Dorset author Natasha Solomons talks about her inspirations (From Bournemouth Echo)

Dorset author Natasha Solomons talks about her inspirations

9:00am Sunday 21st March 2010 in

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JACK Rosenblum, the hero of Natasha Solomons’ highly acclaimed debut novel, is “five foot three-and-a-half inches of sheer tenacity”.

Natasha’s grandfather, the inspiration for the book, however, was tall, elegant, liked to paint and regularly visited the French Riviera.

“He wouldn’t have approved of Rosenblum,” laughs Natasha. “But Jack would very much like to have been like my grandfather.”

One thing both men shared, though, was a love of the Dorset countryside, particularly the Blackmore Vale, which is where most of the book is set.

“The power of the landscape is very important,” says Natasha, 30, who lives in a cottage in Marnhull with husband, David.

“I grew up in London, but my grandparents had a cottage in Ibberton, and I would come down to Dorset every weekend and every school holiday.

“My first job, aged nine, was minding the sheep on Bulbarrow Hill.”

Mr Rosenblum’s List (Sceptre £12.99) will be launched next weekend with a 1950s-style tea party at Ibberton Village Hall, with footage of the Coronation and, weather permitting, a racing green Jaguar XK120 parked outside.

Natasha then aims to make the Guinness Book of Records with the most visits by an author to book clubs and reading groups, not just in the UK, but Holland, Spain, Germany, even the US and (via Skype) Australia.

“I’ve arranged to visit local book groups, as well as societies up in London,” says Natasha. “I’m available for anyone that will have me, from WI to W1.”

The book tells the story of a man who comes to England in the 1930s as a refugee from Nazi Germany, and his attempts to become the perfect English gentleman.

In order to be properly English, decides Mr Rosenblum, one must play golf… and no club will have him as a member. Not to be deterred, he sets out to build his own course in 60 acres of Dorset countryside. “It’s not about golf,” says Natasha, who doesn’t even play the game.

“That’s simply a metaphor for Englishness, and the desire to be accepted in a new society.”

Although her grandfather, Paul Shields, was the inspiration for the book (it’s dedicated to him, and is being published in the UK on the centenary of his birth), it’s not totally based on real life.

“Although this is the first book I’ve had published, I did write one before. It was very autobiographical… and absolutely dreadful!

“But writing something that failed in every way was the best learning curve. And now I appreciate the delights of writing fiction, the joy of making things up.

“This was a story I really wanted to tell… and also something I would want to read.”

Natasha is studying for a PhD in 18th century poetry, and working with David on a Film 4 adaptation of Mr Rosenblum’s List.

“I remember telling my grandfather, when I was nine, that I wanted to be a writer – even though I struggled with dyslexia.

“I used to come home from school and read him my stories. It sounds odd, but I loved it when I made him cry.

“He died 10 years ago, aged 90, and in his will he left me a writing desk.”

Natasha says her influences are Nathan Englander and Michael Chabon, both Jewish American authors, and the quintessentially English Jane Austen (“Oooh, I just love Jane Austen”).

She also loves the academic world, and “the serendipity of research”.

“For this book I studied life in the ’30s and ’50s, golf course design and the feelings and attitudes of refugees, particularly from Germany and Austria.

“One of the wonderful things about many people from that generation is their sense of humour.

“They always tried to see the funny side.”

David believes the book is very funny, and a fitting tribute.

“Her grandfather had great faith in Natasha,” he says proudly.

“And, through this book, she has repaid that faith.”