Featured Reading Guide
Robin Bayley
As a child, Robin Bayley was enchanted by his grandmother s stories of Mexican adventures: of bandits, wild jungle journeys, hidden bags of silver and a narrow escape from the bloody Mexican Revolution. But Robin sensed there was more to these stories than anyone knew, and so he set out to follow in the footsteps of his great-grandfather. The Mango Orchard is the story of parallel journeys, a hundred years apart, into the heart of Latin America. Undaunted by the passage of time and a paucity of information, Robin seeks out the places where his great-grandfather Arthur ‘Arturo’ Greenhalgh…
Delicious
Digg
StumbleUpon
Reddit
FacebookAbout Robin Bayley
Robin Bayley was born in an isolated shooting lodge in the middle of a North Yorkshire moor. He grew up in Sheffield and after college, lived in London, working in advertising and children s TV. He has worked as a teacher in Colombia and was once cast as a drug smuggler in a Bollywood feature film. The Mango Orchard is his first book.
topAbout the Book
As a child, Robin Bayley was enchanted by his grandmother s stories of Mexican adventures: of bandits, wild jungle journeys, hidden bags of silver and a narrow escape from the bloody Mexican Revolution. But Robin sensed there was more to these stories than anyone knew, and so he set out to follow in the footsteps of his great-grandfather. The Mango Orchard is the story of parallel journeys, a hundred years apart, into the heart of Latin America. Undaunted by the passage of time and a paucity of information, Robin seeks out the places where his great-grandfather Arthur ‘Arturo’ Greenhalgh travelled and lived, determined to uncover his legacy. Along the road Robin encounters witches, drug dealers, a gun-toting Tasmanian Devil and an ex-Nazi diamond trader. He is threatened with deportation, offered the protection of Colombian guerrilla fighters and is comforted by the blessings of los santos. He falls in love with a beautiful Guatemalan girl with mystical powers and almost gives up his quest, until a sense of destiny drives him on to western Mexico and the discovery of much, much more than he had bargained for.
topRobin Bayley interview/review
Interviewed by Amy Lawrence of The Observer
Q: What’s the worst job you ever had?
A: I once worked as a sales rep for a magazine called International Electronics for China. I drove around the country for a whole year, and managed to sell just one quarter page advertisement, which was later cancelled.
Q: How did you finance five years of writing?
A: I sold my flat.
Q: Where are you living right now?
A: London. It’s a difficult place to leave as it pretty much has everything, apart from good weather, good public transport, beaches, a laid-back population. Come to think of it, I may move quite soon.
Q: Why did it take you take five years to write The Mango Orchard?
A: The story concerns two continents over two centuries and involves hundreds of people so it took a lot of thought. Also, I’m not a very fast writer.
Q: In those five years, did you ever think, “What the hell am I doing?”
A: Save the occasional off day, not really, but I think my friends did.
Q: Do you miss the job you left behind to write the book?
A: I miss the people I worked with. And the money.
Q: When did you start to travel?
A: I was seventeen when I went on my first foreign trip without my parents. My grandma would give me money with the express instruction that I was to go travelling. I used to wonder if she was trying to get rid of me.
Q: What is the stupidest thing you have done when travelling?
A: Refusing to pay a stoned taxi driver in Managua, Nicaragua. He then tried to kill me, but being stoned, he didn’t make a very good job of it.
Q: Are you still in contact with your Mexican family, and the other characters in the book?
A: Yes, I’m in pretty regular contact with most of them, and at least weekly contact with the Mexican family. When I first returned from Mexico, it was limited to faxes. Now it’s Skype, e-mail, Facebook etc. And Javicito, Tío Javier’s grandson, and my Godson, has been to visit me this year.
Q: Describe your typical writing day.
A: Initially I’d write well into the night, but I found that if I did that I wasn’t very productive the next day. I have now adopted cricketing hours: two hours before lunch, two hours before tea and two hours after tea. And obviously if it’s raining, I take the day off.
Q: How do you get yourself out of writers’ block?
A: I swear at the computer and then try writing with pen and paper. If that doesn’t work, I swear at the computer again and go for a walk.
Q: Are you surprised with how The Mango Orchard has turned out?
A: I guess if I bumped my head and forgot the whole writing process I would be, but having been with it day after day for so long, we sort of grew together, so I’m not surprised, just pleased.
Q: There have been discussions about a feature film, who would you like to play your character?
A: James McAvoy or Leonardo DiCaprio
Q: Where will you be appearing at book fairs or signings?
A: Watch out for announcements on Twitter, Facebook, my blog and on this site.
Q: What did the process of writing The Mango Orchard teach you?
A: The virtue of patience.
Q: What is the subject of your next book?
A: That’s what my agent keeps asking me. I have to keep reminding him about the virtue of patience.
Starting Points for Discussion
- As a child, Robin Bayley was enchanted by his grandmother’s stories of her father’s Mexican adventures; of bandits, wild jungle journeys, hidden bags of silver and his narrow escape from the bloody Mexican Revolution. What inspired you as a child?
- How do you think Arturo and Robin’s different modes of transport influenced their travelling experiences?
- After his adventures in Mexico, Robin’s great grandfather, Arturo, returned to a quiet life in Edwardian
England. He left behind a lover and an illegitimate daughter, whose offspring – a century later – multiplied into a vast and thriving family of 300 souls. How important is the family tree and the idea of genealogy in the book?
- In the process of drawing together the missing pieces of his family’s history, Robin learns about the role his great grandfather had played in the factory strike which helped to trigger the Mexican Revolution. What great world events have you or your ancestors been a part of and how did they alter your or their lives?
- Robin sold his London flat and abandoned a successful media career to retrace his great grandfather’s footsteps. Discuss the theme of giving up everything and following your dreams and the relationship between following your intuition and destiny.
- How has the book changed the way you think about Mexico or Latin America?
Other Books by Robin Bayley
The Mango Orchard: Travelling…
As a child, Robin Bayley was enchanted by his grandmother s stories of Mexican…
Suggested Further Reading
- The Fruit Palace ~ Charles Nicholl
- Jupiter’s Travels ~ Ted Simon
- A Sense of the World ~ Jason Roberts
- Caramelo ~ Sandra Cisneros
- The House of the Spirits ~ Isabel Allende
- The Oatmeal Ark – From the Western Isles to a Promised Sea ~ Rory MacLean
- Star of the Sea ~ Joseph O’Conner
- Blood River ~ Tim Butcher
Additional Online Resources
The Mango Orchard website
Video interview with Robin Bayley
Online chat with Robin Bayley and reading groups
www.themangoorchard.com
top