Cauvery Madhavan’s hit novel The Inheritance is set in West Cork and readers will recognise much-loved attractions in the story – even The Southern Star, writes CAMMY HARLEY.
THE Inheritance is a book set on the Beara Peninsula and is taking West Cork by storm, selling like hot cakes.
Not only is The Inheritance a layered and thoroughly absorbing novel, but there is the added comfort of reading about familiar areas such as the Blue Pool, Garinish, Dursey Island, and the Glengarriff Woods in a story setting.
Having local places and businesses such as Organico, the Westlodge Hotel, and The Southern Star woven into a well-structured plot makes it a most entertaining novel.
The author, Cauvery Madhavan, was born in India and moved to Ireland 37 years ago. Her previous books Paddy Indian and The Uncoupling were published to critical acclaim and her last novel, The Tainted was chosen by Sebastian Barry for his Laureate Picks 2020.
A very keen golfer and cook, Cauvery lives with her husband in Kildare and has a lovely little cottage deep in the Glengarriff Woods, which was part of the inspiration for the novel and was also the basis of the main character, Marlo’s home.
Steps on one of the paths in the magical Glengarriff Woods. Cauvery Madhavan has a cottage deep in the woods.
In the past, Cauvery did travel writing for about 15 years and that experience has not only taken her to some very interesting places, but has also given her a keen skill of being able to capture a sense of place, which in this case, has brought the rich landscape of Beara, and its history of conflict and resistance, alive for the reader.
‘Every geographical detail is literal. I haven’t deviated from the truth at all and every turn in every road I mentioned from Dursey to the Big Meadow is real. I haven’t made up anything in terms of geography. It’s all exactly how it is.’
Cauvery says she is a very slow writer and prefers to write in the mornings.
‘I tend to write in the early morning and write up to about lunchtime. Then I take my writing to bed with me and edit as I go. I can’t bear to move on if I feel that there’s something needs to be attended to. If I write two pages a day it’s amazing because I’m very slow.’
That level of attentiveness shows in the story and in its gentle and careful unfolding of the characters’ lives.
The personalities are all so unique that reading about them feels like getting to know a real friend, and that the more you are entrusted with their backstories, the more you like them and want things to work out for them.
On getting the idea for the novel, Cauvery said: ‘About 22 years ago, I heard someone in passing at a kitchen table mention about a child they knew that went on a bus, back and forth, on a long journey every day just to give the family some respite. It was a passing remark but it struck me that back then, there was very little help or support outside of the family, and I wanted to write that into a character. And then in 2002, when they did the 400th anniversary re-enactment March of O’Sullivan Beare, we had just bought the house in Glengarriff and all the publicity material for it was around at the time, and my interest in the history of it grew and grew and I somehow wanted to combine the two stories.’
The warm-heartedness of the author also shines through onto the page in her careful observation of animals, which feature a lot in the book.
When asked about it, Cauvery said that not only her, but her whole family, loves animals. ‘All my children have huge compassion for animals. My husband is the worst of the lot because he will approach any stray animal on any of our travels in India, Europe or Vietnam and just pick them up. My son is a vet and I see it in him also. There is so much of my son in Marlo too.’
Many other Irish writers have praised The Inheritance.
Sebastian Barry called Cauvery ‘a wonderful writer’ and Donal Ryan said that he absolutely ‘loved the novel’.
Graham Norton endorsed the book by saying it was ‘a story brimful of love and the power of forgiveness’ and said ‘I loved seeing West Cork through Cauvery’s eyes.’
Readers in West Cork can now experience it for themselves!
(Photo: Ger Holland)
