Authors Interviewing Their Characters: Susy Norman interviews Marcus

In the novel, The Ground is Full of Holes, Marcus, a consultant anaesthetist in a busy London hospital, is trying to cope with the demands of the operating theatre and the dying days of an extra-marital affair. The author, Suzy Norman, interviews Marcus.

What is the most important thing we need to know about you?

Hmm, let me think. Well, if I can trust you then you can trust in me.

What motivates you to get out of bed in the morning?

The thought of a mental challenge. I like problem solving, probably because I’ve always been good at it. Treating worries as problems that need to be solved instead of succumbing to crippling anxiety and letting my mind race away with worse-case scenarios, like my wife, Nancy is prone to doing, is probably the trait I possess that has kept me sane. 

Not the thought of saving lives, then?

It’s funny that people assume that as medical professional this is what motivates me. But in reality it’s really about using my brain. Sorry if this sounds cold, that’s not my intention, it’s merely a candid and honest answer. Saving lives is pleasing bi-product of what I do. 

You’re an anaesthetist in an NHS hospital, why the NHS?

People think that as a consultant I must have a lot of autonomy. To a certain extent, that’s true, but mostly it’s an illusion. As with all workplaces, the management wield the power and I’m subordinate to this. Do I like this? Of course not, but I have to live with it and I have coping strategies. I take my work extremely seriously and any mistakes I make, although rare, I take very hard. Consequently, colleagues most likely think I’m overly critical of them, but what they don’t know is that I turn it on myself much worse. Since I started work in the NHS twenty years ago, I’ve seen a lot of changes, and not for the better.

There have been amazing advancements in surgery technique and I’ve benefited from the hard work of others who work extensively in the research fields, but patient well-being has taken a back seat. Some days I can’t get past this and it brings my mood down. It feels like a ship them in and ship them out as quick as you can culture and this doesn’t sit easily with me. Nurses complain to me that they don’t have time to sit and get to know their patients any more. It’s alienating for them and I don’t know how they cope with all the paperwork. It must be disheartening for them to come to work every day without being able to enjoy the human element of the job. Surely, this is the only thing that could make nursing worthwhile?

I couldn’t succumb though, I couldn’t go private, it’s just not in me. 

What would your superpower be?

I don’t even need to think about this one. The ability to be in two places at once. 

What are the qualities your parents instilled in you?

I grew up in Dublin but the strange thing is I never felt 100% Irish. My parents read the Times over the Irish Times and refused to give me an Irish first name. I must have been the only native Irish boy in my school with a non-Irish name. I suppose this a trivial point, but I always felt apart from people. When I moved to London to study my parents didn’t hesitate in selling up and moving to London, not only to be closer to me, but to play out an ambition to be seen as the English middle class, which in their eyes was a step up from the Irish middle class. 

I guess the need to strive I gained from them, but I don’t know how healthy that is. Time will tell.

How is married life treating you?

In all honesty, I’d rather not answer that, my life is private. How is married life treating you?

Do you have any regrets?

I love walking in nature, and I wish I had more time to do this one simple thing. Even the vast parks in London, I’m too busy to enjoy most of the time. I love cycling too, and would like to cycle around the coast of the UK one day, or maybe even Ireland’s coasts. I might have to wait until I retire.

If you could reassure your younger self of one thing, what would it be?

People will always be jealous of you and try to shoot you down, just know you’re one of the best out there and you’ll be fine. 

——-

About Suzy Norman

Suzy Norman is the author of The Ground is Full of Holes (Patrician Press, 2019) and Duff (Patrician Press, 2015). As a short-listed author, her fiction appeared in The Dundee International Book Prize 2014 Cargo Anthology.
She grew up in Monmouthshire then moved to London for her education where she completed an MA at University College London. Suzy is also an actor.@suzynorman

The Ground is Full of Holes

Nancy, is taking long-term leave of absence from her role at the bank. In contrast, Marcus, a consultant anaesthetist, has trouble marrying the demands of the operating theatre with the dying days of an affair with student anaesthetist, Asabi.

Marcus and Nancy undertake counselling, and it is during a session she opts to attend alone, she remembers an old boyfriend, Tom. The following week, she meets with Tom at Marcus’s hospital and Nancy soon becomes obsessed with the idea of an affair.

At work, Marcus, distracted and unhappy, makes a serious error. He’s never made a mistake of this magnitude before, but in a moment of panic he tries to cover his tracks. To add to matters, during the subsequent inquiry, his half-truths are exposed by Asabi who is smarting from his withdrawn attention.

Meanwhile, Nancy’s only sister, Georgia discovers she’s pregnant, testing their once close and trusting relationship. Upset and vulnerable, Nancy retaliates by bedding her ex-boyfriend and brother-in-law Shiv. A move she immediately regrets.

Increasingly confused about her feelings towards three men, Nancy suggests a holiday. Marcus, frustrated and angry about his failing career, reluctantly agrees. They holiday together in Florence, and it is there they talk frankly about their future together. Upon their return to London, they build a cautious new life together. 

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: Interviews, On Writing