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Title: A Beautiful Family
Author: Marilyn Cohen De Villiers
BLURB supplied by the Author
When Johannesburg socialite Brenda
Silverman dies in mysterious circumstance in her palatial, well secured home,
questions are inevitable.
Did she commit suicide? Was it an
accidental drug overdose? Or did her death have something to do with her
husband, Alan?
Alan Silverman is a handsome, charming
businessman with impeccable credentials: a former political activist who fled
South Africa in the 1980s and returned to help build the new democracy; a
loving husband and devoted father; a pillar of Johannesburg’s Jewish community;
and an intimate of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress elite. He is
also a man hiding a terrible secret.
Tracy Jacobs, a young journalist, is
assigned to cover the story but as her investigations start to uncover cracks
in the beautiful Silverman family facade, she finds herself in conflict with
her own community.
Will Brenda’s inquest finally reveal the
truth?
Spanning nearly forty years and three countries
(South Africa, England and Israel), A
Beautiful Family confirms a horrible reality: that “things like that” can
and do happen to people just like us.
INTERVIEW - MARILYN COHEN DE VILLIERS
Hello Marilyn welcome to JeanzBookReadNReview, Could you tell us a little about yourself and how/why you became an Author?
I always did
well in creative writing while at school. I even won a creative writing
competition once in high school. As a
journalist, and later in Public Relations, I’ve always written about hard facts
and real people. So if that makes me a writer, then that is what I am. But I
never considered myself a “creative” writer – a novelist. I also never really
considered even writing a novel. I sometimes used to wonder if I could, but it
wasn’t an ambition of mine, until fairly recently.
Could you try to tell us a little about your book in 20 words or less?
A Beautiful
Family. A family saga set against the backdrop of South Africa’s political
transformation that reveals the hidden side of domestic abuse.
Can you tell us what you are going to be doing next?
I am in the
process of writing a “spin off” of A Beautiful Family. It is entitled “When
Time Fails” and it focuses on the lives of minors character in A Beautiful
Family. While A Beautiful Family deals largely with the South African Jewish
community in Johannesburg, “When Time Fails” is set in rural South Africa and
focuses on the Afrikaans farming community.
Do you have
plans for a new book? Is this book part of a series?
I am in the
process of writing a “spin off” of A Beautiful Family. It is entitled “When
Time Fails” and it focuses on the lives of minors character in A Beautiful
Family. While A Beautiful Family deals largely with the South African Jewish
community in Johannesburg, “When Time Fails” is set in rural South Africa and
focuses on the Afrikaans farming community.
Where do you get
your book plot ideas from?What/Who is your inspiration?
For A Beautiful
Family, I initially wanted to deal with an issue – abuse in the Jewish
community - the characters came later. Why this issue? Because of something our
local Police Station Commander told my husband that had shocked me. I couldn’t
believe what I was hearing. So I started investigating ... and things flowed
from there.
For “When Time
Fails” – I already had most of the characters from A Beautiful Family. I also
had a situation which had arisen in the first book. So this second book has
started from a very different place to the first.
Do you have a
certain routine you have for writing? ie You listen to music, sit in a certain
chair?
No, I write when
I have time – early mornings, weekends, during my lunch hour. I’m finding it
far more difficult to write When Time Fails than I did with A Beautiful Family
largely because preparing A Beautiful Family for publication, and now promoting
it, is eating into my available writing time.
Do you have
anybody read your books and give you reviews before you officially release
them?ie. Your partner, children, friends, reviewers you know?
I gave A
Beautiful Family to several people. The first person I gave it to – a teacher
of creative writing – was very kind, but his criticism resulted in me
completely rewriting it. Then I gave it to another professional editor, and
ended up making quite a few changes based on her input too. I also gave it a
couple of friends whose literary opinion I respect: they said they liked it,
but what else could they say. My one daughter also read it partly because I
wanted her professional opinion as a Social Worker. And my poor husband – a
former journalist who never reads novels – read it twice to check for errors
and typos.
Do you read all
the reviews of your book/books?
A Beautiful
Family has not yet been reviewed. I dare say, I will read them all – and beat
myself up about every negative thing said/implied.
How do you come
up with the Title and Cover Designs for your book/books?Who designed the Cover
of your books?
My cover was
designed by a friend and colleague, a highly literate, experienced graphic
designer. We often discuss books and he had, in fact, read an early version of
A Beautiful Family (I wanted to see if a man would also read it or if it was
‘chicklit’). He understood exactly what I was trying to convey; he really
understood my characters and he captured the essence of the novel absolutely
brilliantly.
Do you choose a
title first, or write the book then choose the title?
Book first.
Title came later.
How do you come
up with characters names and place names in your books?
Characters names
just have to fit with their demographic. I actually googled some to see if
there was anyone else with the same name living in the same area. If there was,
I changed the name.
Do you basic
plot/plan for your book, before you actually begin writing it out? Or do you
let the writing flow and see where it takes the story?
I know where I
am going. In other words, I know how the book is going to end when I start
writing. But it’s amazing the number of twists and turns that present
themselves along the way.
Have you ever
based characters on people you know or based events on things that have
happened to you?
Characters are
not based on specific people I know – although I borrow from some general
characteristics of people I have met. My books contain a lot of historically
accurate events; and some of the little incidents that happen to some
characters also have a basis in fact – things I have heard, or read about – or,
as a former journalist – even written about.
What is your
favourite book and Why? Have you read it more than once?
I used to read
some books over and over again when I was a lot younger and had more time:
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott; Exodus by Leon Uris; The Fountainhead and We
The Living by Ayn Rand – come to mind. Nowadays, I don’t have nearly enough
time to read everything that is out there so no, I haven’t re-read any books
for years.
Do you think
ebooks will ever totally replace printed books?
I hope not. But
having self-published my own book, I realise the cost of printing books is
extremely high. It may not make economic sense to print books in future, with
the exception of children’s books and coffee table books.
Did you read a
lot at school and write lots of stories or is being a writer something newer in
your life?
I read lots and
lots of anything and everything when I was at school; but I didn’t write much
beyond what was required of me.
Do you have a
treasured book from your childhood? If yes, what is it?
An illustrated,
abridged version of Little Women which I won as a prize for writing
(handwriting) in Grade 1.
Is there a book
you know you will never read? Or one you tried to read but just couldn't
finish?
I won “War and
Peace” when I was in Standard 9. I have never managed to get past the table of
characters.
If you could
invite three favourite writers to dinner, who would you invite and enjoy
chatting with?
Where can
readers follow you?
Blog: http://marilyncohendevilliers.wordpress.com/
Facebook page:www.facebook.com/pages/marilyncohendevilliers
Goodreads author
page: still under construction
Amazon: A
Beautiful Family is available on Amazon as a print book and for kindle
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