A Higher Duty
What can you tell us about your new book A Higher Duty?
It’s a story of barristers in the early 1960’s, a time when the profession had not really changed for some 200 years, but was about to have change forced on it. It was in many ways still an exclusive, conservative, male-dominated club, the members being mainly products of Oxbridge and the “right” school, and being financially independent. At the same time, the profession did have amazingly high standards of competence and ethical standards, and in some ways, it was the clubby nature of it all that made those standards possible. I was always curious about what it would have taken to get barristers to bend or break the rules at that time. My book is an exploration of that, and deals with misconduct, scandal, prejudice and hypocrisy, as well the rather more serious failings of blackmail, and covering up murder. So I hope it is exciting, as well as opening up a world which existed until quite recently, but has now all but vanished.
The book is set in the 1960's so tell us about your research process into this decade.
My first process was memory! I was 14 in 1960. I was at Cambridge during the mid-1960’s and then was called to the Bar in 1968, so, although I came to Cambridge and the Bar a bit later than the period in which I chose to set the novel, I have quite a good memory of those times. But I did have to go back and research the political background, things such as the Profumo scandal, the Cuban missile crisis, the French veto when we first tried to join the EC (as it then was). I had an excellent editor, who double-checked all my references and corrected some – for example when I got wrong the year when West Ham won the cup.
You graduated from Cambridge University, so how much of this novel is autobiographical?
I did, though I didn’t go to one of the “right” schools, and I was certainly not of independent means! I was fortunate, in that, by the mid-1960’s, the Bar had to spread its net more widely because of the rapid expansion of legal aid work. Consequently, I had no problem in joining the profession, though I never felt part of the club. I could only observe that from some distance. The only part of the novel which is actually autobiographical is Ben Schroeder’s first case in the magistrates court, which was a case of mine and happened almost word for word as written (though it wasn’t my first case). Harriet Fisk’s misfortune in the county court in front of the cricket-loving judge happened to a friend of mine, almost as written. Many of the characters are amalgams of people I know from the Bar and Cambridge: I never base characters on just one person. Of course, I had a lot of experience to draw on for the events in the book. But the book is a work of fiction. That being said, it is realistic, including, sadly, the prejudice against Ben and Harriet, which I saw happen more than once.
You spent a career in law, so how much did this affect the story of the book?
A great deal, because I am an “insider” in that sense, and so I can write a good deal from direct experience of how things work. I hasten to add that I never encountered misconduct as extreme as I have portrayed in this book. But the background was invaluable, and of course, during my career I encountered many amazing stories! The court scenes and the political events in Chambers are quite realistic. I’m planning a series to follow ‘A Higher Duty’, with Ben Schroeder as the hero, because the Bar and legal trials make an interesting setting for book, and I believe many people enjoy that kind of story.
Your first novel Removal was published last year, so what can you tell us about this?
It’s a very different book, a political thriller set in the US. It was inspired by the unsuccessful attempt to impeach President Clinton. I found myself wondering what would have happened if a president (not Clinton) were to be impeached, but the military had no confidence in the vice president, and wanted to keep the president in office. It would lead to a constitutional crisis, if not civil war. So I postulated a liberal female vice president with a history of anti-war campaigning, and let the story write itself from there. You will notice a definite difference in style from ‘A Higher Duty’. The two are set in different countries, and the writing reflects that. But the fact that I have lived both in the UK and the US gives me the confidence to set individual scenes in both countries in the same book, as I have done in ‘A Higher Duty’.
What was the hardest part of the book to write?
‘A Higher Duty’ was the first novel I completed, so everything was difficult. I agonized over everything – language, style, characters, plot, and the book changed a lot as it went along. It was a long process. ‘Removal’ seemed much easier. There were some difficulties. For example, I was well into the book before I knew how it would end. But I had confidence that the characters would tell me the ending if I let them, and they did. Once you have completed a novel, your confidence grows, and with the next one you learn not to panic if you have a difficult spell, or it doesn’t all come together as easily as you hoped.
What is your favourite novel?
I assume you mean, other than mine! It would have to be a close call between two of John Le Carre’s books: ‘A Perfect Spy’ and ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’. See next question!
Which authors do your think have had an impact on your work?
In my genre, I consider John Le Carre to be the king. I have read every word he has written, at least once. I like crime and thrillers generally, and try to read writers like John Grisham fairly regularly. To what extent they have an impact on my work is hard to say. I think they must have some, because I try to notice their techniques of telling a story and building the plot, but I don’t think anyone else can really influence my own writing or creation of stories. That’s a very individual thing. I also enjoy older work, particularly Henry James and Thomas Hardy, and among more recent authors, James Joyce, John Steinbeck, Evelyn Waugh and, up to a point, D.H. Lawrence.
What is your writing process and daily routine?
I don’t have a daily routine as an author yet. I still have a day job and I am not a full-time author. I write when I can, evenings and weekends. When I retire from the day job in the next year or two, I will be working out a new routine.
You travelled to the United States to teach, so what was this experience like?
It was a wonderful experience on many levels. Living in another country gives you a perspective that no other experience can, and living in a country is different from visiting a country, even for long periods. It allows you to see both your native and adopted country in a way you could not otherwise see them. As a by-product, I am bilingual English/American, which helps with setting scenes in both countries. But that also brings its own problems. I am now so totally confused about such things as recognise/recognize, honour/honor, and defence/defense that I don’t even try much any more. I rely on spell-check and my editors for help! In addition to the US, I lived in The Netherlands for several years while working at the Yugoslavian war crimes tribunal. This also was a great part of my life. Teaching at an American law school was challenging, but the law is in many ways similar to English law (from which most, though by no means all, American law is derived) and court practice is very recognizable if you have done it in England.
What is next for you?
I have just finished writing a sequel to ‘Removal’, which will be published later in the year. Next, I will be working on the first in the Ben Schroeder series flowing from ‘A Higher Duty’. I hope you will enjoy them. You can follow all my news on: www.petermurphyauthor.co.uk. If you enjoy my books, I hope you will send me a comment.
Female First Lucy Walton