You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
Lucy Christopher: Into The Killing Woods
Lucy Christopher's The Killing Woods is an expertly paced Young Adult thriller.
When Emily's dad is accused of killing a teenage girl in the woods behind her house, she is the only one that believes he is innocent – so Emily sets out to do whatever it takes to prove he is.
Emily is very sure of her father's innocence, even when all those around her doubt it. Can you tell us a bit more about her?
I wanted a character that was strong but in quite a vulnerable way. A lot of my female characters are like that; it is absolutely possible to be both at the same time. Emily's strength is that she feels what everyone else feels, and has great empathy for her dad and she won't believe that he could be bad. It is her vulnerability and empathy that makes her strong.
The Killing Woods is set in the atmospheric Darkwood, which almost becomes a character in the novel itself. Was the setting a starting point for you?
The novel took about three years to write and it started on a trip to Nigeria. I wanted to write about woods, big thick dark woods, and people uncovering the dark urges within themselves within that setting. So I went to Nigeria and did a lot of research and took a lot of notes and photos, but felt like I couldn't yet write about it, because I didn't know it well enough and setting and locations are really important to me. If I was going to set it in Nigeria, I need to be fair to Nigeria and I was worried I wasn't doing that.
I live near the Forest of Dean and I suddenly thought: "Well, there's woods here!"
Emily's dad is an ex-soldier who suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Did you do a lot of research on the condition?
Quite early on I knew I wanted to write about it, and to begin with it was a much bigger part of the book. I had read an article that quite shocked me – it said that one in ten prisoners have been in the army, and that that there aren't the most effective programmes [available] for dealing with [this situation].
I find the extremes really interesting: a soldier might feel very strong, powerful and protective – and then that changes to someone who feels very weak and like he has no strength or purpose. It intrigued me how a person could move between those two things. I read a lot and also became quite friendly with the Ministry of Defence website: they have a live chat section with soldiers so I spoke to one soldier a lot about the things I was writing about, he helped me a great deal.
You're adapting your debut novel Stolen into a film, are you enjoying that process?
Yes, it's great. I'm working with a co-writer called Ken White and we aim to have the script done by the end of the year. My producer is starting to put the team together; it is moving now, which is very exciting. It is a long time since I wrote it, so it is really nice to go back.
The Killing Woods by Lucy Christopher is published on 3 October by Chicken House.
The official Killing Woods launch party takes place at Newport Waterstones on 12 October at 6.30 pm. For more, visit: thekillingwoods.tumblr.com/
You might like:
