Following on from the mega success of her debut novel How To Kill Your Family, Bella Mackie returned with What a Way to Go, a hilarious and suspenseful who-dunnit that follows the aftermath of the death of wealth obsessed Anthony Wistern. As Anthony watches on from the afterlife, he sees his dysfunctional family squabble over their inheritance, as a social media sleuth watches on, intent on revealing the truth of the murder of Wistern. We spoke with Mackie about her writing process.
Cosmo UK: Where did the idea for What a Way to Go come from?
Bella: I wrote What A Way To Go after stumbling upon true crime enthusiasts on social media. I was amazed at how many people seemed to think they were investigating murders without having any connection to the victims. I was fascinated by their utter belief that they could solve a crime rather than the authorities. I began to wonder what it would look like for victims’ families to have an armchair detective dig into their lives.
With the success of your first novel, did you feel a pressure going into writing the second book?
Ha, yes! Although it’s a very nice position to be in, I was absolutely terrified by it. I wrote an entire book with a million different people in my head, trying to please every one of them. Eventually I had to delete the whole thing and rewrite it just for me and my mum (who is always my first reader). I still feel the pressure though, especially since I chose not to write a follow up to How To Kill Your Family, which might’ve been an easier option.
What’s your dream writing set up?
Oh wouldn’t it be nice to have a summer house all to yourself? With French windows looking out over a garden and a dog asleep at my feet. That said, it might be too nice, I might just sit there day dreaming.
And what’s your actual writing set up?
I don’t have a desk or specific space to write, I mainly sit on the floor in front of a small fan heater and hunch over my laptop until my back aches too much and I need to take a break. I’ve always worked on the floor, ever since I was at school and had homework. It’s so stupid, I really need to be more grown up about it.
Why do you think we’re so fascinated with the lives, and sometimes subsequent downfall, of the ultra rich?
It’s an age old thing isn’t it? Millions of people around the world still queue up and pay to visit grand old royal palaces and crown jewels. We recognise the inequality and yet can’t help but gawp. Do we think the ultra rich have something figured out that the rest of us don’t? Do we want to see what life would be like if you had everything you ever wanted? I think it’s escapism to some extent, to watch reality shows about the 1%, passive hate watching if you will. The truth is, I think a majority of the super rich are incredibly dull and almost certainly bored of their own lives too. There’s probably only so many times you can call up the private jet and fly to the Maldives before it’s routine. Succession is a great example of that.
Did you research certain families for inspiration for the novel?
Yes, but I can’t tell you which ones! I was an avid reader of Hello! magazine back in the 90s, which was an odd choice for a kid, and I was always so interested in the minor royals, hangers on and gadflies they covered. I’ve encountered certain people along the way who gave me some inspiration...
Death is often such a difficult subject and yet you approach it in this novel with such humour, how do you manage the balance?
I don’t want to write gritty, dark stories. I want to create worlds which resemble reality but in an exaggerated way, in order to make people laugh. Death is kind of essential to the kind of stories I want to write, but I tried to cover it in the same way I write about the living characters - there’s a lovely artistic license in death. Since none of us know what happens, it’s great fun to make up your own version of it.
What book would you recommend to everyone?
Argh there are so many. Some recents - Long Island by Colm Toibin, The Fraud by Zadie Smith, Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan, Piranesi by Susannah Clarke, and Hamnet by Maggie O’Farell.
