We chat with debut author Brooke Robinson about The Interpreter, which is the taut psychological drama of The Silent Patient and the propulsive storytelling of The Club.
Hi, Brooke! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I think of myself as a retired playwright now writing psychological thrillers.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I was always a big reader as a kid, but I didn’t start writing until I was well into my twenties. I did have a couple of very fleeting moments, at about seven or eight, where I fancied the idea of writing a book. I would write down “It was a dark and stormy night” as an opening line, but then I’d have no idea what should happen next in the story, so I’d instantly give up and go and play with my dog.
Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!
One of those Osborne ‘Choose your own adventure’ books of the early 1990s, Timeline by Michael Crichton and The North Water by Ian McGuire.
Your debut thriller, The Interpreter, is out September 19th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Tense, frenetic, mysterious, thought-provoking
What can readers expect?
To have their sympathies tested and their sense of justice challenged.
Where did the inspiration for The Interpreter come from?
I came across a newspaper article written by a language interpreter who works in the criminal justice system and like most monolingual people, I’d never given thought to this fascinating profession before. I was particularly struck by the idea of an interpreter having to speak on behalf of someone very morally dubious, like an accused murderer who is obviously guilty.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I immediately knew I wanted to write about interpreting but I couldn’t settle on a story until I thought about uniting interpreting with my long-time love of fictional vigilantes. I wanted to make my character, Revelle, a vigilante who is quite different from most vigilantes in that she uses words to get justice, instead of violence. I think of her as a linguistic vigilante.
What do you love about the thriller genre?
For me it’s the genre where you get both escapism and the chance to self-evaluate and ask yourself what you’d do if you were in that morally-grey/terrifying/life-threatening situation.
What’s next for you?
I’m working on my second book, also a psychological thriller, called The Negotiator.
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi is a new release which shares some similar themes with The Interpreter. I loved it.
