The Man Who Never Was is a moving novel that strikes to the heart of parents. In this Q&A, author Douglas Kruger chats about making the move from finance- to fiction writing, where he got the idea for the novel and a parent’s sacrifice.
Many people know you as a prolific writer of books on finance. Did you always know there was some fiction in you, too?
Fiction was always my first love. I recall being nine years old and staring with wonder at the darkly promising covers of Stephen King books in the old CNA on Goldman Street, Florida. My parents had strong reservations about the man, but loved the idea of me reading, and eventually I wore them down. The first full-length novel I ever read was Misery. They now tell people that this fact explains a great many things about me today… From King, I moved on to authors like James Michener, Leon Uris and Paul Gallico. Prior to writing my first non-fiction book, I did actually try my hand at writing a novel. Three times, if memory serves, in my late teens and early twenties. I cringe when I review those manuscripts now, but I’m glad I wrote them. There are no shortcuts in learning this craft.
How is the writing of fiction different from non-fiction?
Surprisingly, there is a good deal of overlap. Take the simple notion of ’tension.’ Good fiction should maintain a narrative tension that leads the reader ever onward in their quest for answers. Good non-fiction should do the same: laying traps, massaging expectations, teasing with the possibility of answers, until all is finally revealed. I generally incorporated a great deal of storytelling into my non-fiction as well, so perhaps the divide is not as great as it first appears.
“Many parents would be willing to lay down their own lives for the life of their child. People have done so before, all through history.”
Where did you get the idea for The Man Who Never Was?
The entire thrust of this story – the big idea underpinning it – is in the ending. That was where I started. The idea for the ending popped into my mind just about fully formed, and then I had to work backwards, setting up the circumstances leading up to that climax. It’s a bit of a mind-bender of a story, requiring some careful plotting of circumstances. I’ll also add that it was wracking to write this one. Once I had an idea of the landscape of the book, it hit me just how demanding it would be to live in that story for the time it took to complete it. It’s a moving tale and it hits close to home. Ultimately, I decided that not writing it was simply not an option. The idea demanded its chance at life.
You have children yourself. Where does a parent stop and a child’s own experience and responsibility start?
What an interesting question. And that’s the crux of this story, taken to the nth degree. After a long process of parenting, there comes a time when a parent must hand over accountability for the life of the child to that child. That’s just healthy. But it applies only under ordinary circumstances. What happens if the circumstances are anything but? Many parents would be willing to lay down their own lives for the life of their child. People have done so before, all through history. But this story takes the question a step further: If it truly mattered in the life of your child, could you never have existed in the first place? I like to think this theme, and the strange questions it generates, will stay with readers for a long while after they turn that last surprising page.
The Man who Never Was is out now. Read an extract.
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