UKYA Spotlight: Clare Owen, author of Zed and the Cormorants - Q&A with Holly Race

Clare Owen's debut novel, Zed and the Cormorants, is released on 29th April - just four days' time! It's a gorgeously evocative story set in Cornwall, full of loving but messed up families, ghosts and warm bread rolls. Clare kindly agreed to chat to me about her inspiration, her thoughts about YA as a genre and what she's working on next...

Please also enjoy some of the stunning illustrations by Sally Atkins, which can be seen in the book.

Hi Clare! To start us off, could you tell us a bit about the story of Zed and the Cormorants?

Zed moves from London to Cornwall with her family. Her dad is convinced that a fresh start and a simpler lifestyle will improve their mother’s mental health and stop her sister Amy going off the rails, but Zed is riddled with anxiety about starting a new school and really misses the friends she’s left behind, particularly her best friend for whom she has quite confusing feelings.

Their new home is very isolated and the few neighbours they do have, won’t go near the boathouse down on the river. Then one night during a storm, Zed is attacked by a flock of cormorants and soon after things start to go very wrong for her family and the local community.  She begins to piece together a local story of love, loss and revenge but can she find a way to appease her tormentors? And in the process face her biggest fears?

It’s a book that defies genre - part ghost story, part contemporary drama that delves into some pretty dark issues, and partly an environmental fairytale. What inspired you to bring those different elements together?

I didn’t set out to defy any genres, I just wanted to write a compelling story with a nuanced young woman at the heart of it.  Most of us have to deal with ‘dark issues’ at some time or another and I don’t think Zed is particularly unusual in having a family all struggle in different ways and therefore aren’t always able to give her the support that she needs. The more gothic elements of the story took me a little by surprise if I’m honest, because I’m much more drawn to contemporary dramas in my own reading, but I did grow up reading novels like Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights which are full of emotionally wrought characters in isolating circumstances and often have some kind of ‘haunting’ in the background! 

The Cornish landscape is a huge part of the novel: is that part of the country very close to your heart?

Yes, I live in on a river estuary in Cornwall and my daily dog walk is where the story began to take shape. I haven’t always lived here though, and I think growing up in a city allowed me to really appreciate the beauty of the place and understand the value of the ‘headspace’ that living somewhere rural can offer you. That might not be welcome if your head is filled with anxiety, confusion and fear but if – as Zed does - you can find a way to live in harmony with the natural world; to respect it and stop trying to destroy it, I think it can help you find a bit of peace and positivity too. 

Do you have any tips to writers who are unsure about how far you can go in YA when exploring those darker issues?

Well, the first question here is what is YA? Is it an age group or is it a genre?  And even if we go with an age group there is a big difference between a 13-year-old at one end of the teenage spectrum and a 19-year-old at the other!  Generally, I don’t think anything is out of bounds as long as it is dealt with sensitively and its primary purpose is to serve the narrative. If it’s just there to shock for its own sake, then I’m less interested.  And if there is even a whiff of you trying to work through your own demons, then write by all means – I’m a huge believer in writing as therapy – but maybe it’s better, for the time being, to keep that separate from your fiction.

What are you working on at the moment? Will we be seeing Zed again?

Last year I wrote lots of short stories and I’m actually working on a novel for adults at the moment, mostly from the point of view of an eighty-year-old man, so there’s not a hint of teenage angst! As for a follow up to this book, I’ve found myself thinking a lot about Suki, why she left Cornwall and what coming home might mean for her, Denzil and Tamsin. Zed would definitely have a part to play in that story.

I would love to read more about Suki! She's such a great character.

What are you reading at the moment? Any recent recommendations?

I think everyone should read Liz Kessler’s When the World Was Ours which came out last year. It doesn’t at any point shy away from the horror of what went on at the hands of the Nazis but the compassion and friendship at the heart of the book is such a strong force, it balances out the brutality and loss.  And it’s so relevant to young people today: the rise of extreme right-wing views and refugees needing a safe haven are very much contemporary issues playing out all over the world. I haven’t cried like that for ages, but they were tears of joy, not despair.

Duly added to my TBR list! Finally, which actors would you love to play Zed, Amy and Mum and Dad in a screen adaptation of the book?

I actually think it lends itself to a stylised animation – along the lines of Studio Ghibli (especially since cormorants are very familiar birds in Japanese culture and mythology) but if I had to cast a film I’d have Tom Hollander for Dad, Gina McKee as Mum and maybe someone like Brooke Norbury for Zed and Raffiella Chapman - with a super straight blue/black wig - for Amy.

You're so right, an animated adaptation would be perfect! Clare, thank you so much. Very best of luck for the launch of Zed and the Cormorants. You can find out more about Clare here and order Zed here.

Holly worked for many years as a script editor in film and television, before becoming a writer.

Her debut novel, Midnight's Twins, is published by Hot Key Books. Its sequel, A Gathering Midnight, will be released in June 2021. She also selectively undertakes freelance script editing and story consultant work.

www.hollyrace.com

www.patreon.com/hollyracewriting