It’s a choice…just like any other in life. This is the opening line to my debut novel, The Life I Owe Her (out now in paperback or Kindle e-book).
These words lay the foundations on which the story of Ava and Sylvie sits: a moral dilemma. And who doesn’t love a moral dilemma to sink your teeth into? One of my sons’ favourite books is called ‘Would You Rather’. I’d highly recommend it to kill some time with young children – or adults for that matter. It prompts you to decide the respective merits of choosing between such life-changing decisions as:
Would you rather be a moth or a myth?
Would you rather have to sleep in a skip for a week or skip a week’s sleep?
Gets you thinking, doesn’t it?
The moral dilemma faced by Ava within the pages of The Life I Owe Her is, arguably, a bit ‘darker’ – What if you’re compelled to repay the best friend who saved your life, but the only thing she needs is one of your children?
It’s a tough one, yes? But, if I think back through some of my all-time favourite stories, it’s quite telling just how many have a tough moral dilemma at their heart. Let’s start with the childhood classics: Little Red Riding Hood is told by her mother to stick to the path on her way to Grandma’s but she’s faced with an overwhelming dilemma when she sees some beautiful flowers, ripe for the picking. Does she play it safe, or chance it for the reward?
A little later in life, the moment I discovered Liane Moriarty’s books was the day I was inspired to write The Life I Owe Her. Moriarty is a master in the art of the moral dilemma and never more so than in The Husband’s Secret. If, like Cecilia, you were to find a hidden note saying: For my wife, only to be opened in the event of my death when your spouse was very much alive and kicking, what would you do? No, really, what WOULD you do?
Then there’s the whole territory of time-travel and tampering with our predestined future. That can really mess with your mind long into the wee small hours. Take the stunning The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffeneggerfor example. If you fancy a bit of Back to the Future, with more tears and less Doc Brown, this one’s for you!
So, just what is it about a moral dilemma that keeps us turning the pages? In my humble opinion it all boils down to the human instinct of fight or flight. We love to sit around in book clubs discussing whether we would take road A or road B. On some level it helps us prepare, theoretically, for the day that we may actually face some hideous choice for real. The day we must fight or take flight to protect what we hold dear.
And the second reason is a little darker but can’t be avoided. Every single one of us has a slightly different moral belief system – based on everyone and everything we have encountered in our lives so far. This informs all our actions, even the subconscious ones.
I also believe that none of us knows exactly how we would react to an extreme dilemma until we are actually there, in the moment, living it viscerally. Especially when it relates to those we love with all of our hearts. And, to an extent, that is the job of a writer. To immerse our readers in a situation – albeit a fictional one – so completely, that they feel like they are living through it themselves.
Anyone who is a parent or has had a special friendship (or both) knows just how powerful these relationships are in defining us as humans. And that’s why they felt like the obvious themes for me to explore in my debut novel. I’d love you to read it – in paperback or e-book here. I’d really love you to tell me what you thought of it here and I would be honoured if I could keep in touch with you through my newsletter which you can subscribe to here.
Thanks so much for inviting me into your precious reading lives.
Allison. xx
