Saturday, 8 December 2012

Q is for QUIMBUNDO


Did you travel to Africa to research the book? This is one of the most common questions I get asked about The Afrika Reich. Although I have lived on the continent (Cairo used to be home) it may surprise you to learn I’ve never been to sub-Saharan Africa.

For the sake of veracity, and in a spirit of reckless adventure Burton would approve of, I did consider travelling to Congo but it soon became apparent this would be extremely foolhardy. With its shifting wars, eastern Congo is one of the most dangerous places on the planet. Kisangani (Stanleystadt in the book) has a force of over 15 000 thousand UN troops to protect it and they rarely venture beyond their compound without armoured support; civilian deaths in the area are rife. When I contacted the Foreign Office about the prospect of going there I was met with an incredulous laugh.

I had a similar problem with Angola. Although its civil war is over and it now has a GDP that is the envy of the West (7.9% last year), outside the capital, Luanda*, it remains a lawless and dangerous place to visit. This is especially true of Lunda Norte – the north-east region where I based Neliah and the Angolan Resistance. Today it is bandit-country, the ground choked with unexploded mines; for some reason you can’t book a trip there on Expedia.

Deep in this region is a real village called QUIMBUNDO, which I made the station Burton arrives at in Chapter 35. Given its latitude with the capital it made a credible spot for the railway to run through. It is the most obscure location I have ever written about. Indeed while working on Afrika Reich, I could only find one photograph of the place:


This lack of on-the-ground research, however, proved less problematic than I initially feared. I acquired a decent collection of contemporary accounts of Congo and Angola as well as drawing on my own peregrinations. I have worked in the Amazon and it was easy to transplant my experiences there – the perma-sweat, clouds of insects, murky forests and broiling concrete cities – to Africa. I must have got something right because, along with the question that began today’s entry, something else people often say to me is: You must know Africa well.


*NB – in case you’re wondering why the spelling is different to the novel Loanda (the colonial name) was changed to Luanda in 1975.
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23 comments:

  1. Louise8 December 2012 at 21:17

    'Cairo used to e home', 'when I worked in the Amazon'. I love your glamorous life! How do I get one?

    Seriously, what were you doing in these places? Have they informed your writing a lot?

    x

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    1. Guy Saville9 December 2012 at 13:01

      Louise - I suppose these things always sound glamorous when reduced to soundbite, unfortunately the reality is a bit duller… though of course it is exciting to go to such exotic locations.

      I used to work as a freelance correspondent, hence the reason I was in Africa and South America. By coincidence, I’m just filling in a publicity Q&A for my US publisher and one of the questions they’ve asked is whether my work/travel informed the writing of TAR. Not wanting to pre-empt them, I’ll post the reply when they do!

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  2. Anonymous8 December 2012 at 23:14

    I assumed you had made the place up!

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    1. Guy Saville9 December 2012 at 13:02

      Anon – thanks for your comment. Yes, Quimbundo is a real place. If the internet has got there now and anyone happens to be reading this DO say hello :o)

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  3. Old Kitty9 December 2012 at 16:13

    And here I was thinking you'd write about quinces for your Q post!

    Take care
    x

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    1. Guy Saville1 January 2013 at 19:01

      Kitty - that would have been too obvious! Though I may resort to quinces for the A-Z of TAR2...

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  4. Catherine Hastings11 December 2012 at 13:25

    Hello Guy

    Well, I think we’ll forgive you for not actually going on a research trip to Congo. You can’t visit the 1950s, either – surely it’s perfectly legitimate to research a geographical setting in the same way you would a historical event.

    Coincidently, I am reading Half of a Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, which is set in Biafra – so a fairly stark example of a novel set both in an actual geographical area, and somewhere which now only exists in memory and imagination. Interestingly, in an interview printed at the end of the book, she says that she deliberately fictionalised some of the locations, “inventing a train station in a town that has none, placing towns closer together than they are”. I think she did it partly out of respect for “something larger than art”, but also partly to protect the boundaries of her own fictional world.

    Going back to TAR, the different settings always seemed very vivid to me (I haven’t been to the Congo either, but I was happy to take your word for it!), and I was prepared to buy the huge distances travelled by Burton on the Pan-African highway. However, I was puzzled by Neliah’s tunnel, which was on the Lulua river, but which she seemed to manage to get to remarkably swiftly from the resistance camp in Northern Angola – unless you’d moved the border? Or was that fictional licence, per Adichie? Or am I just not very good at geography?

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    1. Guy Saville1 January 2013 at 19:18

      Catherine - I like the expression 'something larger than art'.

