Father of One
by Jani Anttola

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GENRE: War Novel / Literary Fiction

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BOOK BLURB:

Maka, a young Bosnian soldier, has survived three years under siege. When the enemy forces launch their final attack on his hometown, he must escape to the hills. But traversing the vast woods is a task against all odds: to stay alive, and to find his infant son and his wife, he is soon forced to make a desperate move.

Set against the harrowing background of raging guerrilla warfare and the genocide in Srebrenica, Father of One is, at heart, a story of deep humanity, compassion and love. It is the account of one man’s desire to reunite his family, separated by war, and of bonds unbroken by trauma, sustained by loyalty and tenacity. Writing in a voice that rings with clarity and authenticity, Jani Anttola lays open a dark moment in Europe’s recent history.

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EXCERPT:

This is it.

He would shoot some of them, then kill himself with the last one.

Maka counted his rounds. One in the chamber, four in the magazine. That was enough. And he had the grenade. He clipped off a cartridge and put it in his pocket. How many could he get? One? Two? More? He decided on three. A good number. He’d kill two on the road, then at least one more with the grenade when they stormed the house.

Three lives for his. It sounded like some sort of a deal.

He placed the muzzle of the automatic rifle into the rugged hole and took aim at the nearest soldier. He was about thirty metres away. Maka would drop him with a single slug. But when he looked at the man through the sights, over the blued metal of the gun, he felt bitter about dying this way. He knew the man outside was there to kill him and his kin, but what if he, too, was somebody’s father? He was probably in his forties and distantly resembled a clerk who had worked in the post office in Srebrenica. This Chetnik also wore a šajkača, with its V-shaped top making his head look like a pig’s hoof. He had a messy stubble and a moustache that seemed to hang from his long, thin nose, as he stood under the sun with weary eyes.

So, you’re here to kill me?

It’s you who’s going to die now. But I don’t do this because I like it.

If there were a way to leave this situation without killing anybody, let alone himself, Maka would do so. Just it was too late. It was far too much, and nothing could get it undone. He positioned the sights in the middle of the man’s chest and calmed his breathing down. He took the slack out of the trigger, until he felt the tiny resistance of the firing mechanism in his fingertip.

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AUTHOR INTERVIEW:

Are the experiences in this book based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

Yes, the story is closely based on someone I know, this Bosnian couple. I sat down with them for a series of interviews, then constructed the novel based on what had happened to them during the war. It’s an accurate account, but a work of fiction in the sense that there’s a lot of my interpretation and many of the side characters and such are fictional. But those also I created based on people who had been there, or who could have been there. I mixed up some things and added a few things. I had myself been a soldier in the Bosnian army, and I weaved in a couple of details from what I’d seen and experienced in the war. But it’s not my story at all.

Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?

Of course, I like to know what the reader’s experience was. You can always take something home, especially from the critical ones. There’s no need to “deal” with either good or bad reviews. The reader always interprets your work through their own lens, so their response is always valid, even when it’s different from what you intended.

What, in your opinion, are the most important elements of good writing?

A good story and a good technique. I see some writers who’ve honed their technique through practice and studying, so their prose is well polished, but the things they have to say are very pedestrian. I guess when most of us lead somewhat boring lives, it tends to result in boring narratives. Then there are the ones with interesting ideas, the kind that could contribute something to humanity if only they understood some basic creative writing rules. “Rules” and “creative” sounds like an oxymoron, but they’re there for a reason. Then you have the painful types who can’t handle either element, and finally those rare, brilliant ones who master both. I don’t know which category I fall into. That’s up to my readers to determine. But I’m of course trying not to be in the first three.

What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?

I believe that if you understand basic human psychology and have normal empathic skills, it shouldn’t matter much what your character’s gender is. One thing we men sometimes forget, though, is that for many women, the daily power imbalances and fear of gender-based violence are very real. If a male writer can weave that sentiment into his female character, he’s doing pretty well.

What are you reading now?

I often alternate between two or three books. Now I’m reading Steinbeck’s "East of Eden," and Coetzee’s "Life & Times of Michael K." Magnificent works, both.

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AUTHOR BIO & LINK:

Jani Anttola is a Finnish novelist and a medical doctor. In the 1990s he served in Rwanda with the French military and fought in Bosnia as a soldier of the Bosnian army. His works have been published in the UK and Finland. He has spent most of his adult life abroad, working in Africa, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific.

Author Website:

https://www.jani-anttola.com

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