Interview with Peter Tremayne
Peter Tremayne is the pseudonym of Peter Berresford Ellis, a known and respected expert on Celtics. In 1993 he started writing crime novels and published 18 novels so far. His investigator is an Irish nun solving crimes in 7th century Ireland. We talked about Celts, Sister Fidelma and Miss Marple.
1) How much of the characters and their development was planned, when you wrote the first book about Fidelma?
I have to admit that the characters of Fidelma and Eadulf and their development were not at all planned – they just developed naturally and have continued to do so throughout the series. They are both real characters to me and I know instinctively how each will behave in a given situation. It is the differences in their characters that dictate how they develop with their conflicts and contributes to the attraction between them.
2) When you wrote the first Fidelma Mystery, was it planned to write more of them or did you just want to write this one?
I wrote one short story in 1993 and had no thought beyond that story. Yet, even before it was published, some other editors asked me if I had other stories featuring Fidelma. By the end of 1993 four short stories had been published in various anthologies. I still had no thoughts to extend these stories into a novel form. After the short stories appeared, a publisher asked me if I could do. I wrote Absolution By Murder. Even when I was asked to sign a contract to write two more novels, I had no idea that by 2008 there would be 17 novels and two short story collections published, let alone they would be such a success, being translated into 18 languages, audio books, broadcast as plays, and optioned for developing as a television series. So there was no planning at all. I was the most surprised person of all!
3) I know you are an expert on Celtic History - why did you choose ancient Ireland as setting of the Fidelma Mysteries? Why not Scotland, for example?
The original short story was to demonstrate how the ancient Irish law system, the Brehon Laws, would work, showing the role of women in ancient Irish society and in the Early Irish Church. So there was no question of making a `choice’ about the setting.
4) Have you always been interested in Celtic History? Or what was it that fascinated - and probably still fascinates - you?
My father came from Cork in Ireland, although I was born in England, where he was working as a journalist. My grandmother, on my mother’s side, was from a Breton family. I grew up surrounded by Irish, Breton, Welsh and Scots uncles, aunts and cousins. That is probably why I was interested in matters Celtic as a child and took my degrees in Celtic Studies. I have published many non-fiction studies (under my own name - Peter Berresford Ellis) on aspects of Celtic history and culture. The research that I have done over the years – I am now approaching 66 years of age – have been put to good use in the background of the books. I still do quite a bit of revision in research and Fidelma is totally constricted in her legal actions by obedience to the Irish laws and social system of the 7th Century. I cannot allow her to do anything that is anachronistic.
5) How did the Irish and the Saxon culture differ in 7th century concerning women? Sister Fidelma is well respected in Irish society, even has the rank of a dalaigh. But as soon as she leaves Ireland she always has to fight to get the respect she deserves. Was the Irish society really that modern?
It is an interesting point that history tends to be cyclical. We don’t get more `civilised’ in turns of philosophy, we just develop advanced tools, better ways of slaughtering each other … that’s not `civilisation’ and progress. We have, in many ways, come round in a circle where we have readopted the concepts we once had. I am not saying that the Irish were unique, far from it. But it is lucky we have documentary evidence of their society at this period. The Brehon Laws’ first known codification was in AD 438. So, whoever wants to question the portrayal of that society, need only go to the texts of the Irish laws and study them for themselves.
6) Are there any historical role models for Sister Fidelma or Brother Eadulf?
Again, I base everything on the ancient Irish texts. Fidelma is a combination of many role models, women from Irish myths, some of the great female Irish church leaders of the time, and indeed, many secular Irish women that we know from the texts. There was a female judge named Bríg Bruigaid famous for correcting a male judge who issued a wrong judgement on women’s rights. There was a female lawyer named Dar-í from the 7th Century and Fidelma’s own area who wrote a law text. We could argue that the first feminist history in Europe survives from Ireland, the first known copy being from the 11th Century, called the Banshenchus (History of Women) which mentions many fascinating Irish women and their contribution during the first millennium of the Christian epoch. The fascinating part played by women in Celtic society generally was a subject of my non-fiction study Celtic Women: Women in Celtic Society and Literature (1995).
7) Do you think historical Ireland is better suited for crime novels than other countries or times? If so, why?
