‘Family’ – a novella by Camberwell-based author Mark Baxter – is the last part of a South East London trilogy, that he started in 2006 with ‘The Mumper’ followed by ‘Elizabeth, Peter and Me’, writes Michael Holland.
Mark popped in to Southwark News HQ to give us an interview.
How did this book come about?
‘The idea came to me about a year after contracting ‘pre-jab’ Covid in October 2020. I was pretty ill for ten weeks and it then took me a good 6 – 9 months to begin to feel like my old self,’ he begins. ‘Later on, when I sat back and reflected, like many of us did, on what a strange time we had just lived through, I realised I had lost six close friends, all with the virus as a contributing factor. I began to withdraw from life a fair bit, rushing back from meetings and work with anxiety hitting me hard and making me feel that I was safer at home.’
Mark Baxter is not one to ‘withdraw’ as he is always busy promoting, writing blogs, making films or despairing about Millwall, so I knew there had to be more.
He takes a moment to choose his response carefully. ‘I had already lost my mum in March 2020 from the effects of Dementia; work and earnings had dropped off and I was also coming up to my 60th birthday in the September of that year.’ Mark pauses again. He turns and watches a train make its way to London Bridge before clearing his throat.
‘As a consequence, I discovered I was now very reflective on what my life had become. Without really over-analysing it, I found myself visiting certain locations on my daily dog walk, like old council estates I had once lived on, my old schools, buildings where I used to work, and even the funeral directors who had taken off my mum and dad, obviously thinking all the while of the people no longer in my life…’ A hot mug of tea was placed before the contemplative author. Everyone at the News Desk had stopped to listen as he took a sip and continued.
‘Then, slowly, the story for a book began to formulate in my mind, incorporating much of what I have already mentioned. Real people, some of whom had died, inspired all of the main characters, though I changed names and genders in some cases.’
I asked if we would recognise any of the people: ‘The book’s main character, “Terry”, is pretty much based on me.’
And how do you portray yourself in the book?
‘Terry has decided to keep himself to himself, with the result of only really letting a few selected people into his life, which mirrored what I had done in my own life at the time.’
So is the book about your family?
‘The title of the book ,’Family,’ relates to those select people, though the majority of them are not blood relatives, but people I thought of as family all the same. They were the ones who had helped me and my wife Lou when I was most ill, with the shopping and phone calls offering help if needed – They had become very important to me.’
I got the feeling that writing Family was difficult for Mark Baxter so asked if it was.
‘Writing books is never easy but, I know now, writing the book was a kind of therapy for me and I feel like the overall conclusion I come to at the very end made some sort of sense of the previous few years. No spoilers of course…’
Your first book, The Mumper, was made into a film with the great Bob Hoskins. Will Family end up on the big screen?
‘Never say never…’
‘Family’ priced at £10, will be published in March 2024 and can be pre-ordered through emailing mono_media@hotmail.com
More info on the book can be viewed here – https://vimeo.com/873366920/f0c8f38046
