Congraulations to writethismoment.com subscriber, Mark V Burrows (Mark Vivian), on the publication of his novel The Marsh Man. Mark, an experienced freelance contributor to Francophile magazines, especially on articles featuring The Vendee, tells us more about the novel and how the story came about:

The Marsh Man seed was first planted during a stroll through the southern Vendee`s saltwater marshes, not far from where we owned a holiday home. An enthusiast of supernatural tales, my wife Gill asked me to imagine a gruesome spectre emerging from the water at night. She then suggested I write a short story entitled The Marsh Man. I pictured the spectre, and was hooked on the idea despite my relative unfamiliarity with this genre, and my scepticism of all things supernatural. However the challenge seemed irresistible, I`ve enjoyed the occasional “ghost” story and horror film, and my imagination began to envisage plots and scenarios over subsequent days.

Opting to shift the location to the greater expanse of the Breton Marshes in the northern Vendee, I decided to incorporate another feature of the local landscape – the abundant Neolithic monuments. To enhance the bleakness of the marshes, as well as the strength of local folklore and superstition, I opted to roll back the time to the end of the 19th century.

Having written the original short story as the diary entries of key character Percival Nudd, it became apparent that any chance of publication would be increased by extension into a novel. Psychology rather than stock supernature had already permeated the original: disintegration of Nudd`s mind was documented, and ambiguity surrounding possible supernatural components was established. Taking this further I decided to extend the story by installing Nudd in a lunatic asylum and focusing on the robust, if complex, personality types of additional characters. The hypocrisy of the age is gladly exposed, depicting the extreme privations, exploitation and promiscuity behind the masquerading of stiff upper lip and bogus Christian morality.

Superficially this is a supernatural tale. Arguably The Marsh Man is an historical crime story, with the reader drawn to determine the solutions. Most of all, this is a story of human folly. Disturbing and comic by turns, it depicts the vulnerable and the ruthless, and the downfall of the overambitious.

In many ways this story is also a tribute to the Vendee`s coastal region, which is also swathed with tracts of evergreen forest that help bind the sand dunes in place. The main focus of attention in the novel is on the night time marais salants – bleak, haunting, and perhaps not somewhere to be roaming after sundown.

The Marsh Man, Mark Vivian, is available from 16th November published by Olympia Publishers. The ISBN number is 9781848970281
The Cover Painting, “The Marsh Man” is by the artist Jacqui Sieger.

WTM: I’m sure you’ll agree, that this sounds fascinating and Mark’s novel will definitely be on our reading list. We wish Mark great success. For more information about The Marsh Man, check out his publisher’s page at: http://www.olympiapublishers.com/product_info.php?cPath=33&products_id=142

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