In three recent reviews of three
different books of mine, the subject of endings has come up. Two of these reviews were thorough,
in-depth reviews – always worth their weight in gold - the other a four-liner. But
what they all had in common was the feeling that my endings were rather
abrupt. The fact that these three
reviews came close together in time, regarding three different books of mine,
prompted me to write this blog. It’s always good to be challenged and also to
know the effect of your writing on your readers.
The four-line reviewer felt that
Thalidomide Kid ‘was so rushed in the last chapter that it was almost like the
author was trying to beat a deadline and just whipped out the ending rather
than finish the story’ and ‘felt cheated of a conclusion’. In reality, nothing
could be further from the truth! I spent a lot of time writing and polishing
the book with the help of my then publisher. Although my publisher made several suggestions for
improvements, interestingly enough, none of them included extending the ending.
Another very favourable review for Fall Of The Flamingo Circus states: ‘My only issue with the book, and it’s a small
one, was the ending. It just sort of happened. Lauren’s life didn’t seem
resolved in any way. However, I guess diaries do just that, one day you’re
writing one, the other you’re not. This though is a personal view. I like
stories to close off.’ More about
that later.
The third review of Did You Whisper Back? - another thorough in-depth critique - gets to the heart of my
intentions when I end a book. The
reviewer states: ‘The ending is abrupt which I’m assuming is a deliberate
intent to show that a) there are no happy endings and b) there are not really
endings in life and c) what we are looking at is a very small beacon of hope, a
very small new beginning rather than an ending…I can live with that abruptness
because I think it’s stylistically intentional.’
It’s very satisfying for writers when
readers and reviewers ‘get’ your intentions. I don’t go in for long drawn-out endings. I hold my hands up, guilty as
charged! This is because I have an
aversion to the sort of endings, be it in books or in films (especially films)
that dot every ‘i’ and cross every ‘t’.
When that happens I find myself wanting it to end in the perfect place
which for me is leaving a bit to the imagination, a bit of mystery, a bit of
ambiguity, wanting a bit more. There’s a tradition in European dramas and films
to understate endings and not to overdo them which is perhaps lacking in the UK
and the US tradition.
In literary fiction, there is more a
tradition of the fluid or ambiguous ending. But if you are used to reading genre fiction with different
expectations of endings then this may jar and leave you feeling disappointed or
frustrated.
My brother had an altogether different
explanation for readers’ perceptions of endings. He thought it may be a gender
thing and he may well be right.
The need for something ‘to close off’ and the feeling of being ‘cheated
of a conclusion’ were both from a male perspective, whereas the reviewer for Did You Whisper Back? was female.
OK, I know this isn’t scientific evidence but it did get me
wondering.
This is where I’d love to have your
feedback and thoughts. Feel free to knock these theories down in flames! Do you have
expectations of how a book should end?
Do you like everything to be tied up or do you like a bit of
mystery? Do you have different
expectations from different genres?
And do you think there are gender differences?
Finally, thank you for reading and many
thanks to those who have taken the time and trouble to read and review my books
so meticulously.
