BBC Radio 4’s Today programme asks me to champion a favourite book and I choose Muriel Spark’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. It is a subversive piece of work, elegant on the surface but vicious at its core. It is about Edinburgh between the wars and the effect approaching adulthood has on a group of schoolgirls. But above all it is about the dangerous allure of charisma. Miss Brodie, maverick and fantasist that she is, holds the fate of her young charges in her hands, such is the power of her personality. Coincidentally, my Radio 4 stint had been preceded by an appearance on BBC Radio Scotland to discuss the recently deceased author Allan Massie – an essayist not unknown to this magazine. I met Allan when I was a postgraduate student at the University of Edinburgh, where he was writer in residence. I was writing a PhD on Muriel Spark, and Allan had published one of the first book-length studies of her, so we talked about her odd brilliance often. Allan even gave me Spark’s address in Rome, saying I should get in touch. I never did, though I’ve kept the scrap of paper.
Allan was a brilliant book reviewer (and sports journalist) as well as being an underrated and fastidious novelist. He introduced me to his editor at Bodley Head, Euan Cameron, who, after six other publishing houses had turned it down, accepted my first crime novel for publication. Without Allan Massie, no Inspector Rebus.
The day after my Radio 4 appearance I drove north to Pitlochry for its annual Winter Words literary festival, presided over by the unstoppable force of nature that is Alan Cumming. Since he took over as artistic director at Pitlochry Festival Theatre, he has given it a good shake-up and filled the auditorium to capacity as only he could (being a son of Perthshire). Alan chaired my event and invited me to dinner with his mum afterwards. I demurred and went for a head-clearing walk instead. The surrounding hills were bright with snow and there were no fish to be seen in the local hydroelectric dam’s famed fish-ladder, so I went for a quick drink with photographer David Eustace, our failing ears fighting against the bar’s ebullient singer-guitarist.
One of Pitlochry’s forthcoming shows is The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, so Alan and I talked about it during our session. It stars the actress Gayle Rankin, who appeared alongside Alan in Cabaret in New York. Gayle is no relation, but for the production’s press release she was photographed by the celebrated Rankin – also no relation. I can’t help thinking they missed a trick by not having me pen the actual release.
Another acting Rankin is Richard, who is the most recent screen incarnation of Inspector Rebus. A previous version saw Ken Stott in the role. Ken is a lifelong supporter of Heart of Midlothian F.C. and the production had some fun with him by turning Rebus into a fan of Edinburgh’s other team, Hibernian. This got me in trouble with half the city’s footballing fraternity. In the books, I’d always shied away from giving Rebus an allegiance. As a Fifer, I reasoned, he would probably follow Raith Rovers (Gordon Brown’s team) anyway. Richard Rankin, however, as a Hearts supporter, managed to sneak a line into one episode where Rebus confessed to being ‘a quiet Jambo’ (Jambo = Jam Tarts = Hearts). So now I’m in trouble with the other side of my adopted city, no matter how many Raith Rovers tops I’m photographed wearing.
It looks like Hearts have a decent chance of winning the Scottish Premiership this season (if they don’t wobble). As a neutral, I’m rooting for them – anything to break up the boring hegemony of the ‘Old Firm’ of Celtic and Rangers. The last time neither of them won the league was 1984/85. I was still at uni then, unpublished and writing my Spark thesis.
I’ve just finished copy-edits of my next novel, which is set in a London of oligarchs, tech bros and dark money. And now I’m locked away in Cromarty, far from the madding crowd and mulling over what comes next. In the past few weeks I’ve broken a tooth, been fitted with hearing aids, learned the shocking news that one of my oldest friends from schooldays had died, and received a letter concerning my forthcoming state pension. Is life trying to tell me something? Carpe diem, Miss Brodie would probably tell me.
My son Jack is certainly seizing the day. He’s currently travelling through Japan (and loving it). As I’ll be visiting in May I asked him for tips. He responded with: comfortable shoes, a travel card, and small change for temple visits. I duly pass these on.
Comments