SCOTTISH author Ian Rankin explained why the death of his mother when he was just a teenager may have led him to his most famous character from his bestselling Rebus novels.
During an interview with BBC Scotland News Rankin spoke about how his mother, Isobel, became ill just two weeks after he left the family home in Fife at the age of 19 to study at the University of Edinburgh.
He remembers her as a “lovely wee mum” as she died just 10 months after he left home having never been formally diagnosed.
“It was a tough time and the stuff I was writing got very dark as a result of that and maybe that was the start of the journey that would lead to me writing quite dark police novels about Edinburgh,” he told the BBC.
READ MORE: GB Energy to be headquartered in Aberdeen, Keir Starmer confirms
The author said he split his time between his hometown in Cardenden and in Edinburgh where he was “pretending to be bohemian”.
He said: “I was smoking Gauloises cigarettes and reciting bad poetry that I wrote and then I would jump on the train and go back to Cardenden and watch my mum deteriorating.”
Writing helped him cope with the death of his mother as he said it helped him try and answer some of the biggest questions about the world we live in.
“Humanity seems a wee bit bleak to you when that sort of stuff happens and you think where is God in all this, nowhere to be seen," he said.
“[With crime fiction] you are looking at the human condition, you're trying to answer some very big questions about the way the world is and the way human beings are so it is possible that my mum dying got me thinking in those terms.”
Rankins's father, Jim, died 10 years after his mother and saw him become a published author but didn’t get to see him rise to the heights of writing fame that he’s achieved.
The Edinburgh-based author has sold more than 35 million copies of his John Rebus series and is about to release his 25th book, Midnight and Blue, as he said he has no thoughts of slowing down anytime soon.
Translated into 36 languages, Rebus is enjoyed by thriller fans across the world, but the 64-year-old said writing hasn’t gotten any easier for him despite his long and successful career.
“I am living the dream, but it doesn't make the books any easier to write,” he said.
“I was under the impression the more you wrote the easier it would be, but it seems to get harder as you get older.”
Midnight and Blue is expected to be released on October 10.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here