Devika Ponnambalam

ks • bo o

boo ks •

Devika Ponnambalam’s debut novel, which gives voice to the child-bride ‘muse’ of Paul Gauguin, took 17 years and a quest across Tahiti to write. Lucy Ribchester finds the result is a masterful feminist reclaiming of history and a celebration of Tahitian mythology

tv • tv • tv

No one talked about the girls ”

When Paul Gauguin departed Tahiti after his first visit in 1893, he took with him his iconic, lush and bold paintings of the island that went on to become some of the most expensive artworks ever sold. But he left one thing behind: his so-called ‘wife’. In reality, she was 11-year-old girl Teha’amana, whom Gauguin had ‘wed’ the afternoon he met, and used time and again as his muse in his work.

It’s unclear how many Tahitian women and girls Gauguin painted, or which of them appear in each work, but what is certain is that his legacy would not exist were it not for them. And yet, like most female muses, their voices have been lost to history.

Now, a powerful new novel by Edinburgh-based author Devika Ponnambalam is putting that loss to rights, giving a voice to Teha’amana and bringing the Tahiti Gauguin encountered to vivid, breathing life. ‘No one talked about the girls, you know,’ says Ponnambalam. ‘In the beginning, I was curious, as a writer, as to what had happened to all the women. Later, once I was writing the book, and had become stronger and fiercer in what I wanted to say, I found I was just really angry that it’s never been explored or talked about.’

Ponnambalam admits her relationship with Gauguin’s work is complicated. Behind her on her wall hangs a copy of one of his paintings. She calls him a genius and says she would never want his art to be cancelled. ‘But I also think, well, where’s the other narrative? Seventeen years ago, it was this absence that led her to embark on a quest to fill those gaps. But the process was far from straightforward, and nor is the resulting book.

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Taking in a range of voices, the story shifts perspective, from Teha’amana herself, to her foster mother, to the spirits and gods of Tahitian mythology, to Gauguin’s daughter Aline, who was the same age as Teha’amana. There are no chapters or labels to denote the speaker and the polyphony seems to echo the complex polytheism of Tahitian mythology, with its shape-shifting gods and recurring refrains. It’s a masterful and extraordinary novel, not only a reclaiming of Teha’amana’s voice but of the autonomy and self-determination of Tahiti itself, freed from Gauguin’s vision into a world of its own making.

It was diffi cult for Ponnambalam to build the character of Teha’amana; records are sketchy and even Gauguin referred to her under a different name, Tehura, in his travel journal Noa Noa. But the genesis of Ponnambalam’s ideas won the attention of Creative Scotland, who supported her to embark on a research trip to Tahiti. There she scrubbed gravestones clean trying to fi nd Teha’amana’s name and eventually tracked down some of her descendants, before fi nding they didn’t want to talk about Gauguin.

She did encounter a priest though, who informed her Teha’amana had died of syphilis and that she was younger than Gauguin had said (he always maintained she was all of 13). ‘So I had to take all that on board and think, you know what, I think she’s always going to be a mystery. The true story is never going to be told. So I had to decide: what I was going to tell, what was my version of the truth?’

In this Q&A, we throw some questions about ‘fi rsts’ at debut authors. This month we feature Rebecca Rukeyser, author of The Seaplane On Final Approach, the sensual story of a young woman seeking new experiences in a remote Alaskan homestead

What’s the first book you remember reading as a child? My mother read all the Oz books to me when I was too young to read, and she was a wonderful reader who did all the voices. I clearly remember asking her to change the way she voiced the Tin Man, though, so that’s my first memory of imposing my interpretation onto the reading experience.

What was the first book you read that made you decide to be a writer? I always wanted to be a writer, but the book that brought me back after my most serious flirtation with giving up on the whole idea was Lucia Berlin’s A Manual For Cleaning Women.

What’s your favourite first line in a book? ‘When I started to work at the Golden Prague Hotel, the boss took hold of my left ear, pulled me up, and said, “you’re a busboy here, so remember, you don’t see anything and you don’t hear anything”’ from I Served The King Of England by Bohumil Hrabal.

Which debut publication had the most profound effect on you?

I think before reading Annie John I’d held on to a rigid idea of how much you could achieve with the first-person POV, especially temporally. But the character Annie John exists simultaneously as an adult looking back on memories, and as a child within those memories, and all at once she’s bristling, lonely, voracious, bewildered, disgusted. I reread it every year or so.

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up on a writing day? Put my feet up on a footrest under my desk helps me get the work done. It’s comfortable and makes it harder to get up and make that coffee/wash that plate/otherwise procrastinate if you have to take the extra step of putting your feet on the floor.

