Authors Interviewing Characters: Allison Cundiff

Hey Pickpocket by Allison Cundiff

When Frances White, a trauma ICU nurse, flees the United States after a traumatic family event, she finds herself in the most remote place possible:  a fishing village off the west coast of Ireland. Despite her best attempts to wall off her heart from the rest of the world, she befriends a local fisherman with as many secrets as she has. Their growing affection slowly erodes the protections they put in place to guard themselves against desire. 

Allison Cundiff Author Interview with Frances White of Hey Pickpocket.

Frances rushes in late to Maude’s, windblown

Frances: Sorry I’m late. We had an emergency at the clinic.

Allison: No problem– tourist emergency? 

Frances: This one was a local– mother of twins, finally went into labor! Right in the middle of teaching her dance lessons. 

Allison: Wow, twins. Did she deliver at the clinic?

Frances:  Airlift to Galway. Very windy!

Allison: I bet. Well, thanks so much for agreeing to meet with me. I know it must be a busy time for you.  

Frances: Tourism season is over on Inis Mór, thankfully. The weather is changing. Four seasons in one day, the locals say. But with only two of us in healthcare, Brigid and me, for three islands, we are kept plenty busy. 

Allison: I won’t keep you long. 

Declan places two cups of tea. Frances’ has a sugar caddy besides hers. 

Declan: Cream or sugar for you? 

Allison:  Black is fine, thank you. 

Frances: So we’re here to catch up on things since you left your lovers in Ros An Mhíl? 

Allison:  That’s right. How have things been? 

Frances: Grand, as the locals say. I’ve been meaning to ask, what made you even write this story? 

Allison: I’ve been interested in writing about what sorts of things make love, what is behind a really earnest attraction.  I wanted to write about how being open with another person takes shape. And I suppose I used you to capture that. 

Frances: You certainly did. That part in the early chapters– Tom after a day at sea, how his clothes hang on him. I can’t remember attraction like that ever taking shape like it did that night in the pub. 

Allison: Men can see themselves as brutes, but there’s poetry in the way they move. 

Frances: Is that why you made Tom a poet? To soften him? 

Allison: Maybe. But he’s not fairy-tale. There are people full of heart and grit out there. There was a stonemason in St. Louis named Frank Robinson who’d come home from work at the quarry and paint. I have a few of his pieces. No one at the job site knew he was a painter. Most people didn’t until his death. I put some parts of that painter into Tom. I think Tom deserved to have someone beyond his mother read his poems. 

Frances: He’s my favorite writer.

Allison: Not Yeats?

Frances:  Yeats is my second favorite. But Tom’s definitely my favourite. His poetry has been a model for me. He let his poems speak for him in a way his mouth couldn’t. Until he was ready to talk about his brother dying, he had his notebooks. 

Allison:  What about your art? Did that ever speak for you?  Help you with the attack? 

Frances: More of a distraction. I didn’t use it for therapy. But maybe I should start drawing something more substantial. This whole island has been a sort of therapy for me. Most times people run away and they just find their problems bigger and louder in the new space. You can’t run and hide completely from yourself. But for me, this island let me work through my problems. I got to bury my dad. And I met someone. It’s awful to feel you can’t escape the things you’ve done, even if those things weren’t “wrong” per se. I think Tom and I both felt in that space.Trapped by the things we had done or not done. And comfortable with the cages that held us there. 

Allison:  How did moving to rural Ireland compared to Dublin help with that? 

Frances: The silence, for one. No phone, no distractions. I had to face myself. When I did that, I really didn’t want to constantly see places that reminded me of the past. I needed to be not reminded of the things I had done. For Tom, it was the opposite. He couldn’t bear to be away from places that reminded him of Sean. 

Allison: What was the point when you realized you two were really going to happen? On the boat ride to the island? 

Frances:  (laughing) God, no. I was a mess. I’m just so grateful I wasn’t sick in front of him. He would have been polite, I’m sure. But you have to be at least a few months in before your significant other sees you sick!

I think it was probably the morning swim on Kilmurvey.

Allison:  One of my favorite things to think about.

Frances: When he brought me my coffee? Just the way I like it?

Allison: That’s saying something. 

Frances: I think it was how he held me. In the water, you know? He didn’t push. He just held me above those waves. It’s a whole metaphor for how he’s been to me. That’s when the desire came in. And desire needs to be there. It’s not always vapid lust. Desire allowed us the opportunity to turn toward each other. And eventually crowbar each other open. Had we not been desirous for each other, would we even have worked that hard at it? 

Allison: Lust is linked to a radiant angel, they say. I’m glad you both took your time. 

Frances: I guess the way we bloom for one another should take some time. It’s suspicious if it happens too fast, and it’s empty if it never happens. 

Allison:  You two are my favorite couple. 

Frances:  Yeah, regarding that. In the novel, why not more spice? 

Allison: That takes a different shape for different readers. I suppose I wanted to follow in DH Lawrence’s footsteps and let the reader come to their own conclusions/use their own imaginations for you and Tom Archer. 

Frances: You should talk to him next. He’s on his way here. He’s been on the mainland for the past two days. (sighs). I always miss him when he’s away. 

Allison:  (winks) I know. Then I’ll leave you two to catch up. 

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Category: Interviews, On Writing