(See A Peek Inside “The Magician.”<\/a>)<\/p>\n When I heard that Janis had both a book of poetry (The Glass Rooster<\/em><\/strong>, Auckland University Press) and a novel (The Year of Falling<\/em><\/strong>,\u00a0M\u0101karo Press) being published simultaneously, I was keen to do what I could to help spread the word.<\/p>\n Today, the spotlight is on Janis’s novel, The Year of Falling<\/em><\/strong>—in the form of an interview with its three main characters, which I think is a fun way to approach the book. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it and will want to find out more, so I have posted a synopsis and further information below the interview.<\/p>\n Now, without further ado, a warm welcome to Janis Freegard and her characters.<\/p>\n —<\/p>\n My novel The Year of Falling<\/em> (contemporary NZ fiction from M\u0101karo Press) tells the interwoven stories of three women: Selina, her older sister (Smith), and her landlady (Quilla). <\/span><\/p>\n The novel centres around Selina\u2019s unravelling life, after she falls for a good-looking celebrity chef she meets in a Wellington bar. I decided to \u201cinterview\u201d my narrators so they can describe themselves in their own words. Many thanks to Helen Lowe for hosting us. — Janis Freegard<\/em> So Selina, tell me a bit about yourself.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Well, I’m a graphic designer, which is what I’ve always wanted to do. I like fashion, long walks. What else? Oh yeah, Sufi music. And I live in a nice little flat in Brooklyn in Wellington.<\/p>\n Your own place?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n No I’m renting. My landlady, Quilla has the two-storey house at the front of the property and I live in a kind of granny flat right down the back. It\u2019s very private, very cool. But you know what? This really weird thing happened recently – a strange porcelain doll appeared on my doorstep.<\/p>\n Sounds alarming.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n It looked like a lifeless baby. I\u2019ve always had a phobia about dolls. I just hope it\u2019s not a bad omen.<\/p>\n So life\u2019s pretty good? I mean, apart from the doll?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Kind of. But I\u2019d really thought I\u2019d have been promoted to senior designer by now. And I\u2019d love to have my own home and someone to share it with. Start a family, maybe. My boyfriend, Tim, moved to Auckland a few months ago and the long distance thing isn\u2019t really working. I hardly ever see him.<\/p>\n I believe it\u2019s your birthday today.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Yeah, my twenty-ninth.<\/em><\/p>\n Celebrating?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Well, Tim was supposed to come down from Auckland, but he hasn\u2019t shown up. I bought a quality bottle of bubbly for us to share, but oh well, more for me, I guess. I\u2019m meeting up with an old friend from Uni instead. Bailey. She’s a bit of a party girl. We\u2019re hitting Courtenay Place. Who knows what might happen?<\/p>\n Smith, that\u2019s an unusual name.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s short for silversmith. I\u2019m a jeweller.<\/span><\/p>\n And you live in Golden Bay?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Yes.<\/p>\n In a house truck?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n That\u2019s right. I did it up myself.<\/p>\n And lately you\u2019ve been looking after your friend\u2019s little boy?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Ragnar. He’s such a great kid. Thoughtful, inquisitive. It\u2019s so good having someone to take care of again. Reminds me of when I used to look after my little sister, Selina.<\/p>\n How come you had to look after her?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Mum left. Selina was only 2 and I was 14. Dad was working shifts on the buses.<\/p>\n That must have been a difficult time for you.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n I’ve decided to look for her. For Mum. It\u2019s time.<\/p>\n Does Selina know?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n She\u2019s not going to like it.<\/p>\n Quilla, hi.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Come in, dear. Would you care for a glass of absinthe?<\/p>\n Thanks. So you\u2019re Selina\u2019s landlady. What\u2019s she like?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n I don\u2019t hear a peep out of the girl unless I see her at the letterbox. She\u2019s a perfectly good tenant though. Always pays her rent on time.<\/p>\n Tell me about yourself.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Oh, let\u2019s see. I’m 78. I play croquet. I\u2019ve been widowed for many years. No children. And I used to be a magician\u2019s assistant. I still have the headdress.<\/p>\n Sounds fascinating.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n It was an excuse to run away, really. From a love affair that ended quite sadly. For me anyway.<\/p>\n And you have a secret, I believe?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n I did something many years ago that I rather regret. I should very much like to set it right.<\/p>\n Intriguing. What did you do?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019m sorry to say I took something that wasn’t mine. And for once, it wasn’t someone else\u2019s husband.<\/p>\n —<\/p>\n Meeting Selina, Smith, and Quilla was a lot of fun, but here’s the backcover synopsis for the story itself:<\/p>\n “When the porcelain dolls start turning up on Selina\u2019s doorstep, she knows it\u2019s a bad sign. Shortly afterwards she embarks on an ill-judged affair with a celebrity TV chef. Both events, and the lies and untold truths at their heart, precipitate a spectacular fall from grace for high-flying graphic artist, Selina.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Enter Smith: the sister who saved Selina once before. But this time Smith\u2019s life is complicated by a small boy called Ragnar, and she\u2019s almost too late.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Janis Freegard\u2019s novel is a beguiling urban tale that moves from the hills of Brooklyn, Wellington, to the streets of Iceland via T\u0101kaka. Packed with characters who hold the reader to the page, <\/em>The Year of Falling has the strut and gleam of a fairytale while not being afraid of the stuff of flesh and blood that makes people act the way they do. A novel to fall into \u2026 but beware, you might find it hard to climb out again.”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n And here’s what the early reviews have to say:<\/p>\n \u201cQuirky, funny and inspiringly touching, Freegard has a knack for writing scenes which are painfully human”<\/em><\/span> —\u00a0Emma Bryson on Beattie\u2019s Book Blog<\/em><\/p>\n \u201c… the pace and assuredness quickly increase, building layers of tension and pleasingly ambiguous characterisations that hold interest to the end\u201d<\/em><\/span> \u2013 Catherine Roberston in The NZ Listener<\/em><\/p>\n “… a wonderful story, I very much enjoyed reading it. I really hope this book gets widely read and promoted, because it certainly deserves to.\u201d<\/em><\/span> Felicity Murray on the Booksellers NZ blog<\/em><\/p>\n To find out more, go to the M\u0101karo Press website: http:\/\/www.makaropress.co.nz\/makaro-books\/the-year-of-falling-by-janis-freegard\/<\/a><\/p>\n —<\/p>\n![\"Year-of-falling\"](\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Year-of-falling-198x300.jpg\")
<\/a>Janis Freegard — & An Interview With Selina, Smith, and Quilla, Three of The Year of Falling’s<\/em> Narrators<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n<\/span><\/p>\nSelina<\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n
Smith<\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n
Quilla<\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n
<\/a>More About The Year of Falling<\/em><\/strong>:<\/h3>\nAbout Janis Freegard:<\/h3>\n
![\"Janis](\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Janis-Freegard-300x294.jpg\")
<\/a>Janis Freegard lives in Wellington, with an historian and a cat, and works in the public service. Her first full-length poetry collection, Kingdom Animalia: The Escapades of Linnaeus<\/em><\/strong>, was published by Auckland University Press in 2011. She is also the author of a chapbook, The Continuing Adventures of Alice Spider<\/em><\/strong> (Anomalous Press, 2013), and co-author of AUP New Poets 3<\/em><\/strong> (AUP, 2008).<\/p>\n