A writer’s journey takes place largely in the imagination.
When I first pitched the idea of writing a detective novel set in 19th century St Petersburg, I had never been to Russia.
I’d read some Russian novels in translation. One of those was Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky. I picked it up from my school library, as a precocious teenager.
It must have been around the same time that I watched the 1958 film adaptation of The Brothers Karamazov, starring Yul Brynner and, believe it or not, William Shatner.
I don’t know what it was, the big themes, the extraordinary characters, the peculiarly Russian combination of philosophy and murder… but something took hold of my imagination – or my soul, as the Russians would no doubt say.
An idea took shape. The idea for a novel.
I tried to put it out of my mind, because I realised that I was almost uniquely unqualified to write it. I knew practically nothing about Russia. I didn’t speak the language. I couldn’t even read the alphabet. And as I say, I’d never set foot in the country.
Writing the book I had in mind was completely out of the question. I’d have been a fool to attempt it.
Thing is, as a writer, those are the ideas I find most attractive. The impossible ones. And this one just wouldn’t let me go.
To tell the truth, I didn’t really mean to pitch it to my agent. It came out by accident, in a moment of weakness. In my defence, I was desperate. My agent had just told me that my name “was meeting resistance.” I had to ask him what he meant. He spelled it out: when he told editors that he had a manuscript written by me, they were starting to say, “Ah, yes, him. OK. Do you have anything by anyone else?”
I knew I needed a big idea.
A high concept. Something that those bastard editors couldn’t refuse. So it just came out. How about a detective story with Porfiry Petrovich, the magistrate from Crime and Punishment, as the central character? My agent nodded. “That could work,” he said.
I was back in the game.
I was also in over my head. “You’ll need some other storylines,” my agent told me. “Publishers like it if there’s a series.” Wait? I somehow had to write not just one book set in Russia, but a whole lot of them?
I tried not to let my terror show and got down to research. Reading more Russian novels, as well as biographies, histories, memoirs… whatever I could.
Writing historical fiction is basically a confidence trick. It’s the research that gives you confidence to attempt it. But at some point you have to put the books to one side and let your imagination take off.
My agent turned out to be right. The publisher, Faber and Faber, did indeed want a series. I ended up writing four Porfiry Petrovich novels in about as many years.
It wasn’t until after I’d finished the first (A Gentle Axe) and was working on the second (A Vengeful Longing) that I couldn’t put it off any longer. I had to go to St Petersburg.
At the time, it was hard for me to justify it. I had a young family and was a part time novelist with a demanding day job. It seemed an indulgence to take off on my own and spend days basically just wandering about. Because that’s all I wanted – and needed – to do. I wanted to walk the streets my characters walked.
Of course, it was impossible for me, or anyone, to visit the St Petersburg of the 19th century. The St Petersburg I would create was always going to be a St Petersburg of the imagination. So perhaps that’s where I should go to look for it? But there were some technical issues about courtyards and windows that I needed to settle.
When I did finally get there, I had so thoroughly imagined the place that it felt like I was walking inside my own head.
It was on that trip that I met Andrey.
When I came out of the airport landed, it was raining heavily. The sky was so dark, I couldn’t see where the bus stop was. Andrey pointed me in the right direction. In fact, he escorted me all the way into the city centre. We got talking. He told me his life story.
We agreed to meet again. He wanted to show me round his city.
Over the years I’ve stayed in touch with Andrey. When Putin invaded Ukraine, I reached out to him and asked him how he was doing. He told me he was shocked by what had happened. It wasn’t easy being against the war in Russia. But however hard it was for Russians, it was nothing compared to what the Ukrainians were going through. Somehow he remained optimistic and positive, predicting that this was the beginning of the end for Putin. I hope he’s right.
Recently, I revisited Russia in my imagination, writing a novella called Law of Blood, in which Porfiry Petrovich has a walk-on role. I’m currently working on a sequel, which I hope to finish soon. But I haven’t been back to St Petersburg in real life. Now doesn’t really feel like a good time.
Maybe one day. After the war. When St Petersburg is peaceful and Putin-less.
At the time of writing this newsletter, the ebooks of my novels A VENGEFUL LONGING, A RAZOR WRAPPED IN SILK and the CLEANSING FLAMES are all 99p on Amazon. As is the ebook of LAW OF BLOOD.
A slightly different version of this article is scheduled to appear in Historia Magazine.