WILL DEAN: THE ALLURE OF INDENTICAL TWINS

Scientists are fascinated by identical twins. They make up less than half a percent of the world’s population but they are invaluable to researchers. Writers share this interest, and I am no exception. To explore the psychological landscapes of two characters who are identical yet separate is extremely alluring.

Whether it’s the Krays, the twin girls in The Shining, Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s The Double, Romulus and Remus, or the Cheeryble brothers in Nicholas Nickleby, twins are interesting on many levels. How well do they really know each other? Did they have any code or private language as children? Are they closer to each other than to their parents or partners? Does either one resent the other?

First Born came to me as a visual. I saw a sister in London, anxious and introverted. I saw her twin in New York, outgoing and well-travelled. In a way I felt the subtle division between them – the years of unsaid words, the envy, the hurt, the complexity of their sibling relationship. In my mind’s eye I saw Molly, the London twin, receive a phone call from her parents telling her Katie had been found dead in New York. And so I needed to pursue the story. I knew I had to find out what happened. And more important than the what, I needed to understand the why.

I travelled to New York several times to research the landmarks, the smells, the diners, the skies, the souvenir shops, the food carts. I usually write claustrophobic rural landscapes so I took the responsibility to get it right seriously. I want you as a reader to feel like you’re in Manhattan. And, perhaps surprisingly, Manhattan has a claustrophobic feel all of its own. The verticality, the water, the incessant noise. Towards the end of the novel our protagonist feels particularly penned in, being watched, followed, seen.

First Born is part murder mystery part psychological thriller. I relished that mix. It allowed me to build a cast of characters, all of whom are potential suspects, but also to go deep in terms of the psychology of the twins and their inner circle. I aim to drop you into the story, so you feel as if you’re walking down Broadway with Molly, anxious about the traffic and the sirens, or walking through Central Park, intimidated but also invigorated by the energy of the city.

The Last Thing to Burn was dark and intense. First Born is equally dark but it’s far more playful and twisted. I’ve never received so many messages pre-publication as I have with this novel (many of the messages begin with OMG or a colourful expletive). Those reactions make me happy. Fiction can do many things. It can allow us to understand ourselves better, empathise with others, learn, weep, laugh, and sometimes it can provide us with relief. I wanted Molly Raven to take you to unexpected places in unexpected ways. To surprise you and draw you in. To make you question what’s right and wrong. My wife described the book as a rollercoaster with no safety bar. I suspect she’s the one who should be the writer in the family.