Anne Fine is best known as a leading children's author. But she has also written seven highly-praised novels for adults, of which the latest is Fly in the Ointment. Like her children's books, these are often comedies of family life, but with a slightly different flavour. Anne describes her adult novels as "sour comedies", and explained:
Fly in the Ointment is a novel that sprang to mind when I realized that there proves to be an added and unconsidered joy in being the mother of daughters. I adored the two of them anyway, but when they started to raise their own families it was such a relief to see that many of the things I considered important about bringing up children were being passed down. I seemed to have so many friends who felt uncomfortable watching their daughters-in-law dumping their grandchildren in front of the television for hours, or who had ended up worrying about those same very small children being in unsuitable daycare, eating poorly, never sharing books, or being disciplined too harshly or not at all.
Then a good friend resigned from the full-time job I always thought she loved, and took a part time appointment three counties away. Pressed, she admitted she'd felt obliged to offer some convincing excuse to her son and daughter-in-law to explain why she happened to be moving to the very same town as them. But in truth it was in order to be closer to the grandchildren about whom she had been fretting. Her plan, it turned out, was to wait a few weeks, then casually offer to care for the children two days a week in her own home. Doing things this way, she hoped her daughter-in-law, (who often appeared hair-triggered to take offence) would sense no veiled criticism about the length of time these two tiny children were currently spending in rather unfeeling daycare.
I started wondering how far I myself would be prepared to go...
All my novels begin with the question 'What if...?' I might not be like Lois, but I can certainly imagine myself going through her thought processes all the way along.
I wanted to make the book entirely credible psychologically, and a page turner. The most powerful drives and feelings are always those within the family. It is a crucible for love and hate. The family's endless refractions, both positive and painful, have always been my own home ground as a writer.
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Anne Fine writes books for all ages: here's more about her books for younger readers (including picture books), for children in the middle age range and books for older children.
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