The Penguin Post Volume 29 - Magazine - Page 16
FICTION
THIS BOOK
IS WORTH
KILLING FOR ...
The Book of Doors is about Cassie Andrews,
a New York bookseller who comes into
possession of a magical book; one that bestows
extraordinary abilities on whoever holds it.
Author Gareth Brown discusses the inspiration
behind his riveting debut, which irresistibly
merges fantasy with the contemporary world.
“T
he Book of Doors was really
two different things coming
together at the right time.
The first was this idea of a magical book
that could turn any door into every door. I’d
had that idea for a long time, but I’d always
imagined it as a device for a fantasy novel.
I don’t really write fantasy so I never had
any way to use it, until, out of nowhere, I
wondered what would happen if I placed this
idea in our real, contemporary world. I don’t
know why it had never occurred to me before,
but it suddenly seemed rich with possibilities.
Secondly, the novel was written in large
part as a response to the Covid pandemic and
the lockdowns we all lived through. My wife
and I love to travel but for a couple of years
we just couldn’t go anywhere. If I couldn’t go
anywhere, I wanted to write about travelling
and being in places I love, and fortunately
I had this idea up my sleeve for a ‘Book of
Doors’. The two elements came together
quite naturally.
Although I live in Scotland, the story
largely takes place in New York. Some of
this was simply because I love New York.
I love big cities generally, and New York is
probably my favourite of the big cities I’ve
been to. So, part of it was again just living
vicariously through my own writing during
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THE PENGUIN POST MARCH/APRIL 2024
If I couldn’t
go anywhere,
I wanted to
write about
travelling
and being
in places
I love.
The Book of Doors
is out now.
a time when I couldn’t travel. Some of the
other United States locations essentially
followed as a consequence of basing it in New
York, but I have travelled a lot across the US,
so it was fun to revisit a few of my favourite
places when Cassie and her friends meet up
on the Pacific Coast, or when Cassie visits
the Bookseller in New Orleans. It is easier
to write authentically about places you’ve
actually visited, I think.
The Book of Doors includes a number of
different magical or ‘special’ books, but my
favourite has to be The Book of Doors itself
… it was the start of it all, and it was me
living vicariously through my own writing.
I would still love to have a Book of Doors. I
am quite hungry as I type this and I would
love to be able to open my study door and be
in Malaysia, at one of my favourite road-side
hawker stalls, or at a sushi bar in Tokyo.
Yes, I’ll admit it, The Book of Doors is really
just about me getting access to food I love
without having to endure long haul flights.
The end of the novel very much lends
itself to a sequel, but I haven’t started on
a follow-up just yet. I do, however, have
ideas for possibly two sequels if there is an
appetite for them! Some of the magical books
that I didn’t have a use for in The Book of
Doors are waiting to be discovered …”