MYSTERY & FANTASY
Author Heather Jadhav’s first novel ‘Angels and Boars’ captivates the reader from the outset with its mysticism and dry Yorkshire wit. Gail Bailey finds out more
Former nurse Heather Jadhav is a natural storyteller, and when discussing her first novel ‘Angels and Boars’ her eyes sparkle as she describes the plot, sub plot and plethora of wonderful and mysterious characters that she brings to life on each page: “I started to write a series of short stories to enter into competitions,” she explains. “But then the characters of this story began to take on a life of their own and I just continued to write!”
Originally from Yorkshire, Heather crossed the Pennines in 1979 to train as a nurse in Blackburn, where she went on to meet her husband and raise a family in the Ribble Valley.
When her husband retired, she decided to join him and then had the time to re-ignite the passion she had always had for reading and writing: “As a child I had always had a creative imagination with lots of stories in my head, but being a busy nurse, wife and mother, there was little time to capture them and put them onto paper. Retiring has given me the chance to re-visit them and enjoy that fantasy world once more,” Heather says.
Heather isn’t entirely new to publication, having once appeared in Northern Life when she wrote about a possible meeting with the Yorkshire Ripper in the 1970s as a 17-year-old, and since then she progressed to writing modern, fantasy fiction.
On retiring Heather completed a creative writing course at Halton Mill in Lancaster and both the course, and being around other writers, helped her develop her own style and confidence. She then joined a local writing group in Clitheroe and a conversation in the pub after one of the meetings – about pigs being the best way to dispose of a body – the spark for her story was lit!
‘Angels and Boars’ could be described as ‘light but dark’ as it takes a humorous yet thought provoking look at a number of issues such as prejudice, depression, social justice, tragedy and death.
The front cover itself entices the reader as it depicts the Tree of Life, a symbol of immortality, growth and strength with clues to the plot hanging from the branches such as a police car, a boar, angels and Hindu gods.
“The story is set in rural Yorkshire when a fatal traffic accident starts a whole series of events in both the living world and the afterlife,” Heather explains. “As a nurse we deal with the rawness of people’s emotions every day and I had always enjoyed reading and being taken to a different place – away from reality.”
Although it is a sad topic Heather ensures there is a lot of light, magic and mystery there too: “All the characters in the story are flawed in some way,” explains Heather. “But that is a reflection of true life. All the individuals in the book have been inspired and driven by life experiences in one way or another; they and the story all feel very real to me.”
‘Angels and Boars’ tackles controversial topics and whilst it centres around the car crash, there are other sub plots. The Hindu community and beliefs are a thread that run through the storyline and both the Angels of Death and Justice play their part in helping (or hindering) the lives of the characters. Reading Heather’s work makes you feel that one lifetime just isn’t enough.
Terry Pratchett’s work and Ben Aarronovitch’s ‘Books of London’ are both key influencers of Heather’s writing. “A book needs a hook, a twist, a resolution and conflict created to help solve a mystery,” Heather explains.
Heather who writes each day, normally looking out at the roses in her garden, never suffers from writer’s block: “I’m lucky the words just flow, and this is the first book of a series of six which are all written and waiting to be on the shelves, along with modern day fairy stories that I love to write too.”
‘Angels and Boars’ is available to buy in both printed and Kindle version from Amazon, Foyles, Waterstones, Goodreads and i2i Publishing
