A very special mention to Vivienne Fisher, who was a tremendous support to me throughout the composition of this book. I did name a character after her, but when this character took on a life of her own, one far removed from the adorable Vivienne I had come to know and cherish, I felt uncomfortable, so I changed my character's name to Shirley. I am saddened that Vivienne never had the chance to read this novel. Her love of Lanzarote matches my own and I will never think of the island again without recalling her.
I travelled to Lanzarote in 2016 to research the story. I am deeply grateful to all who offered me their time freely while I was there. Special thanks to Jerry Lefever for showing me sites of interest and sharing his view of Lanzarote's recent history, and to Nuria Roach Casares and all at The Mix radio show for their ongoing support. My gratitude to Angela Webster for translating in a meeting and providing me with valuable research material, and to the César Manrique Foundation for providing me with an account of their own fight against corruption. I am indebted to Ezequiel Navio Vasseur for his structural overview of Lanzarote's political scene and for his account of the struggle to protect the island's fragile environment. I am grateful to Bettina Bork of Arte de Obra, who gave up her time to talk about her experiences on the island, to No Oil Canarias, whose campaign against the oil giants is ongoing, and to others whom I shall not name, who gave up their time to talk with me about their knowledge of Lanzarote's corruption scandals.
I could not have written this story without Michelle Lovi, publisher at Odyssey Books, who travelled with me to Lanzarote and drove me to all of my meetings. Her willingness to participate in the adventure and accommodate my itinerary is above and beyond anything an author can hope to expect from their publisher. I am eternally grateful.
My sincere thanks to Miika Hannila and the team at Next Chapter publishing for having faith in my writing and nurturing its progress through to publication.
Author's Note
In researching the background for this novel, I consulted numerous newspaper articles, too many to mention. Anyone wanting a fuller account of Lanzarote's corruption story would do well to read this paper. “Can't control/won't control: opportunities and deterrents for local urban corruption in Lanzarote” García-Quesada, M., Jiménez, F. & Villoria, M. Crime Law Soc Change (2015) 63: 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-014-9549-z
It is the task of the author of a work of fiction to entertain, not educate. I took what I had learned and created a fanciful and completely fictitious story. No one appearing in A Matter of Latitude is based on or even alludes to a real figure, and I have no knowledge of any corruption scandal similar to the one I have portrayed.
I have attempted to offer a fair and balanced portrait of corruption on Lanzarote within the very tight confines of fiction, offering a variety of perspectives. The views of the characters are not my own. I have tried to avoid naming individuals known publicly to have been involved in corruption scandals in deference to those individuals and their families. The truth is always fuzzy and complex. I have adopted a measured and reasonable approach in certain passages of exposition, mindful that I am not judge and jury. There is much that can be said, and there is much that I would have liked to include, but which the story did not permit. For a comprehensive understanding of the facts, the reader must always consult works of non-fiction. I offer this story with all sincerity as a contribution to raising awareness of the vital issue of corruption and its effects on the environment, an issue that affects not just Lanzarote, but the whole world.
About the Author
A Londoner originally, Isobel Blackthorn has chalked up over seventy addresses to date, in various locations in England, Australia, Spain and the Canary Islands. Elements of her extraordinary life have a habit of finding their way into her fiction, providing her with a ready supply of inspiration.
Isobel grew up in and around Adelaide, South Australia as a ten-pound Pom. It was in 1973 and she had just turned eleven when she discovered she wanted to dedicate her life to writing fiction. That was the year her parents owned a roadhouse with a pool table, a juke box and a pinball machine. The year she hand-reared a lamb and spent weekends on her best friend's farm. Isobel may have pursued her dream right then, but life had other plans.
Isobel returned with her family to spend her teenage years back in London, where she attended the infamous Eltham Green Comprehensive in the year below Boy George. Her creative passion was crushed in an instant and she endured years of relentless bullying.
When her family returned to Australia once more, Isobel stayed behind. By then she was a rebellious nineteen, and she went on to live wild and free through the 1980s. She first moved to Norwich, where she satisfied her creative impulses writing maudlin song lyrics inspired by Joy Division, and little bits of poetry. Her desire to write novels never went away but she lacked the confidence, the skills and that all too crucial guidance.
She soon moved to Oxford where she became a political activist in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, often protesting at Greenham Common. She lived for a time in Barcelona, teaching English as a Second Language. After another spell in Oxford, she moved to a squat near Brixton in London's south. From there she moved to Lanzarote, where she renovated an old stone ruin, taught English and mingled with the locals.
She never planned leaving the island of her dreams, but she fell wildly in love with a man who swept her away to Bali. When it slowly dawned on her that her life might be at risk, she hightailed it to Australia on a holiday visa and reunited with her family.
During all this time, Isobel was studying for her undergraduate degree with the Open University. She graduated with First Class Honours and not a clue what to do with it.
After that reckless decade, life took a sobering turn. Isobel became the mother of twin girls, and trained and worked as a high school teacher. Deciding teaching was not for her, she then undertook a doctorate. She received her PhD in 2006 for her research on the works of Theosophist Alice A. Bailey. After an interlude as a back-to-earther and a brief spell as personal assistant to a literary agent, Isobel arrived at writing in her forties. By then, her creativity was ready to explode.
Isobel's stories are as diverse as her life has been. She speaks and performs her literary works at events in a range of settings, gives workshops in creative writing, and writes book reviews. Her reviews have appeared in Shiny New Books, Newtown Review of Books and Trip Fiction. She talks frequently about books and writing on radio, in Australia, and in the USA, UK and the Canary Islands.
Isobel now lives with her little white cat not far from Melbourne on Australia's wild southern coast. In her free time, she enjoys gardening, learning Spanish, visiting family and friends and travelling overseas, especially to her beloved Lanzarote, an island that has captured her heart.
An avid storyteller with much to say, the author's professional ambition is to keep writing suspenseful novels set on the Canary Islands, interspersed with other works of fiction.
Books by the Author
A Matter of Latitude
Clarissa's Warning
The Unlikely Occultist
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Clarissa's Warning by Isobel Blackthorn
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