Thrillers and two first names

Tom Rob Smith

Tom Rob Smith‘s name not only breaks the ‘only one first name’ rule, it also seemed to break the internet when I typed it into the MWF search box. Consider the pictorial accompaniment to this post hard won, people. I also wrenched this post from the jaws of the unforgiving Federation Square wi-fi. Maybe someone out there didn’t want this to be posted. [DODGY SEGUE ALERT] Sounds like something out of Stalinist Russia.

Many different paths can lead to writing books. For Tom Rob Smith, it was a personal assessment, or reassessment, of what it was he liked about writing. Though he studied literature at Cambridge, he felt that ‘stylistic’ concerns weren’t his strong point, and he found himself searching for what it was he loved in writing. Eventually, he realised that it was the all-encompassing allure of story that kept him writing, whether across film, television or novel formats. This love of story is evident in Child 44, which was originally conceived as a film, but became his first book — a Booker-shortlisted book, no less. Child 44 tells the story of a serial killer who got away with his crimes because Stalinist Russia refused to admit that he, or any crime, existed. Interested in the idea of a state that is more dangerous than the serial killer himself, Smith found that the setting of Stalinist Russia was a natural fit for the thriller aspects of his story: jeopardy came from everywhere, not just the ‘criminal’; the paranoia and fear of the time arose as startlingly from the state itself.

Jason Steger, Smith’s friendly interrogator, mentioned how the thriller genre aspects of Child 44 and its follow-up, The Secret Speech, sat so well alongside the books’ portrayal of society. The Stalinist state furnished a false utopia as a way of offsetting its other deficits; peddled the ‘no-crime’ state in place of the things the state was supposed to be giving, like food and other necessities. The killer in Child 44, someone who had no concept of the lives he was taking, is a kind of analogue for Stalinist Russia, which had equal disregard for the lives that were lost through its insane fantasies.

Leo Demidov, the ‘hero’ in Child 44, is a dreamer and idealist, and also a member of the secret police. He struggles with the ‘terrible things he was doing’, such as being rewarded for arresting innocent people. Smith discussed how interesting it was to write a character who genuinely believes in the state and its offers of a better society through admirable things like free health care and redistribution of wealth: ‘I think it’s much harder to write those characters.’ Demidov’s relationship with his family is also interesting. As a way of redeeming his actions, he ‘conjures false dreams’ of healing a broken family by adopting two young girls. But, poor Demidov. Smith won’t let him rest easy: ‘Happiness is a dead end for any type of thriller. Something has to go wrong.’

For The Secret Speech, Smith moved the action to Hungary, where the victimised innocents confronted the secret police for the awful things they had done in violent reprisals. Hundreds of thousands of people being let out of prisons and released back into society does a historical hotpot make. In ‘dramatising the wounds’ that this caused, Smith did a lot of secondary research, though he did meet some people who lived through the times portrayed in his books: ‘One woman is terrified of the UK police even today … her back freezes up, and she suffers that same kind of fear.’

There is one more Leo Demidov book in the works; the third book will deal with the Afghanistan war. The Demidov books haven’t been published in Russia, though they have been published in China, surprisingly. Child 44, the movie, is in the pipeline. Ridley Scott is attached to the film as director, and writers from television show The Wire are on board.

Last words? We like a writer with diverse skills at MWF, and Smith’s a great example. He’s also written for television, including for a cult anime program called Robotech. Last words? On the strictures of making television in Cambodia: ‘In the UK, if a couple meets on Monday, they’ll kiss or have sex by Friday. In Cambodia, if the couple meets in episode 1, they can’t kiss until episode 60.’

Estelle Tang, 3000 BOOKS
Festival Blogger