In your own words, could you give us a brief overview of The Dead Don't Bleed?
This is mainly Frank's story, detailing his struggle to escape a savage, paternal upbringing in the ganglands of the Northeast in the 1970's, against a backdrop of industrial decay and mindless violence. His younger brother Gordon escapes first with the proceeds of a botched robbery and hides out in Spain. Many years later, Frank travels there to find him, to give him the news that their father is dead and their empire of violence is over. He hopes that this might bring about a reconciliation finally, and heal the family rift, but what starts out as a mercy mission, descends into recrimination, suspicion and eventually, tragic violence.
The Dead Don't Bleed is a savage, introspective story about tumultuous sibling relationships over distance and time; what inspired you to write a story with two distinct locations, Newcastle and Spain?
Well, they say, write about what you know (though some say the opposite!) I was brought up in Newcastle in the 70's so this world is part of my DNA. It felt natural to set my first novel in this place and time. I've always loved the poetry of Lorca and I wanted his assassination (and his poetry) to be part of the plot somehow, and since I'd travelled a lot in Spain it seemed logical to have my characters end up there. I also quite liked the cliché of the mob hiding out on the Spanish Costas. It has a rich literary and filmic heritage. It's a nod towards films like The Hit, and Sexy Beast.
In terms of building a narrative that feels gritty and real, what kinds of research did you do to illustrate the gangland conflicts that impacted Frank?
I didn't do much research. It's not a research-heavy book- guns and cars perhaps, a bit of motor mechanics, but at its core, it's a narrative about conflict. So, keep that tight, keep the antagonism and the struggle compelling, and it ought to work, regardless of the scenery. The local detail, the language, the landscape etc., is like writing from life. I'd be hopeless at fantasy, having to make it all up. It felt as if this came ready-made, to a great extent.
What interests you about sibling relationships and potentially how they change over time?
The two brothers in the novel are the same age as myself and my own brother were when we were growing up in the Northeast, and although our relationship was nothing like theirs, there were always powerful rivalries, jealousies and fights, as there always is. I just wondered how things might logically develop given a different circumstance, how these conflicts might deepen and fester over time. It was certainly the hardest part of the writing process, and it was interesting to find that it developed most effectively through the process of writing dialogue. Although they were close at the start of the book, they soon started baiting each other, and they came into conflict of their own accord, without much interference from me. Soon enough they were at each other's throats and became bitter rivals.
At the beginning of the novel you use a quote by Federico Garcia Lorca. What resonates with you about this quote and why did you choose to set the tone for The Dead Don't Bleed?
As a poet first and foremost, (I've published four collections with Jonathan Cape) I wanted poetry to be a part of the story. Lorca seemed the perfect vehicle for this, living as he did in extremely violent, bloody times. It's also the landscape: the punishing heat, the light, the iconography of blood and death and I liked the way that Lorca's tragic end echoed the end of my novel.
Is there a character in your novel that you were most intrigued by during the writing process, who developed in a way you least expected?
Frank and Gordon were both surprises. As I mentioned above, to a certain extent they had their own ideas about how they wanted to grow. I always wanted Frank to be the more sensitive character, and I wanted Gordon to be his hard-core opposite, but then he began to assert his softer, more sympathetic side. He wasn't wholly a monster. He said, “Hey look mate, I've had a struggle here. I was a nice kid once and these bastards brought me down”. I also have a tender spot for Frank's murdered wife, who is central to everything, but plays almost a walk-on part, right at the end of the book. For me she is the largely unseen, emotional heart of the novel.