What’s the first thing you do when you’ve stopped writing for the day? I’d like to say it’s something creative and tactile, like cooking. The truth is that the writing day usually ends when I’ve fallen into a research hole and decide to spend the rest of the day reading about, say, Norilsk.

In a parallel universe where you’re a tyrant leader in a dystopian

civilisation, what’s the first book you’d burn? The dictionary. This is, I believe, the best practice of an evil genius.

What’s the first piece of advice you’d offer to an aspiring novelist? Write what keeps you up at night. If there’s something that troubles you at four in the morning, repeatedly or with increasing insistence, then it’s probably too big for a short story but can, and should, be wrestled with through the many pages and years and frustrations of writing a novel.

The Seaplane On Final Approach is published by Granta on Thursday 9 June.

books • book s •

games • games •

GAMES

DIABLO IMMORTAL

Diablo is one of gaming’s most popular and long-running series but its recent history is plagued with controversy. When DiabloIII launched just over a decade ago, overloaded servers rendered it unplayable for many. And when players were finally able to get into the game, they were confronted with an auction house offering overpowered armour and weaponry for actual cash money. Then, at industry event BlizzCon in 2018, fans were teased with the announcement of a brand new game. But what everyone had expected to be Diablo IV was actually . . . a mobile phone game called DiabloImmortal. ‘Do you guys not have phones?!’ came the infamous retort from a Blizzard executive to a chorus of boos.

Since then we have had confirmation of Diablo IV and, over the intervening years, fans’ attitudes to Immortal have softened a little. It helps that the game will also launch on PC in beta on the same day. The game looks promising: a hack’n’slash action RPG, set between the second and third entries, with the usual multiple classes, bounties and rifts. While its simplified mechanics and bite-sized dungeons may not win over the hardcore, with the might of its publisher behind it, Diablo Immortal could yet secure a new generation of fans. (Murray Robertson)

 Released by Blizzard Entertainment on Thursday 2 June on Android, iOS and PC.

TRY THESE QUICK AND EASY RECIPES FROM HELLOFRESH.

FRIED BEAN AND MUSHROOM TACOS

WITH BABY GEM AND CHIPOTLE MAYO

Looking for a quick and tasty midweek dinner option? Try cooking up our Fried Bean and Mushroom Tacos in just 20 minutes for a delicious and speedy meal.

20 minutes, Serves 2

1 pack Red Kidney Beans 1 Garlic Clove 120g Sliced Mushrooms 1 sachet Tomato Puree 1 sachet Cajun Blackening 10g Vegetable Stock Paste 1 sachet Mayonnaise 1/2 sachet Chipotle Paste 4 Plain Taco Tortillas 50g Greek Style Salad Cheese 1 Baby Gem Lettuce

Step 1 Drain and rinse the kidney beans in a sieve. Pop half the kidney beans into a bowl and roughly crush with the back of a fork. Peel and grate the garlic (or use a garlic press).

Step 2 Heat a drizzle of oil in a large frying pan on medium-high heat. Once hot, add the sliced mushrooms and stirfry until they soften and start to colour, 4-5 mins.

Step 3 Add another small drizzle of oil to the pan, then stir the garlic, tomato puree, Cajun blackening and kidney beans (both crushed and whole) into the mushrooms and cook for 1 min. Add 75 ml water for the sauce and veg stock paste. Stir to combine and turn the heatdown slightly, then simmer for a further 5-6 mins. Season to taste.

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas mark 7.

Step 4 Put the mayo and chipotle paste (see ingredients for amount - use less if you don’t like heat) in a small bowl. Mix well. Loosen the chipotle mayo with a splash of water (it needs to be able to drizzle).

Step 5 Pop the tortillas onto a baking tray and into the oven to warm through, 1-2 mins. Crumble the Greek style salad cheese. Trim the baby gem, halve lengthways, then thinly slice widthways.

Step 6 Transfer warm tortillas to your plates. Top each with some lettuce and spoonfuls of the bean and mushroom mix. Finish with a sprinkle of Greek style salad cheese and a drizzle of chipotle mayo.

TIP Tacos are best enjoyed eaten by hand - get stuck in! Enjoy!

CAJUN SPICED BASS AND CHIVE DRESSING

WITH SWEET POTATO & CAVOLO NERO MASH This delicious Cajun Spiced Bass and Chive Dressing has been expertly designed by our chefs as a lighter option to help with a balanced lifestyle.

35 minutes, Serves 2

1 Baking Potato 1 Sweet Potato 1 Garlic Clove 1/2 Lemon 1 bunch Chives 100g Chopped Cavolo Nero 2 Sea Bass Fillets 1 sachet Cajun Spice Mix Olive oil

Step 1 Preheat oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas mark 7. Chop the potato and sweet potato into 2cm chunks (no need to peel). Place into a large baking tray, drizzle with oil, season with salt and pepper then toss to coat. Spread out in a single layer.

