Cork author: I got my new book to Graham Norton - via a fishmongers!

Author Cauvery Madhavan has just had what she calls a “totally West Cork experience”.

She wanted to share her latest book, The Inheritance, with Graham Norton.

“The novel is set in West Cork so I thought he might enjoy it,” says Madhavan.

She passed the book into the Bantry Bookshop, along with a handwritten card. The people in the bookshop then passed it onto TV star Norton’s favourite fishmonger.

After a few mishaps, including a publicist’s refusal to believe that Norton had really been in touch, she received a response from the mega star, full of praise and admiration.

“I met him shortly afterwards in London at the British Library when they had a showcase of Irish writers,” says Madhavan. “He was so kind.

“Paul Muldoon was talking about Irish writers working outside of Ireland - and Graham pointed out that there are also non-Irish people writing in Ireland - he named me which was special. My husband wanted to point me out, he was so proud.”

West Cork Literary Festival

Luckily for us, Graham Norton isn’t the only one with access to Cauvery Madhavan’s latest book - she is soon to read at the West Cork Literary Festival, which starts today and runs to July 18.

The writer spends half the year in the area, writing and researching, so the festival is close to her heart and home.

“I have a house in Glengarriff. The rest of the time I’m in Kildare, but really my soul is in West Cork.

“My first book came out 25 years ago, in 2000, and right from then the festival has supported me.”

Beyond West Cork, her connection to Ireland is strong.

“I came here as a young person; I was only 23. Forty years’ ago, 23 was young as it was before the internet. My growing up years were in Ireland really.”

Born in India, Madhavan came with her husband, who was then a junior doctor and had just qualified.

“We thought we would be here for a few years, but my husband’s career kept us here.

“He specialised in vascular surgery, which was new enough here but was non-existent in India.

“We both love Ireland so when we got a chance to stay, we grabbed it. We were 12 years here at that stage and were happy to make Ireland our home.”

Cross Cultures

The author has spoken before about the similarities between India and Ireland, something that helped Madhavan and her husband to settle.

“I feel the two countries share a similar cultural outlook. Both obsess about families.

“In India, your aunt’s opinion is as important as your mothers. It’s similar here in that the opinion of your extended family matters.

“Both cultures take pride in their families and don’t want to let them down. You know, we don’t want to ‘make a show’ of ourselves.

“Both societies obsess about births, marriages, and deaths. We have a love of good food and drink, and all important is the obsession with religion.

“Even though Catholicism is waning here, there is still an ethos and it’s the same in India.

“People may not be overly religious, but you retain the ethos. It is in every aspect of your life. You might think you are non-practising, but you are.”

Although Madhavan’s latest book, The Inheritance has only Irish characters, these common themes are strong in the book, she explains.

The Inheritance

The author sets out the plot.

“Marlo O’Sullivan discovers that his sister is really his mother. This is such a universal story. There is nobody in Ireland who doesn’t know somebody with a related story. Since I wrote it, so many people have texted me to say, ‘that happened to me,’ or if not, it happened to someone close to them.”

Another character in the book is Sully, a non-verbal child, who Madhavan traces back to a story she overheard many years ago.

“I heard it in passing. Two women were talking about another family whose child would go up and down to the city on the bus. This child needed a lot of care and so the time they spent on the bus gave the parents some respite.

“I heard it a long time ago when there was little help - and so this child would go on the bus journey every day on a private bus service - the driver might have been a family member. The child was happy on the bus, and the family got to continue with their farming.

“I remember thinking I would write a short story about this child, but I never did. It came back to me when I sat down to draft this book.”

A few more strands came together, - including a fascination with the O’Sullivan Bearas, who were driven out of West Cork by the English after they defeated the combined Spanish and Irish forces at the Battle of Kinsale.

“I wanted to write that story and so I blended it in.

“There is a thread of magical realism running through the book - with this 400-year-old story being told through the eyes of a child.”

Alongside magical realism is historical fact.

“It is a fact that O’Sullivan Beare left his child the forest because they later reunited in Spain. Legend is that they left him in the care of relative who had a son.

“In my novel, the kinsman’s young son tells the story. I have fictionalised it to make him non-verbal.”

Bantry Bookshop

The author is particularly excited to read at Bantry Bookshop, as part of the West Cork Literacy Festival, which she describes as being “amazingly curated”.

She will appear there on Saturday, July 12, at 11.30am, in an event that thas free admission.

Madhavan has a close relationship with the bookshop and its staff.

“They have sourced books and pamphlets for me - not just for this book but for my previous books. We have become quite friendly,” says Madhavan.

A relationship that eventually got The Inheritance into the hands of West Cork’s favourite son, Graham Norton - via the fishmongers.