#Blogtour #Review #Q&A: Yellow Room by Shelan Rodger @DomePress @ShelanRodger @emily_glenister9/10/2017 Release date - 5th October 2017 (Paperback) Book length - 291 pages Publisher - www.thedomepress.com Book Depository - www.bookdepository.com Amazon UK - www.amazon.co.uk Amazon US - www.amazon.com ABOUT THE BOOK Haunted by a tragic childhood accident, Chala's whole life has been moulded by guilt and secrets. After the death of the stepfather she adored, Chala is thrown into turmoil once again. Volunteering in Kenya seems to offer an escape, and a way of re-evaluating her adult relationships, although violence and hardship simmer alongside its richness and beauty. The secrets of the Yellow Room are still with her and she can't run away forever... MY REVIEW Hypnotic, tragic, and compelling, YELLOW ROOM by Shelan Rodger is a story that will slowly draw you in and hold you captive until the very end. This is a story about life and the effect that one event can have on a person, shaping and changing their whole future, and it is written with such style and emotion that you cannot help but be moved. When Chala was four, a tragic accident occurred which would stay with her and her stepfather, Phillip, forever, changing the way she viewed herself and her life in ways that they could never imagine. Sheltered and protected by Phillip as much as possible, she adored this man who raised her after everything, and when he dies suddenly, it will force Chala to question everything in her life, including her marriage to Paul. Needing space, Chala decides to follow in the footsteps of her biological parents and travel to Kenya to volunteer, in the hopes that space and distance will allow her to sort out her feelings and try to find some sort of resolution with who she is and what she has done in her past. As Chala throws herself into her new world, she meets some very special people and confronts the harsh realities that exist in this beautiful but troubled place. And when she gets some shocking news, Chala realises that she must completely confront her past if she is to make any sort of decision for her future, but there are some secrets that even she does not know about... YELLOW ROOM by Shelan Rodger deals with a sensitive and emotional tragedy in such a poetic way, and my heart broke for Chala the adult who still clings desperately to Chala the little girl that existed on that fateful day. Her entire life has been consumed by that afternoon all those years ago and while on the surface it appears that she has moved on successfully with her life, this could not be further from the truth as she carries her grief and her guilt everywhere with her, and in every decision that she makes. The beauty and raw energy of Kenya are beautifully depicted, but the troubling and harrowing life that exists for many is difficult and upsetting to read which is just as it should be - we should feel, we should be moved, we should care. The characters are in-depth and convincing, and the story moved along at a perfect pace for the drama that unfolds within its pages. YELLOW ROOM by Shelan Rodger is a gripping and haunting story that is a must-read for anyone who enjoys a raw, emotional, and complex story of family and heartache. Author Bio: Shelan's life is a patchwork of different cultures. Born in Nigeria, she grew up among the Tiwi, an aboriginal community in Australia, and moved to England at the age of eleven. After graduating in Modern Languages from Oxford, she travelled to Argentina, where she spent nine years teaching and setting up a language school. Another chapter in England was followed by six years in Kenya, where she got involved in learning and development, with an emphasis on anti-discrimination. She now lives in Spain, working in international education - and writing. For more information: Website - www.shelanrodger.com Twitter - twitter.com/ShelanRodger Facebook - www.facebook.com/ShelanRodgerAuthor/ Read on for a fascinating Q&A with the author herself.... Q&A
Q.1 - Yellow Room deals with a tragic accident and the harsh reality of poverty in Kenya that left me emotional many times while reading it. Was it difficult writing something that was so sensitive? Were you worried about how readers may react to it? An interesting question... Yes, it was difficult at times - trying to achieve emotional insight without alienating the reader. I wanted the reader to be touched by the human lives behind the reality of poverty in Kenya and the tragic toll of events in the aftermath of the 2007 elections. But I wanted to do this in a way that was at once shocking and gentle and thought-provoking, rather than just melodramatic. I was also trying to create an ebb and flow between the external events in Kenya and the internal evolution of Chala, the main character, whose sense of self is grounded in the tragic accident of her childhood. And I was also writing about something which was - and continues to be - politically very sensitive. The political figures are real. One of