When the oven is hot, roast on the top shelf until golden, 25-30 mins. Turn halfway through.

Step 2 Peel and crush garlic. Zest and halve the lemon. Finely chop the chives (use scissors if easier). TIP Discard any tough stalks from the cavolo nero at this stage.

Step 4 Drizzle the sea bass with 1 tbsp olive oil, season with salt and half the Cajun spice mix. Rub this onto both sides of the fish.

In a small bowl, mix the remaining Cajun spice mix with half the chives, a pinch of lemon zest, a squeeze of lemon juice and 2 more tbsp olive oil. Season with salt and set the chive dressing to one side.

Step 5 Heat a drizzle of oil in a large frying pan on high heat. Add the cavolo nero and a splash of water and cover until wilted, 3-4 mins. Remove the lid, add the garlic and stir-fry for 1 min more. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to a large bowl and cover to keep warm.

Wipe out your (now empty) frying pan and pop on medium-high heat (no oil). Once hot, carefully place your sea bass into the pan, skin-side down and cook for 3-4 mins on both sides. TIP To get crispy skin on the fish, don’t move it around when it’s cooking skin-side down.

Step 6 When the potatoes are cooked, add them to your bowl of cavolo nero and roughly mash. Mix in a knob of butter (optional) and the remaining chives. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve your mash topped with the Cajun spiced sea bass and a drizzle of chive dressing. Chop any remaining lemon into wedges and serve alongside for squeezing over. Enjoy!

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• 4 STARS albums • albums

As producer Bernard Butler and actress Jessie Buckley share their new musical collaboration, Fiona Shepherd fi nds out whether the creative pair of stars are, indeed, a match made in heaven

Quiet man guitar ace Bernard Butler has a good record for collaboration, whether with his Suede frontman foil Brett Anderson before that relationship imploded, or making angelic devilment with David McAlmont. His latest partnership, with Oscar-nominated actress Jessie Buckley, arrives out of the blue and with a blank canvas (excuse the mixed metaphors) after a friend played musical match-maker and the pair bonded over their shared Irish heritage.

Buckley is best known for her roles in Judy, Beast, Fargo and the Glasgow-set Wild Rose, a showcase for the gutsy vocals she’s also put to good use in her musical-theatre career. For All Our Days That Tear The Heart is a more leftfi eld project, however, with an intrigue akin to encountering Scarlett Johansson’s Tom Waits covers album or Alicia Witt’s piano pop: what will such a fi ne character actress produce in the role of ‘Jessie Buckley’?

She displays her chops from the off with some multi-tracked harmonic ululation, before demonstrating the light and shade in her delivery on ‘The Eagle And The Dove’. This opening track is named after a Vita Sackville-West book on saints but infused with Hemingway-like bullfi ghting allusions. As gentle cello gives way to a torrid fl amenco fl urry, it’s clear that all ideas are on the table and up for exploitation.

The duo are unapologetic in mining their literary and artistic infl uences throughout the album. ‘Twenty Years A-Growing’ is inspired by Maurice O’Sullivan’s memoir, set in Buckley’s home county of Kerry, though musically its moody, bendy bass and acid guitar evoke Californian psych blues, while the soulful roots piano ballad ‘Shallow The Water’ takes its title from a poem by Tim Buckley (not that Tim, but Jessie’s dad). Butler fl aunts his love of Bert Jansch’s dexterous melodic picking with his scurrying acoustic blues guitar on ‘Babylon Days’, while Buckley’s rich alto duets with Alice Zawadzki’s folky violin parts. In a blind tasting, you could easily mistake this for a Laura Marling song. Buckley, however, is an all-rounder, not a strict stylist, equally capable of turning in a one-mic, one-take heartworn country ballad in the shape of ‘Beautiful Regret’ or an intimate jazz vocal on the torch song ‘Seven Red Rose Tattoos’, accompanied by sonorous piano and Byron Wallen’s mute trumpet. Other collaborators join the general scenic exploration. Composer Sally Herbert provides the exultant string arrangement of ‘Footnotes On The Map’, while folk singer Sam Lee teams with Butler to create the warm echo of the backing chorus. Elsewhere on a varied trip, ‘We’ve Run The Distance’ is a robust folk rocker, redolent of widescreen 80s Celtic pop acts such as The Adventures. The fl uent mixing of guitar, string and piano fl ourishes on ‘We Haven’t Spoke About The Weather’ produces a classy, jazz-infl ected pop sound, not unlike some of Adele’s most recent material. Although the subtly persuasive ForAll OurDaysThatTeartheHeart is almost certainly bound for a smaller, more discerning audience.