      The whole issue of reality in a text is a fascinating one. Some people seem to insist that a novel can only have value if it is entirely realistic but I'm not convinced by this argument. That may be the job of a reporter or historian but as a writer of fiction I think I'm allowed to bend reality to my own ends...

      Which leads me to your comment about Neliah and the tunnel. I did map out all the locations and travelling times between them and it would be theoretically possible to cover the distances - if unlikely. Again, I didn't perceive this as a particular problem and felt it well within the limits of fictional licence. The camp, by the way, was in the south-eastern part of Northern Angola (if that isn't too confusing a description!), so the distances maybe smaller than you think.

      I've already run into similar problems with the geography of Madagascar for Book 2 but as with TAR I'm more concerned in getting the narrative right than the verisimilitude of miles covered on foot.

      Thanks as always for such an interesting comment.

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  5. Anonymous12 December 2012 at 11:34

    Hi. When the next one out? Have checked Amazon on can't find release date? First book was of the best I have read in years!! Will there be a film?

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    1. Guy Saville1 January 2013 at 19:03

      Anon - glad to hear you enjoyed the book. The follow-up is due for release some time next year. Full details to be published on my website and Facebook closer to the date. My agent is currently trying to sell the film rights.

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  6. J. Rennie-Aud20 December 2012 at 23:50

    I've been in Kisingani and Angola, though not to the north-east. From your descriptions I assumed you were an old Africa-hand like myself! Quite amazing you haven't been to the places you describe. Still that is the author's perogative. Assume you've been keeping abreast of these things: the UN are presently very busy in eastern Congo.

    Enjoyed the skull photos!

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    1. Guy Saville1 January 2013 at 19:07

      J.Rennie-Aud - thanks for your comment; it's always interesting to hear from people who actually know the region. It's rather pleasing to hear you thought my descriptions of Kongo and Angola were convincing!

      Glad you liked the skulls photos too (on Facebook, for those who may have missed them).

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    2. J.Rennie-Aud2 January 2013 at 14:43

      Appreciate you taking the time to respond. Happy New Year and good writing.

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  7. Louise24 December 2012 at 23:50

    Merry Christmas Mr Saville! Hope you have a good one and looking forward to AR2 in 2013.

    Lou x

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    1. Guy Saville1 January 2013 at 19:04

      Louise - and a Happy New Year to you! Details of Book 2 coming as and when I have them. Watch this space...

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  8. Andy Sladden8 January 2013 at 14:25

    Joined the Facebbok page that linked me here and have been reading yr blogs. I understand yr writing more in Africa Reich series. Will you be going to other countires for research or will it all be done with books? That might be safer option! LOL.

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    1. Guy Saville22 January 2013 at 23:02

      Andy - sorry not to have replied to your comment sooner. Book 2 is set in Madagascar and last year I visited the country on a research trip for several weeks.

      Book 3 is partly set in Mali. Years ago I planned to go there as a tourist and now regret not going. Unless the situation improves I'll definitely be doing that bit of research in the library!

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    2. Andy Sladden26 January 2013 at 21:23

      Thanks for taking time to reply. You do like dangerous settings for your books! LOL. Look forward to 2 and 3.

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  9. Anonymous18 January 2013 at 17:08

    Are you ever going to blog again? By my reckoning there are at least another 3 letters to go! I think you need to update at least once a month.

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    1. Guy Saville22 January 2013 at 23:04

      Anon - things very busy at the moment with Book 2 and the pre-publicity for the US publication of Book 1... however, the next blog is already written and I plan to post it in the next week or so.

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    2. Anonymous25 January 2013 at 23:30

      Can't wait! and at least your hard at it on the sequel. I reckon the next letter is going to be K is for.

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  10. Garry29 November 2013 at 13:37

    Im about to start reading very soon ( waiting for amazon)
    i just compleated a trans africa experdition earlyer this year...we drove from Iceland to SouthAfrica, via Europe , west and central Africa...its the first time someone has started so far north to the end of Africa ( well we think so....at least it was the first from Iceland)
    www.vikingsacrossafrica.webs.com
    we are considering organising a second tour next year with passengers again ( we had 15 passengers last time) so if you are realy intreasted in some real remote parts of Africa you should consider comming

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  11. Guy Saville4 January 2014 at 13:12

    Garry - thanks for your post and sorry not to have replied sooner. I missed it amongst all the other stuff in my inbox. Your trip sounds amazing! Truly. I'd love to do something like that. Are you planning on a follow up expedition? Will mail you directly.

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