Interview with Georgie Codd, author of We Swim to the Shark
Georgie Codd, author of We Swim to the Shark, recommends a fascinating range of books! Before jumping into the interview, please check out Georgie's book:
Review from Easons:
Georgie Codd is scared of fish. Really, really scared. She has spent her life beside the water, but won't so much as paddle in it. Even on dry land there's no escape: Georgie sees sharks in the dining room, squid tentacles in the street, has nightmares of being stranded at sea. She decides that the answer to overcoming this fear lies in travelling to Thailand, learning to dive and swimming with the biggest fish in the world: the massive, mighty whale shark. Could this immersive therapy actually work? There's only one way to find out.
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We Swim to the Shark
Georgie quits her job, leaves her life behind and plunges into a realm of strange creatures, hidden depths and intrepid diving adventurers. But as her quest expands across the oceans, her shark remains elusive and everything else starts to fall apart around her. For readers of The Outrun and The Salt Path, We Swim to the Shark is a meditation on diving, grief and what it takes to face our greatest fears. What readers are saying about We Swim to the Shark : 'Part travelogue, part odyssey and completely engaging.
Buy On:
Easons €20.99
Book Depository €11.50
Waterstones £9.99
Wordery $13.02
Q. Do you have a favourite smart thinking book (and why that book)?
I'm an enormous fan of What Is The What by Dave Eggers. The book has been described as a "biographical novel", with Eggers using his writing powers to relay the true tale of Valentino Achak Deng, a Sudanese refugee who is also Eggers' friend. Their collaboration covers Achak's experiences of the Sudanese civil war, and his extraordinary early life story. I found it so readable, relatable and gripping. Such a smart way to educate - and captivate - an audience.
Review From Book Depository:
What is the What is Dave Eggers's astonishing novel about one of the world's most brutal civil wars
Valentino Achak Deng is just a boy when conflict separates him from his family and forces him to leave his small Sudanese village, joining thousands of other orphans on their long, long walk to Ethiopia, where they find safety - for a time. Along the way Valentino encounters enemy soldiers, liberation rebels and deadly militias, hyenas and lions, disease and starvation. But there are experiences ahead that will test his spirit in even greater ways than these . . .
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What is the What
Truly epic in scope, and told with expansive humanity, deep compassion and unexpected humour, What is the What is an eye-opening account of life amid the madness of war and an unforgettable tale of tragedy and triumph.
Buy On:
Book Depository €11.16
Waterstones £10.99
Wordery $13.18
Q. What's the most recent smart thinking book you've read (and how would you rate it)?
I've been finding it hard to concentrate through most of the lockdown period, but was excited recently to finish an advance copy of Raceless by Georgina Lawton. [Disclaimer: I'm interviewing Lawton for a new podcast, NonFicPod, which is launching in spring 2021.] Raceless explores Lawton's journey towards understanding her identity as transracial - i.e. a mixed race woman whose parents are both white. She engages closely with the deep psychological effects of being raised to overlook her own blackness. This was a storyline I hadn't read before, but, as Lawton uncovers during the course of the book, is not as rare as some might think. I found Lawton to be a very dependable, trustworthy narrator; a candid and likeable guide to the themes of race, family and secrecy.
Review From Book Depository:
Ideas from our parents form the backbone to our identities, the bedrock to personal truths that we recite and remember like prayers from Church or poems from school. But they condition us in more powerful ways than lessons from any book or religion ever could. Now the tale had been destroyed. So what did that mean about who I thought I was?'
In Georgina Lawton's childhood home, her Blackness was never acknowledged; the obvious fact of her brown skin, ignored by her white parents. Over time, secrets and a complex family story became accepted as truth and Georgina found herself complicit in the erasure of her racial identity.
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Raceless: In Search of Family, Identity, and the Truth About Where I Belong
It was only when her beloved father died that the truth began to emerge. Fleeing the shattered pieces of her family life and the comfortable, suburban home she grew up in, at age 22 Georgina went in search of answers - embarking on a journey that took her around the world, to the DNA testing industry, and to countless others, whose identities have been questioned, denied or erased.
What do you do when your heritage or parentage has been obscured in a complex web of deceit?
How can you discuss race with your family, when you each see the world differently?
When a personal identity has been wrongly constructed, how do you start again? Raceless is both the compelling personal account of a young woman seeking her own story amid devastating family secrets, and a fascinating, challenging and essential examination of modern racial identity.
Buy On:
Book Depository €16.34
Waterstones £14.99
Wordery $22.41
Q. Do you have a favourite childhood book?
Absolutely - several. But the one that had the biggest impact on me is one I probably shouldn't have been reading at the time: Switch Bitch by Roald Dahl, which is a short story collection for adults. I found a copy on my mum's bookshelves when I was about 11, was attracted by Dahl's familiar name, and quickly became fascinated by his twisted content and playful narrative tricks. I still aim to generate the same feelings for readers as this wily book did for me.
Review From Book Depository
In Switch Bitch four tales of seduction and suspense are told by the grand master of the short story, Roald Dahl.
Topping and tailing this collection are The Visitor and Bitch, stories featuring Dahl's notorious hedonist Oswald Hendryks Cornelius (or plain old Uncle Oswald) whose exploits are frequently as extraordinary as they are scandalous. In the middle, meanwhile, are The Great Switcheroo and The Last Act, two stories exploring a darker side of desire and pleasure.
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Switch Bitch
In the black comedies of Switch Bitch Roald Dahl brilliantly captures the ins and outs, highs and lows of sex.
Buy On:
Easons €12.60
Book Depository €8.76
Waterstones £8.99
Wordery $11.95
Q. Do you prefer reading on paper, Kindle or listening to an audiobook?
Although I love to listen to a good story with my eyes shut - especially after a long day looking at screens - my top choice would be paper all the way. Few things feel more homely to me than a room stuffed full of books.
Q. Do you have a favourite bookshop (and why that shop)?
I love the selection and atmosphere at the Broadway Bookshop, Hackney. The staff there were very supportive of We Swim to the Shark when the hardback was launched. Their enthusiasm came at a time when I was feeling pretty anxious about it being released. I so appreciated the kindness they showed me.
Many thanks to Georgie for recommending a fascinating range of books! Please don't forget to check out her book We Swim to the Shark.
Daryl
Image Copyrights: Fleet(We Swim To The Shark), Penguin Books Ltd (What is the What, Switch Bitch), Little, Brown Book Group (We Swim To The Shark, Raceless).
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