Andrew Michael Hurley: On Diving Into the Horror of Bereavement
Andrew Michael Hurley is based in Lancashire. His first novel, The Loney, was published in 20 languages, and won the Costa Best First Novel Award and the Book of the Year at the British Book Industry Awards. Devil’s Day, his second novel, was picked as a Book of the Year in five newspapers and won the Encore Award.
Andrew Michael Hurley (copyright Hal Shinnie)
In this post, Hurley shares how setting inspired his most recent novel, how there are actually two versions, and more.
Name: Andrew Michael Hurley
Literary agent: Lucy Luck, Conville & Walsh, London, UK
Book title: Starve Acre
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Release date: July 4, 2023
Genre/category: Literary Horror
Previous titles: The Lonely, Devil’s Day
Elevator pitch for the book: Richard and Juliette Willoughby are struggling to come to terms with the sudden death of their five-year-old son, Ewan, and begin to rely on the supernatural to explain what has happened. Local folklore connected with the field called Starve Acre seems to provide the answers.
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What prompted you to write this book?
As with my two previous novels, it was the setting that first inspired me. Looking through a reference book called “English Field Names” I came across one called “Starve Acre” in Yorkshire. That a field could have acquired a name like that, I found fascinating and began to imagine the story that explained what had happened there.
I wanted to write about the process of grief too and so the unnaturalness of the landscape seemed a perfect place in which to explore Ewan’s strange premature death.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
It’s a short novel and so I wrote it relatively quickly. From the first idea to publication took about 20 months. The core theme about the complexities of grief remained the same throughout. It felt such a rich and interesting situation for the characters to deal with.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
There are actually two versions of Starve Acre. The book was first commissioned by Dead Ink books in Liverpool as a horror novel in the style of 1970s pulp fiction. I wrote this under a pseudonym, which was great fun as I could write in a different kind of voice and pay homage to a genre that I adored growing up.
But in the mainstream literary John Murray edition, the horror was more psychological, which required some re-writing and a deeper interrogation of the damage grief can inflict on the mind.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
Many! As with every novel. But I guess the main surprise for me was how the character of Richard developed.
In the story, he starts off being very cynical of Juliette’s claims that she can still feel Ewan’s presence in the house and is even more skeptical of the group of occultists called The Beacons who offer to help her make contact. It’s his feeling that they will only prolong her suffering.
Yet, he witnesses something he can’t explain and—in his own way—begins to find hope in the uncanny himself.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
Juliette and Richard’s desperation to find meaning in the midst of their bereavement is based on personal experience, and I’m sure that readers who have also gone through grief will recognize that search for a way out of what seems like a never-ending psychosis.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
It’s OK not to know what you’re doing. That’s how we learn the most.
While there’s no shortage of writing advice, it’s often scattered around—a piece of advice here, words of wisdom there. And in the moments when you most need writing advice, what you find might not resonate with you or speak to the issue you’re dealing with. In A Year of Writing Advice, the editors of Writer’s Digest have gathered thoughts, musings, and yes, advice from 365 authors in dozens of genres to help you on your writing journey.