Report of Joanna Cannon discussing The Trouble With Goats and Sheep at Waterstones Liverpool

Posted on 18 March 2016
By Heather Birch
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Tumbling through what feels like Narnia, author Joanna Cannon, sheds some light on the stresses, strains and excitement that followed the unbelievable success of her debut novel The Trouble with Goats and Sheep.

Waking at 3am most mornings and walking her dogs before getting ready for her day job as a psychiatrist, Joanna remembers sharing ideas with squirrels and pheasants whilst contemplating where her novel would go next. “I had always been interested in psychiatry, but having left school with only one O-Level, education didn’t seem important to me at the time” she recalls, upon finishing an excerpt from her book. “It was only at the age of 30 that I finally became a doctor”.

It became apparent that her job was likely a great muse for her writing, had she not have become a psychiatrist, Joanna would still have written a book, but questions whether it would have been this particular one.

The idea behind Goats and Sheep was something that she had considered for some time. Having already created two characters- Grace and Tilly, Joanna always kept Grace close to her heart and eventually gave her the voice to narrate the book. Goats and Sheep is a plot of who-done-it with a twist of judgement as a resident of ‘The Avenue’ mysteriously vanishes without trace.

Mrs Creasy goes missing one day in the drought of 1976. Everyone has plenty to talk about already with the weather being so uncommon, so when Mrs Creasy does a vanishing act, it is the talk of the street. Confused as to where the book title came from, Joanna put it very simply; When the lady in question went missing, everybody in the neighbourhood pointed the finger at one particular person.

Residents of the Avenue were the sheep and the man accused of her disappearance was the goat.

Goats and Sheep is written partly through the eyes and minds of Grace and Tilly- Two innocent children who have no idea of judgement. “Adults can lose themselves far more easily than children” Joanna explains. Walter Bishop of number 11 is a peculiar man, he doesn’t fit in and people look down at him. He is the perfect culprit to place the blame onto. With a history of being involved in strange goings on, the judgement becomes rife and members of the community become adamant that Mr Bishop definitely has a lot to do with the disappearance of Mrs Creasy.

The Trouble with Goats and Sheep really has a sense of non-belonging and judgement and there is a lot of dark undertones that unfortunately today are still a common occurrence. However, beyond the darkness comes a lot of humour within this story. Narrated through the opinion of a child, unintended humour was an underlying factor in the story. Innocence can come across as comedic which is an instant mood lightener which balances out dark undertones.

Food also featured repeatedly in Goats and Sheep. “You could tell when I was hungry whilst writing. I’d often mention biscuits, Angel Delight and whimsies. This was my mind telling me to eat”. With mentions of custard creams aplenty, Joanna often wrote whilst hungry. This played a huge part in creating the main body of the story.

There is no denying that Goats and Sheep is full of mystery, but as far as a sequel goes, for the time being it looks to be being left well alone. “I’m not sure I’ll return to the Avenue, but who knows?” Joanna explains, ending her evening at Waterstones, Liverpool.

The Trouble with Goats and Sheep can be purchased from all leading book shops and also online.

For any more information on Joanna Cannon and her journey, visit www.joannacannon.com

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