Because more memories were arriving now, dark and angry, and I realized that however much I wanted to be done with the past, what mattered was whether the past was done with me.
Every writer wants their next book to be different from what’s gone before, and I’m no different. But I think we all inevitably have our preoccupations – the subject matter we’ve become fascinated by over the years and keep returning to, and which may even be part of the reason we’re driven to write in the first place.
It can sometimes be very specific things, but it’s often to do with theme, and one of my preoccupations as a writer has always been characters dealing with an unresolved event in their past. A part of their history that, despite their best efforts to avoid or forget it, is still unfolding.
And I think this line here is probably the most straightforward statement of that interest I’ve ever made. You try for nuance, of course, but sometimes bluntness is just the best way forward. So: here the past is personified. You might believe you’ve made your peace with it and that there are no hard feelings – but that doesn’t mean the feeling is reciprocated. Life, like people, can seem to hold grudges, and the repercussions from the things you’ve done are always waiting for you. Just as they’re waiting for Paul here.
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