What “Bog Bodies” and the TRC Have to Do With Alastair Bruce’s Wall of Days

by Amanda on Aug 19th, 2011

In an interview with Foyles, Alastair Bruce discusses the influences behind his novel, Wall of Days, which recently appeared on the Guardian‘s “Not the Booker Prize” longlist and has been scheduled for publication in the UK. Bruce reveals that he developed the story’s themes of silence and isolation in the aftermath of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. His fascination with the discovery of the Tollund Man and other “bog bodies” also came into play:

What was the starting point for the development of the story?

A long time ago I wrote a short story about a man living in a cave. One day he spies another approaching across the desert floor below. The man does not speak and his silence creates unease in the cave dweller. The story ends with the killing of the cave dweller by the stranger.

When writing the novel I developed the story’s themes and ideas around silence and isolation and probed further the question of why both of these men found themselves in such an isolated place. When I started the novel, South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation commission was winding down and the country was grappling with collective historical guilt and forgiveness and that’s reflected in the novel.

Another influence was that I was fascinated by the Tollund Man and discoveries of other ‘bog bodies’. The way they are perfectly preserved by nature over thousands of years and the debates over how some of them met their ends is intriguing.