Lazarus Remembered – The Partnership Between Author and Narrator

E J Harper

Lazarus Remembered, a story told with words and music, is an immersive audiobook. My debut novel, it’s a contemporary family drama that explores the challenges within non-traditional family structures and how the pressure to conform to society’s expectations can tear lives apart. It features a soundtrack with thirteen original songs by my husband, composer Andy Harper and is narrated by actor Francesca Tomlinson.

The story follows Peter who, one chilly March morning, wakes to a phone call from a childhood friend. Peter’s mother is dying. It transpires that not only has he not seen his mother for thirty years, but as a teenager Peter abandoned his family, friends and the community of Lazarus in rural Australia to begin a new life in the UK. Through a dual timeline we explore the events that led to Peter’s exile and the consequences of his return to Lazarus.

The story is primarily told from Peter’s viewpoint, as an energetic child through to a jaded fifty year old man. Choosing a female narrator for this project was an unconventional choice, especially given that Francesca’s accent is from the North East of England. Casting a male Aussie actor would have been a lot easier. However, nothing about this project was conventional (or easy) so inevitably we broke the rules.

I’ve known Francesca since the day she was born and the opportunity to work with her was too good to miss. She has an extraordinary work ethic, impressive acting skills and a keen ear for accents. That said, we both knew it would be a challenge to master the complexity of a range of Australian and British accents as well as inhabit the multiple characters in Lazarus Remembered. So what was our approach?

Before the recording process, we had several discussions on how each character would sound. This included the strength of accent; for example, Peter left Australia as a teenager so has only the hint of an Aussie accent, whereas when we revert to scenes of his childhood the ‘Strine’ is more evident. We also debated the intonation and typical delivery of each character; Lydia’s abrupt, slightly impatient speaking style contrasted with her husband, Jeff’s, reassuring tone.

One of my key learnings as an author was to include these details in the character bios, ie accent, tone, delivery style and speech quirks such as throat clearing or pausing between sentences. I’ve never seen these characteristics included in standard bios and I’d encourage any author to do likewise to help the narrator represent the characters effectively.

Once Francesca and I were agreed on how each character would sound, we started the recording process. Over nine days we worked through the manuscript refining as we went along. Early on we ran into a problem. The first chapter includes a minor character who has a few lines in a Northern Irish accent. With Francesca fully in her stride switching between soft and hard Australian and RP British (Received Pronunciation), a sudden switch to Northern Irish presented a challenge.

Initially, we decided to record these lines at the end of the day as separate takes. However, even then they proved difficult and we were wasting precious studio time on single lines of dialogue. The solution? We picked an accent from Francesca’s established repertoire – in this case, Scottish – and I re-wrote the character as a Scot.

The ability to take spontaneous decisions was a highlight of working together. As another example, late one afternoon we decided to have Francesca sing Sosban Fach, a Welsh folk song mentioned in the novel. Overnight Andy worked out the melody, Francesca rehearsed it and the next morning a piece of magic was created.

As the week progressed and Francesca embodied the characters more and more, I noticed she started to unconsciously modify some of the dialogue. This was a testament to her skills as an actor and while I was thrilled, she was horrified. From an acting perspective it simply isn’t done to re-write the script! However, Francesca’s adaptations were completely intuitive and enriched the characters’ authenticity but it took a lot to convince her that it was the right thing to do. After this experience, I am of the view that authors should encourage and trust their narrators to adapt speech patterns of individual characters to bring them fully to life.

On the last day, by which time the characters’ voices were fully developed, we returned to the opening scenes to re-record them. Unfortunately, after nine days without a break, Francesca’s voice was getting weary and in the final cut we used the earlier recordings. Nevertheless, I would still advise narrators who are typically recording over three to four days to revisit the opening scenes at the end of the recording.

The investment of time, energy and passion into recording Lazarus Remembered was significant but the reviews speak for themselves. Praise for Francesca’s range of accents, tone and pacing has been unanimous. As an author, being in the studio watching Francesca inhabit my characters and bring Lazarus Remembered to life was one of the richest experiences of my writing career. I’d urge any author to do it. You will think about your characters differently and might even get to re-write one or two!

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Lazarus Remembered is a story told with words and music, produced independently as an audiobook. Set in the fictional town of Lazarus in New South Wales, it is an innovative approach to storytelling that provides a unique immersive audio experience. The novel is a contemporary family drama. It was written by E J Harper and includes a soundscape featuring thirteen original songs by composer Andy Harper.

“Pete, look mate I’m sorry but there’s no easy way to say this. Lydia’s dying.“

These are the words Peter Mackenzie wakes up to on a chilly March morning in 2012. Over the next forty eight hours his life is thrown into chaos catapulting him into the decision to leave the UK and return to Australia, the country from which he was exiled thirty years earlier. The opportunity to see Lydia, his mother, one last time means confronting his family, friends and the community of Lazarus that he abandoned as a teenager.

Lazarus Remembered is a powerful domestic drama that explores the challenges within non-traditional family structures. A story about secrets and lies, love and loss, reinvention and redemption but most of all about how the pressure to conform to society’s expectations can tear lives apart.

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