Readers Place

1. Where did you get the idea for These Foolish Things?

I got the idea in Berwick Street Market in Soho. I love street markets, the way they seethe with life. And I thought, when I get old I don’t want to be shut away in some retirement home miles away from any human activity, I’d like to stay in the thick of things; I’d like to retire to a flat above a street market. Then I thought wouldn’t India be even better? It’s warm, it’s cheap and there’s a lot of respect for old people. They’re treated much better than they are here. English is commonly spoken. People travel all over the world nowadays without a thought, seventy is the new fifty, we’re already going to India for new hips?it would sure beat Worthing on a wet Thursday afternoon. The more I though about it, the better the idea seemed?so then I started to make up my characters.

2. Are there any plans to adapt this novel for TV?

Yes- I’ve just finished the first draft of the film script. Working Title have optioned it. I think it could be an absolutely wonderful film, with a cast of our finest actors and actresses. There are very few films about getting old which are funny, and that realize there’s no such thing as old people- there’s just us, with a few more wrinkles.

3. What research did you have to do? Have you ever been to Bangalore?

I didn’t do much research, to tell the truth. I lived for two years in Pakistan in the seventies, and have written novels and TV scripts out there, so I’m quite familiar with the subcontinent. But I’ve only been to India a few times, and just on holiday. And I’ve only spent one day in Bangalore. As I say in the book: “those who know Bangalore may find the place somewhat shifted around, but then memory plays tricks on us all”. Besides, Bangalore is in a state of flux and reinvention- it’s Silicon City.

4. All the characters in the book are very colourful and realistic. Were the characters based on anyone you know?

No. The characters just came out of my head.

5. I’ve read some fantastic reviews for These Foolish Things, but what in your opinion, is the best thing that has ever been written/said about this or any of your other books?

Gosh. I think I liked “moving, sincere, funny, terrifying”. And there was a very perspicacious review in the TLS which said “underneath the ironies, These Foolish Things is a book about remembering- too late, or not too late- how to be alive”. Reviews sometimes tell me things I didn’t realize when I was writing a book.

6. What are you working on at the moment?

Trying to think of a new novel. No ideas yet; but then they ambush you when you least expect them, I’ve also written the screenplay for a film of “Pride and Prejudice” which has been shot, with Keira Knightley, Brenda Blethyn and Donald Sutherland. It’s being released later this year.

7. Do you think the Indian retirement home could ever be a real solution to our aging population?

Yes! I think it makes huge sense- we’re outsourcing everything else, why not outsource the elderly? Setting up retirement homes in the developing world is a logical idea?its time is coming, I’m sure of it. Sometimes novelists see things before anyone else does.

8. Ageing, death, family relationships and cultural understanding are just some of the issues raised in the novel – what is the main theme you would like readers to take away from this?

I think that’s enough, isn’t it? And I’d like them to have some laughs along the way. As Lily Tomlin said: “We’re all in it together. Alone.”

Read more from Deborah Moggach on her website: www.deborahmoggach.com

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