The Survivors: An Interview with Jane Harper
The Survivors
Since the release of The Dry, a widely acclaimed bestseller, Jane Harper has become a household name.
Noted for her distinctly Australian landscapes as much as her carefully plotted whodunnits, a new book by Harper has become a bookselling event. In her fourth book, the standalone novel The Survivors, we are taken to coastal Tasmania for a mystery that does not disappoint.
In this interview, Harper talks about the inspirations behind her new book, her life-changing career shift and being an extra in the film adaptation of her own book.
The setting of The Survivors is beachside Tasmania, another iconic Australian location. Could you tell us a little about the inspiration behind the seaside and shipwreck backdrop of this new story?
The Survivors is an Australian mystery full of small-town intrigue and hidden secrets, and the setting has a really important role in all my books. This story plays out within a tight-knit community that was devastated a decade earlier when a storm took a terrible toll, and now risks being torn apart once again when a body is discovered on the local beach. The beauty and brutality of the Tasmanian coast was the ideal setting for a story. Its waters are home to more than 1000 sunken wrecks and it’s one of the few places in Australia where divers can explore certain vessels. I always like to include elements of the landscape that are specific to the region I’m writing about, and that felt like an opportunity too good to miss!
You come from a journalism background, but are now a bestselling author. What has been the biggest surprise about this career change?
I worked as a newspaper journalist for 13 years before I wrote my debut novel, The Dry. When I first turned to fiction, I was very surprised by how transferable so many of the journalism skills were. I had always thought writing fiction would be very different, but in fact I was able to draw on so much that I’d learned in the newsroom, including discipline around meeting deadlines, expressing myself clearly on the page and structuring a story in a way that draws readers in and keeps them engaged.
The relationship dynamics in this book are intriguing. The bond between Kieran and Mia was a really nice counterpoint to his relationship with his parents, allowing Kieran the space to explore a lot of his guilt and past baggage. When developing central characters, how much do their key relationships help shape how your stories unfold?
The Survivors is told through the eyes of 30-year-old Kieran Elliott, who returns with his partner and young child to his home town to find his parents struggling, not least with the absence of Kieran’s older brother, Finn. My books are mysteries at heart, and the characters’ relationships with each other are an absolutely crucial part of the plot. The way the main characters interact with each other, and in turn reflect on themselves and actions and decisions in their own pasts, helps drive the story but also create authentic, three-dimensional people that readers can relate to and believe in.
The film for The Dry is underway and now due for release in 2021. Congratulations! What has the process of it being translated to screen been like?
It’s been a fascinating and exciting experience, and not something I ever expected to happen when I sat down and wrote The Dry. The film adaptation is now completed, and due to be released in April next year. I was invited to go on set when they were filming in regional Victoria last and got to be an extra in the funeral and wake scenes, which was really fun. I’ve seen the finished film and it’s a wonderful and thoughtful adaptation of the book, and I think readers will love it.
‘My books are mysteries at heart, and the characters’ relationships with each other are an absolutely crucial part of the plot. The way the main characters interact with each other, and in turn reflect on themselves and actions and decisions in their own pasts, helps drive the story but also create authentic, three-dimensional people that readers can relate to and believe in.’
When writing these days, do you find yourself at all swayed by the co-habitation of the two art forms (novel vs film) or does the likelihood that your books might eventually become film not at all impact your writing process?
Writing a whole novel is such a huge task with so many elements to juggle, that I feel like I already have enough balls in the air without adding in the possibility of a future screen adaptation. And for me, the book is always enough. I write books because I love books, not as a gateway to the screen. Having said that, The Survivors has already been snapped up for a major TV series which is exciting, but that’s not something I consider when I’m writing. I focus on what I can control, which is writing a book I would like to read and telling that story in the best way I possibly can.
What writing advice would you give aspiring crime writers?
Write down all your ideas. Every single time you think of something, take a few seconds and make a note in a folder on your phone. You think you will remember good ideas, but life gets in the way and you’ll be amazed when you go back through your notes what thoughts may have otherwise slipped through your fingers. If nothing else, writing down your ideas frees up your mind for other creative connections to form.
I’m a big fan of the introspective Aaron Falk. Will we be seeing more of Aaron's exploits in the future?
Absolutely, I’ve actually got something in mind for him that I’m starting to develop. It’s so important to get the right characters to tell a story, and for me The Survivors always needed to be a standalone novel. But Falk is a very special character for me and I feel he has more to come, so he will return when I find exactly the right opportunity for him.
What have you been reading over this period which you have really enjoyed?
My former colleague from my journalism days Karina Kilmore was recently shortlisted for a Ned Kelly Award for her crime debut Where the Truth Lies, which I was thrilled to see.
I’m also looking forward to getting my hands on a copy of Jim McIntyre’s recently-released debut Nikolai the Perfect, which was one of three novels shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s Unpublished Manuscript Award the year that The Dry won.
What are you up to next?
I’m doing a series of virtual events for The Survivors, with details on my website if readers would like to hear a little more about the book and the writing process. Normally I’d be doing a lot of in-person events but obviously that has all moved online this year. Once the virtual tour’s finished, I’ll be turning my mind to the next book. I’m still weighing up ideas but it’s safe to say it will be another Australian mystery with as many twists and turns as the other four books.
You can read our review of The Survivors on our Books We Love page.
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