I think that crime fiction can be set in any country and at any time. The basic causes of crime do not vary in motivation of the criminal from culture to culture. All human beings are motivated by the same dynamics which drive them to crime be it in Iceland or in Japan.
8 ) What’s more important to you: To write historically correct or to write entertaining and thrilling?
As I mentioned, the first short story was to demonstrate how Irish law operated in the 7th Century. It came about this way: in 1985 I was lecturing at St Michael’s College, University of Toronto, about Early Irish law, women in society and the Early Irish Church. It was about the time that Umberto Eco’s famous Il Nome della Rosa had just been translated into English but before the famous movie with Sean Connery. One of my students suggested that the background of what I was talking about would make a good murder mystery background. It was not until 1993 that I took up this idea. So you could say that the first story meant that the background was important and the accuracy of that background remains important.
9) The first Fidelma Mystery “Absolution by Murder” is set at the time of the synod in Whitby in 664. Did the transition from pre-Christian religion(s) to Christianity take parallel courses in Ireland and England? What caused the transition, have there been any significant events that brought it forward?
No, Christianity developed differently in Ireland and the Anglo-Saxons kingdoms. It seemed a much easier development in the `Celtic’ areas like Ireland based on their pre-Christian philosophies. It would take a long time to explain this unless you are prepared to publish an entire book and not an interview.
10) Through all the Fidelma Mysteries there’s a conflict between the ancient beliefs and Christianity. In “Dancing with Demons” the devotees of ancient beliefs even kill the high king to destroy all the Christians in Ireland. How long did it take until Christianity was established?
That is a good point to make. Dancing with Demons was inspired by the references to the one curious aberration in Irish tales when a High King called Tigernmas (literally `lord of death) set up his own religion, worshipping an idol. In fact, the story goes that it was the Druids who destroyed him and returned peace to the country. I developed this Tigernmas as a theme in the book. Well, can we say that the pre-Christian ideas of Druids have not been totally lost in the Celtic lands. Many of the `Christian’ rituals and concepts go back to pre-Christian ideas.
11) Why did you choose a woman as “detective”?
Once again, it was because I wanted to demonstrate the role of women in 7th Century Ireland, the fact that there were women lawyers and, indeed, women could aspire to all the professional roles on an equal level with them – they could be lawyers, doctors, poets, even chieftains of their clans, although there is only one woman who appears in the lists of the High Kings of Ireland. It is often overlooked that women were particularly prominent as leaders of the Early Irish Church.
12) Some people call Fidelma “Miss Marple in a nun’s habit”. Do you also see her in Miss Marple’s succession or did you even want to make her a bit like Agatha Christie’s investigator?
Oh dear. Fidelma as Miss Marple! I think she is probably the very antithesis of Miss Marple. If people see Fidelma as a Miss Marple figure than I am doing something very wrong and should retire from writing. I would not consider she was remotely like Agatha Christie’s investigator. I suspect it means that people have not read the books or just wanted a quick `sound bite’ label.
13) In your opinion: What is essential for a good crime novel? What is essential for a good investigator and for the success of a series of crime novels?
I think I am the last person to ask this question. Just think about it. If I had sat down and planned to write a successful international best-selling series of crime novels, would I have even begun to write the Fidelma series? Imagine going into a publisher and saying, I want to write a series of detective stories but they will feature a woman who is a religious but in a culture where they could marry, in a time period 7th Century Ireland which no one generally knows about, with names hardly anyone can pronounce, with the protagonists governed by a law system that no one knows about outside of the Celtic Studies departments of Irish Universities, … well, at that stage, I am sure the publisher would have shown me the door. Yet they became successful. The success of the series has been phenomenal and I still can’t understand why.
14) Do you currently write a new mystery? What are your plans for the Sister Fidelma Mysteries? Will they continue?
Yes – I am currently working on a new Fidelma novel, which is shortly to be delivered to my publishers in London and also New York. The title is The Dove of Death. After this, I am contracted to write one more Fidelma novel, which would bring the series up to 21 titles. After that, who knows? I suppose my one remaining ambition for the series, is to see them made as a television series or a film. At the moment, they are under option to Skytones Ltd of Dublin. So, perhaps one day…
Thank you very much for the interview.