothers and the farm? The prologue hints at a sequel...
Well, I leave to the reader to decide who the two skeletons mentioned in the prologue are. If it is the brothers, then presumably there can be no sequel. But could it be the two policemen? Or could it even be Brendan and his new wife? Who knows, or dares to dream? Watch this space!