them, Raila Odinga, has won a court challenge annullling the results of this year’s elections in August, which means going to the polls again in October. His opponent and incumbent president, Uhuru Kenyatta, was previously charged by the International Criminal Court with crimes against humanity, alleged to have played a leading role in orchestrating the violence that cost around 1,200 lives ten years ago. The case was dropped amidst controversy surrounding intimidation of witnesses. So, yes, I was very careful about the way I wrote about these events in the book. Like the fictional characters, Kenya too has her secrets and we may never know the truth of what happened then or, indeed, what is happening now. Q.2 - I found the character of Chala truly fascinating. All of her life decisions have been shaped by that day when she was a little girl. How did you come up with this character? Did she evolve as you wrote her or had you developed her character before you started writing? She was born from a very simple idea: the notion that one single event can mould your entire sense of self … and what happens when the goalposts change. I am fascinated by what shapes our sense of personal identity and what happens when life turns an unexpected corner - and this is at the heart of the drama in Yellow Room. But I didn’t map out Chala’s character beforehand; she definitely evolved as I was writing. Sometimes she behaved in ways that were quite unexpected to me. For example, I had not anticipated the empathy that she feels for her stepmother, when they meet each other again so many years after the event that separated them in Chala’s childhood. Q.3 - Kenya and its people come alive in this story. Is the way you described it representative of the time that you lived there yourself? Although the characters are fictional, the people and events of Kenya do draw closely on my own personal experience. I have a strong emotional connection with Kenya, where my father is buried and my mother still lives. The orphanage in the book is inspired by a real one I got involved with while I was living there, and I was in Naivasha at the time of the post-election violence that shook the country. Not everything that happens in the book is based on direct personal experience but the essence of it was all around and I experienced real fear and uncertainty at the time. One thing based on reality was the feeding of the refugees (or rather, internally displaced persons) at the overcrowded police station – I was personally involved and the boys at the orphanage really did prepare food too. I don’t think I would have been capable of making up some of the most heart-wrenching touches in the unfolding of these events in Kenya! Q.4 - I was shocked by the time I turned the last page, which is always a great thing in a novel. How difficult is it for writers now to develop surprise twists and turns? We seem to live in an age of readers who adore twists and I certainly share the fascination with the power of a twist to undo or make sense of a perceived reality. I think there is no doubt that the appetite for twists and the powerfully detective mindset of the modern reader presents increasing challenges when it comes to creating surprises. The biggest challenge for a twist to really work, in my view, is for it to somehow grow out the writing rather than being manufactured in advance. I have no idea how other writers do it but I sort of visualize the twist or turn that I am moving towards and then try and let some of the ‘how’ resolve itself. I don’t map out all the details of how I am going to get there and sometimes that means that the twist I initially anticipated can actually change in form. Of course, this kind of approach does lead to some furious editing afterwards, but the way that I write is very intuitive so it is an approach I am comfortable with. Q.5 - I always find it interesting to get a peek into the world of a writer. Have you any traditions or rituals when you write? And where is your favourite place to write? My favourite place to write is in front of a window. I have written overlooking a garden in Sussex, a garden with giraffes at the fence in Kenya, and a jungle-sized cactus in Spain. My writing desk is a protected space; I never do my day job in the same place. What I love more than anything is to literally create space in my diary, disconnect completely and go away somewhere to write for a week. My mother’s verandah in Kenya is a writer’s haven. *I want to thank Shelan Rodger for taking the time to answer my questions, I really appreciate it. I also want to thank Emily from Dome Press for the opportunity to review this book and take part in this blog tour. Don't forget to check out all of the other stops along the way!!
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WelcomeHi fellow bookworms. My name is Linda and I'm a reviewer & blogger, wife & mother who loves all things books! Currently ReadingUPCOMING BLOG TOURS
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