He was a child who was accused of murder. Who did he become when he grew up? A gripping, thought-provoking thriller from the internationally bestselling author of Everything She Forgot.
Intrigued? Well read on to learn more about Lisa Ballantyne’s The Innocent One, along with her book recommendations and more.
Hi, Lisa! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I live in Glasgow, in Scotland, but I’ve spent a lot of my life travelling which informs my writing as it has given me a great interest in other people and lives different to my own. I’ve travelled to the Middle East, Africa, North and South America, as well as Europe and spent many years living and working in China.
When did you first discover your love for writing?
I’ve been expressing myself creatively through words since I was small, but I started writing long fiction while living overseas in the North West desert area of China. Like many authors I have dabbled with poetry, but what really drives me to write novels is a love of character and the joy of creating another consciousness – another life – completely different to my own. Also, at university I studied psychology as well as English literature and that gave me a desire to really understand how people tick.
The adage is that you should write what you know, but I am always reaching outside of myself. Because of that, my novels all require a great deal of research.
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!
Winnie the Pooh, by A.A Milne
We Were the Mulvaneys, by Joyce Carol Oates
Regeneration, by Pat Parker
Your latest novel, The Innocent One, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
The effects of traumatic childhoods.
What can readers expect?
The Innocent One is a suspenseful psychological thriller about a young lawyer who grew up in care having to face his difficult past when he is confronted with a client he represented many years ago: a little boy accused of violent murder – now an adult and accused once again. Readers can expect family drama, and an examination of nature and nurture.
Where did the inspiration for The Innocent One come from?
When the characters in my novel were first taking shape, the newspapers in the UK were full of articles about two young boys from South Yorkshire in England who had beaten, tortured and nearly killed another pair of boys – actions that the sentencing judge described as ‘prolonged and sadistic violence.’ The newspapers were vociferous at the time, invoking other children who had killed. It was a chance for the press to revisit ‘the Bulger case’ from 1993: video film of toddler, James Bulger, being led by two older children from a Liverpool shopping mall to be tortured and killed on a patch of waste ground had been cast around the world.
My two main characters took shape in juxtaposition to each other. One was a successful London defence lawyer with a troubled and violent past, and the other was his client who had been tried for murder as a child. The story began to breathe and I saw it as a way to explore the potential for change in an individual.
What kind of research did you do for The Innocent One?
Because I never write what I know, all of my novels require a vast amount of research. The first copywriter who read this story asked if I worked in social work, psychiatry or the law and of course I don’t work in any of these professional fields represented in the novel. I had to bridge that gap through research.
I attended the renowned ‘Old Bailey’ courthouse in London, watching live trials take place and I visited the locations described in my story. I also received a lot of help from experts. I spent hours talking to a veteran criminal solicitor, now judge, who advised me on procedure and how children are dealt with in the criminal justice system. I spoke to social workers and police officers and read a great deal, particularly about the age of criminal responsibility in the countries that make up the UK (Scotland and England have different legal systems),
Can you tell us a bit about the challenges you faced while writing and how you were able to overcome them?
One of the challenges I often face – and did too when writing The Innocent One – is the problem of shining a light on dark corners and how to write about a subject matter that many people find troubling. I think that in exploring the reasons behind child violence, and violence in society in general, I was fearful of being sensationalistic or graphic. I overcame the challenge of writing sensitively about this dark subject matter by really understanding my characters and by seeing them as the flawed, fully rounded people that they were to me.
Were there any favourite moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
The Innocent One is in many way an example of domestic noir. I love writing about families and family relationships. I often find there is so much to explore in these intimate and intensely emotional bonds. In this novel, defence lawyer Daniel is struggling to be a good father to his young son, largely because of the deficits in his own upbringing. I found it very satisfying to explore Daniel’s struggle to be a good parent despite the trauma he experienced in his own childhood.
What’s next for you?
The Innocent One is my fifth novel and I feel lucky to still have the company of so many new characters and their stories in my head. I will keep writing them down.
Lastly, what have been some of your favourite 2022 reads? Any 2023 releases our readers should look out for?
- The Silence of the Girls AND The Women of Troy – by Pat Barker
- Oh William! By Elizabeth Strout
- Jack – by Marilynne Robinson
- 2023 releases to look out for: I was lucky to read early review copies of these two memorable, addictive novels:
- A Flaw in the Design – Nathan Oates
- The Quiet Tenant – Clémence Michallon
