Stephanie Butland talks novels, transplants and breast cancer at Rochdale festival

Northumberland-born author and breast cancer survivor, Stephanie Butland, joined literary lovers on Thursday (18 October) at Rochdale Town Hall for another Rochdale Literature & Ideas Festival sold out event.

Attendees enjoyed afternoon tea style refreshments as fresh cakes, scones and sandwiches were accompanied with tea and coffee. A book stall was available to purchase signed copies of Stephanie’s books before meeting the author herself.

Hosted by Helen Nugent, freelance journalist and editor of Northern Soul magazine, Stephanie discussed her latest novel ‘The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae’ in an informal interview, followed by questions from the audience.

The book – Stephanie’s fourth novel but first fictional tale – follows the story of Ailsa Rae, who is learning to live ‘normally’ after a heart transplant.

 

 

Stephanie said: “This novel is about a period of stepping into the real world and all the things that are difficult about it, for someone who hasn’t experienced it in so long. Ailsa’s character just wants to be normal and do well.

“The idea of the story came to me in my kitchen; I was listening to the radio when I heard the phrase ‘sometimes you need to look at things through someone else’s eyes’ and I just couldn’t get that out of my head. For some bizarre reason, it made me think about transplants and having somebody else as part of your body, I wanted to write about what that experience was like.

“I started talking to people who had undergone transplants and the experts who conduct them, but I was really drawn to heart transplants after meeting a heart surgeon at Great Ormond Street Hospital who invited me to watch a heart surgery.

“We always think about how transplants are extraordinary, but if you look up the definition of extraordinary it states ‘very unusual or remarkable’ - transplants are not extraordinary because people need them all the time. The idea of a transplant isn’t unusual for some, it needs to be the most ordinary thing in the world.”

 

 

Now thriving after her battle with breast cancer 10 years ago, Stephanie’s writing career kick-started when she wrote a blog portraying her thoughts and feelings during her most difficult time. ‘The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae’ focuses on the journey to recovery and learning to be normal again, like Stephanie after her journey with cancer.

Describing her first non-fiction novel ‘How I Said Bah! to Cancer,’ she continued: “I went through surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and all kinds of drug trials and I had a lot of concern that people wanted to know what was happening, but I didn’t want to say anything out loud. Blogging my experience was a useful way of processing what was occurring.

“I always wanted to be a writer from the age of seven, so the experience just re-connected me with my love of writing. I published a book that I wish I would have had during my treatment.”

Her next novel ‘The Woman in the Photograph’ will be published in July 2019.