After 14 years, Preeta Samarasan is finally done with her second novel

INTERVIEW | Ipoh girl Preeta Samarasan’s first novel, titled “Evening Is The Whole Day” (2008), earned rave reviews by critics and won the Hopwood Novel Award, became a finalist for the Commonwealth Writers Prize 2009, and was on the longlist for the Orange Prize for Fiction.

She has written several short stories over the years and one of them, “Our House Stands in a City of Flowers”, won the Hyphen Asian American Short Story in 2007.

A full-time writer, Preeta (above) moved to France with her husband in 2006.

It took 14 years for Preeta to come out with her second novel, “Tale of the Dreamer's Son”, which will be available at all major bookstores soon.

While she completed her book in 2017, Preeta only managed to get it published this year.

Asked why it took so long, Preeta told Malaysiakini, “There is no good answer really. I just write slowly. I had two kids in the meanwhile.”

Preeta said that her short stories and novels are not related in any way.

“They are different projects that I was working on at the same time. The short stories were side projects… It is good to have stuff that I could finish,” Preeta explained.

Accolades for her first novel

Her first novel, “Evening Is The Whole Day”, won a lot of accolades. Asked if having a well-received debut novel put added pressure on her when writing her second novel, Preeta admitted, “Not consciously while I was working on it.

“I don’t know about it subconsciously. Now that it has come out, maybe in some way. In some ways, this is a very different book.

"I am very proud of it and I think is a better book. I am just worried that people who loved the first book will be expecting something similar and they will be disappointed,” she said.

“Evening Is The Whole Day” revolves around an affluent Malaysian Tamil family in Ipoh and the secrets they try to hide.

The story worked because it is the kind of story you would have heard about someone in your family or neighbourhood and made the book relatable. Real-life incidents such as May 13 provided some of the backdrops.

“Tale of the Dreamer's Son”, on the other hand, is set in two places in two different eras.

“It has two storylines. One is set in the Cameron Highlands in the 1970s and 1980s. The second one is the modern-day storyline that takes place now in Kuala Lumpur. It is about a character looking back on his childhood and also looking at his current life now.”

Preeta said it was not hard for her to switch back and forth in terms of timelines because she also tends to live a little in the past.

“Childhood memories are very important to me. The past is very vivid to me. It is natural and inevitable, I can’t even control it.

"As I go about my daily life, the past is very present to me. For me, it is more difficult to write something that is grounded in the present without this past that is always there colouring it,” Preeta elaborated.

The incidents that took place on May 13, 1969, play a part in both her first book, “Evening Is The Whole Day” and her second novel, “Tale of the Dreamer's Son”.

“May 13 is the point of departure for this book. In a way, it set everything in motion. This story is book-ended by two political events,” she said.

One of these events was Operation Lalang (Ops Lalang), which took place in 1987.

Preeta said that shortly after “Evening Is The Whole Day” was published, she wanted to write a trilogy.

The books will focus on May 13, Ops Lalang and a third major incident which will be revealed later.

“‘Tale of the Dreamer's Son’ is based on a hypothetical situation that never really happened in Malaysia. It is someone who founded a neutral movement that brings together Malaysians and all communities.

"What if somebody tried to take this other path after May 13? I suppose by exploring this fictional hypothetical solution, it makes us question what we did instead,” Preeta explained.

Working on her third novel

Preeta is already working on her third novel and has been very active on social media - often expressing her views on Malaysian politics and news-making events. She has even been banned from Facebook a few times.

She said what takes place in Malaysia still matters to her because she cares about the communities and people she left behind, such as family and friends. She grew up in Malaysia and spent her formative years here and still keeps in close contact with people in Malaysia.

“I think I am less invested now in party politics and government policies. I am more invested in people's stories,” she said.

As for whom her characters are inspired by, Preeta said, “I think that there will be a little bit of us in every character. It is a combination of your imagination, your experiences and the people that you have encountered.

“Once again, it is not a conscious thing. We have no control over what stays in our memory.”

Preeta had encountered people who assume that she based characters in the first book on herself and her family. She felt it was something that is expected, especially when it comes to first novels.

While some authors may lament the fact that they are not getting enough exposure locally, Preeta said there are more platforms to nurture local literary talent now, compared to when she started.

“For a small country, I am quite impressed by the amount of stuff that people are trying to do,” she noted.

Preeta will be promoting her book in Southeast Asia from late October to early November in Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and Penang.

She will also be speaking at the prestigious Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (Oct 27 to Oct 30) in Bali, Indonesia.

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