![]() I knew I'd have to give myself to the book completely, full time, for as long as it took.Ī. James Michener led the way and I owe him a huge debt. I'd read and liked several of his books, especially Chesapeake, which has a lyrical quality. ![]() James Michener invented this genre, an act of literary genius, really. This was when Michener became the model, I imagine.Ī. The book kept growing in my mind until I couldn't see any other way to do it. The more I thought about the place and its history, the more the subject seemed to demand it. You had a subject, but Sarum is a novel covering ten thousand years, from the Ice Age to the present day. Then it hit me: of course, that's it, the subject has to be Sarum. I was just standing there, staring at the painting. ![]() And as I was staring at the painting, the whole of my early childhood came back to me with a great rush, the magical presence of the place, of Salisbury Plain and Stonehenge. It has a wonderful painting by Constable of Salisbury Cathedral, seen across a meadowland. The idea of Sarum came to me quite suddenly one day in New York, in the Frick Museum. For about three months I thought about several projects, but none seemed right. You decided to write Sarum straight away?Ī. ![]()
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