Interview: Christopher Wakling

Bristol writer Christopher Wakling talks about his latest novel, the gripping Escape and Evasion, in which high flying city banker Joseph Ashcroft is on the run after stealing £1.34 billion and giving it to impoverished strangers around the world.

Escape and Evasion is your 7th novel. Has the writing process got easier?

No!  I’m more aware of some of the pitfalls I fell into back in the day, but each new book throws up its own difficulties.

How has the publishing world changed in that time?

At its heart it’s the same for a writer: write the best book you can, hope it’s published and received well, and hustle to draw attention to your work.  But there’s much more to the hustling bit than there used to be: savvy writers can whip up interest in themselves and their work online.  I am not a particularly savvy writer, it turns out.  I’m on Twitter, but I tend to read it rather than write on it. I’d give myself a ‘could do better’ on the hustling front.

What inspired the premise for Escape and Evasion, and the main character Joseph Ashcroft?

I used to work in the City as a lawyer.  Many of our clients were bankers.  What struck me was the human fallibility of the so called masters of the universe.  I wanted to humanize the cartoon villain of the evil banker, show him in his flawed ridiculousness, give him a heart.  Other ingredients in the book include a close friend’s experience of soldiering in Bosnia, fatherhood, and the fact that I like camping.

Do you view Joseph as a ‘hero’ for his Robin Hood style act?

He’s not a conventional hero: he’s too hapless for that.  But yes, he takes a stand.  At one point I was going to call the book ONE GOOD THING.  I’m glad I didn’t, but that title put Joseph’s good deed in context.  He’s messed up his life on most fronts, but in stealing and giving away all that money he hopes to redress the balance.

The novel portrays very different types of masculinity. How important was that to you?

For me the book is more about responsibility than masculinity: I hope Joseph’s story will appeal to women as much as men.  It’s about self-worth, the importance of family, different kinds of strength, repression, and making do.  The world of banking, the Bosnian war, and Joseph’s Bear Grylls style stint in the woods may appear ‘masculine’ at first blush, but the obstacles they represent stand in the way of women, too.

It feels like there could be much more material in Joseph; have you any plans for further novels?

Thank you!  I haven’t made specific plans to put him through the wringer a second time, but who knows.

You do a lot of creative writing teaching. How much does it influence your own writing?

I love teaching.  I’ve run a fair few courses for Curtis Brown Creative and The Arvon Foundation over the years.  To date 28 of my former students have publishing deals.  I’m proud of that.  It suggests I’m doing something right.  I’ve learned as much as I’ve taught on those courses, though: in helping hone other people’s stories I’ve sharpened the knife I stick into my own.

Escape and Evasion is out now from published by Faber & Faber. For more information, visit www.faber.co.uk/9780571239252-escape-and-evasion.html

Read more: Heather Child on her timely debut novel, Everything About You.