Book Details:
Choppiness on High Seas
By Arvind Wadhera
Category: Adult Fiction (18 +), 296 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publisher: Troubadour UK
Release date: October 2024
Content Rating: PG -13 + M rating for: There is contextual sex, violence and abuse.
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Being born into poverty and hardship in 1930s London, Matthew’s life was one of relentless struggle. One inadvertent act in defence of his mother would haunt his conscience forever.
Matthew’s journey takes him from the poverty of a cold stone granary to the opulence of Mayfair and Kensington Palace Gardens, where he starts a family of his own. Despite working his way to the top of the business world, he remains an outsider to London’s elite. He then realises that that same elite has an ugly underbelly. High society was a hot bed of depravity.
Will he correct society’s wrongs? Will the man who never succumbed to expectations be able to challenge his own destiny or will he simply accept the futility of it all?
How did you do research for your book?
I researched the book as I wrote. I decided that I would start the main character’s life in abject poverty in 1930s London and then I researched as and when the story developed. I had to do quite a bit of research on the shipping industry, which was not known to me at all. Plus, I had to do research on Cancer and the potential post treatment hazards that can be fatal.
Which was the hardest character to write?
The hardest character, by far, was Matthew Stephens. Developing a three dimensional emotionally conflicted tycoon, husband, son and father needed many rewrites.
There are many books out there about rags to riches. What makes yours different?
I have tried to keep the narrative simple, while delving into inner victories and defeats of a human being. I was not looking to entertain or titillate but to just relate a human story without idolising the main character. There are many authors who deal with the human condition, but I wanted to do it in a manner that reflects my own value set, beliefs and spirituality.
Your book is set in (name place). Have you ever been there?
Th main part of the book is in London, where I spent my adult life and formative years until I moved to the continent.
What is your next project?
I am working on a family story where the female protagonist, a well to do English family lady, makes an unusual compromise but eventually lives to regret it; she then looks for a purpose by travelling to India. Although I have Indian roots, I am having to research quite a bit on the area where she begins her journey. I intend it to be a complex story reflecting different levels of existence.
What genre do you write and why?
I write the only genre I read, literary fiction. I believe that my language skills are well suited to write in a sustained, deliberative manner while weaving the story.
Meet Author Arvind Wadhera:
Arvind is French and British with roots in India. He lives and works in Brussels.
Arvind has three adult children, who all live away from Belgium. He reads literary fiction and was motivated to write after reading three key books: The Portrait of Dorian Gray, Thérèse Raquin, 1984 and East of Eden. He is fascinated by the co-existence of good and evil. In his first book, Emma’s Equilibrium, he relates the story of an Olympic winner who suffers hurt along the way. Choppiness on High Seas charts the life of Matthew from his ignominious birth to his passing away in peace after having become one of the weathiest persons in the world.
Arvind loves languages and can speak French, Spanish, Dutch, German, Italian, Hindi, Punjabi and Gujarati. He is a stroke survivor and rides, jogs and does yoga.
He is a strong believer in the duality of fortune and misfortune. He is deeply spiritual.
Arvind finds writing challenging and frustrating and editing particularly painful. He, however, believes that writing can be therapeutic and gratifying.
connect with the author: website ~ X ~ instagram ~ goodreads
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