The English Criminal Lifestyle
by Robert C. Hahn -- Publishers Weekly, 5/19/2008
Martina Cole, the #1 bestselling author of adult fiction in the U.K., makes her U.S. debut with Close(Reviews, May 5), a saga about one underworld London family over a period of 40 years.
What's the significance of your title, Close?
England is so small—it's a small island, isn't it? And people tend to live very close to each other. There are rows in East London where people's whole extended families live in the same row. It's a very claustrophobic environment.
If you were to compare yourself to an American author or authors, who would it be?
I don't know really. Even in England I've got my own genre. Not even they know where to put me because I wrote about crime, but I didn't write a detective story. I write from the point of view of the criminals. The only person somewhat similar would be someone like Walter Mosley. But I wouldn't even dream of saying I wrote like him, because he's one of my favorite authors of all time.
What crime authors, other than Mosley do you admire?
James Ellroy. I think American Tabloid is probably the greatest book I ever read in my life.
Since 1992 you've published 14 novels, some of which have won awards and been turned into TV series. Why have you waited so long to enter the U.S. market?
I just waited until I found the right publisher for me. That's how I do everything. I just wait until it's right for me.
Close may strike American readers as a sort of British Godfather saga. Is that a fair comparison?
My first book, Dangerous Lady, was about a crime family in East London. I think that one is more like the Godfather saga. Close is more a book about the English criminal lifestyle.
Family seems very important in your novels.
Most of my books deal with what happens to families. They're about ordinary people who end up in extraordinary situations. They're also about the choice of whether or not to cut from the criminal lifestyle.
Who is your audience?
Every kind of person in England reads me, from the poorest in the land to colonels. My books are read by the kind of people who don't generally read. They say: “I've never read a book in me life, but I picked up your book and I liked it.”
