What Milo Saw
What Milo Saw is the story of an exceptional little boy called Milo Moon and his relationship to his great-grandmother, Lou. Milo is devastated when Gran is taken into a nursing home and is determined to bring her back for Christmas. Despite his debilitating eye condition, which means that Milo can only see through a pinhole, he is the only one who notices that Gran and the other old people are not being cared for. With the help of Tripi, a Syrian refugee who works in the kitchen, and Hamlet, his pet pig, Milo goes on a crusade to save Gran and the other residents of Forget Me Not.
Tell us about falling in love with the English language.
My mother was an interpreter (she speaks five languages) and used an old-fashioned dictaphone to practice before big conferences – and to record her little girl getting to grips with the English language. On a tape my mother still likes to bring out for special occasions, you can hear me stamping my feet, banging the table with a wooden spoon and yelling in my bunged-nose little voice: ‘en Francais’ and ‘auf Deutsch’, in response to my mother’s valiant attempts to teach me English. I was determined not to learn this silly, confusing language. And then I moved to Oxford and I learnt to read and I fell in love with this quirky island of tea and rain – and wonderful words. It felt like coming home.
It wasn’t plain sailing though. At first I kicked the other little girls at my primary school in Oxford and when my mother was called in by the Headmistress to discuss the violent temperament of her five year old, I explained – in French – that it was because they were talking behind my back and that I didn’t understand. Within six months I was fluent. And as soon as I could grip a pen, I was scribbling stories - not in French or in German but in English.
How much did teaching English help you to write?
Infinitely – and in several ways.
First, because when you teach something you have to understand it from the inside (like looking under the bonnet of a car) otherwise you won’t be able to explain it. Doing that with the English language its stories, made me love them even more. I became desperate to write my own.
Second, because there is little more stimulating to the imagination than working in schools, ripe with classes and boarding houses full of fascinating young people and common rooms full of quirky teachers.
How difficult was it to write from the perspective of a child?
It’s the voice that comes most naturally to me. I love writing from the perspective of children: their view of the world is fresh, humorous and incomplete – which makes for a thrilling reading experience. Writers like Charles Dickens, Henry James and more recently, Emma Donoghue in Room have all shown me how writing adult novels from the standpoint of children is a wonderful way to spin a story.
Please tell us about the character of Milo.
As a teacher, I’ve noticed that children with disabilities, like Milo with his visual impairment, compensate in extraordinary ways. They sharpen the senses and strengthen the limbs that remain. Nothing gets past Milo. From the tone of someone’s voice to sounds in the room next door, Milo works out what’s going on. And he’s brave: if he feels that something is wrong, he’ll leap into action – a nine year old taking on a nursing home is pretty impressive! He’s also sensitive and gets hurt when he feels let down, most notably by his parents. Above all, he loves his gran: it doesn’t matter that she’s old, she’s still the most amazing person in his life.
The book has been compared to The Curious Incident of the Dog at Night time, Wonder and The Rosie Project, so how does that make you feel?
Hugely flattered! These books are great achievements as regards character and story but, more than this, they have heart – the power to move, to make us laugh and cry and see the world a little differently. If What Milo Saw can touch readers in this way, I’d be the happiest writer in the world!
This is your debut book, so was novel writing anything you imagined the process to be?
Yes and no. I’ve been writing since I was a little girl so I understand what goes into making a good story from the writer’s end. What surprised me was how, by the time a novel hits the shelves, it’s very much a team effort. Sitting alone at my desk (or in my coffee shop!), I write the story and create the characters that I love – and then my agent and editor and the rest of team Milo help me shape it and polish it so that it goes out in the world as the truest and best version of itself. My editor always reminds me that her job is to bring out the heart of the story – it’s a real gift to have someone at your side helping you to do that.
What is next for you?
I’m working on the novel that will follow Milo: it’s a family drama told from several points of view – including that of a seven year old girl called Willa Wingfield. For those who liked Hamlet, there’s also a lovely animal, Louis, who weaves his heavy bulk between the characters and knows more about what’s going on than all the humans characters put together! Ultimately, it’s the story of two mothers: the one who left and the one who stayed. I hope I’ve wetted your appetite!
I’m also working on a memoir of my mother and her identical twin sister, who hitchhiked through the twentieth century. As babies, they fled the Russians in Berlin; as teenagers, they took a cargo ship to American where they lived a life of Elvis, ice-cream and boyfriends; as young women in Chile, they shook the hand of Salvador Allende a moment before he was assassinated, marched in the Paris Student Riots and attended the parties of Johnny Hallyday. And as they grew older, and kept travelling, the twins got into even more trouble!