British author Mark Haddon writes about family and sexual abuse

Author of The Porpoise Mark Haddon says nearly all novels come back to the family or some version of it

British novelist Mark Haddon's fourth adult novel is based on Shakespeare's play Pericles, Prince Of Tyre.
British novelist Mark Haddon's fourth adult novel is based on Shakespeare's play Pericles, Prince Of Tyre. PHOTO: CHARLES MORIARTY
Olivia Ho
Assistant Life Editor
Updated
Sep 17, 2019, 04:46 PM
Published
Sep 17, 2019, 05:00 AM
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While writing his latest novel, The Porpoise, British author Mark Haddon gave a character a heart attack.

It is described in great detail - the calcified lumps, the collapse of the heart's four chambers into "one wrecked vessel of twitching flesh in which the blood pools and squelches".

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on September 17, 2019, with the headline British author Mark Haddon writes about family and sexual abuse. Subscribe

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