Where did the idea for London-set satire Page Three come from?
From my own early experiences in London. I arrived from Sydney in late 2004 and like [the book’s character] Paul Fletcher, I had
a plan to change careers. I’d given up law to be a freelance writer, but didn’t have the contacts to make it happen. Also like Paul and Sarah, my wife and I had unrealistic ideas. We’d spent all our money travelling, so the first few months we were broke. Most of my London friends were lawyers or bankers, which gave me this sense of downward mobility. There was always this tension about finding a solution – going back to law or going home. It gave rise to the book.
Where does Paul stop and Ralph begin?
Our backgrounds are similar. Like Paul, I became a corporate lawyer as I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I was expected to work 70-hour weeks in a job I hated. Not a recipe for happiness. I found myself asking ‘is this all there is to life?’.
What appealed to you about the law?
I drifted into it because I was unsure what I wanted to pursue. I enjoyed language, liked the sound of my own voice and had a huge bias towards the humanities at school. Everyone said I should be a lawyer, so I believed them. Studying it was fun because it was all about philosophy and history and the things I enjoyed.
Do you ever regret you chose a lower-paid career?
I’d like to say no, but the truth is sometimes it’s hard not to feel a little jealous when your best friends have stayed the course and have so much more money than you and can enjoy a different quality of life. Still, I have my happiness … wow, that sounds pretty vomitus.
You say of Paul Fletcher’s experience that “beneath the partying lies a divided culture where reality is dictated not just by the company you keep but also the media you consume”…
I think what we like counts for so much. Because the British media is so diverse, it’s easy to only read or watch things that agree with what we already think, so we never really end up challenging ourselves. It also means the competition is cut-throat, and that leads to the temptation to make things up. Page Three is intended to be satirical and tongue-in-cheek.
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You’ve said your own story is far more sordid than Paul’s …
I was 30 when I arrived, but my time in London was like a second youth. I drank more those four years than in the rest of my life put together, mainly just because it’s the culture of the place. Almost all of our socialising was at the pub and, even when it wasn’t, we’d always end up there. I once got drunk one Saturday night at home and went on eBay – I woke up in the morning the proud owner of a campervan called Rudi.
What did you expect of London?
Probably that I was going to experience the same London I had as a tourist. One of the things that surprised me the most was the massive gap between rich and poor in London, which we’re certainly not used to in Australia. When you fall on the wrong side of the equation, London can be a pretty tough place, and this is something that Page Three tries to look at.
Did you ever have second thoughts?
Yes, for the first six months or so I thought London was the worst place on earth. We arrived in winter and we were unemployed, broke and out of our comfort zones.
What three things sum up London? The weather, the pubs and the overwhelming feeling you’re at the centre of the world. Is there a lack of cultural awareness in Australia?
Yes and no – you only need listen to our politicians to know introspection isn’t always big on our agenda. We’re an optimistic and materialistic country and that doesn’t lend itself to self-reflection. Also, Aussies don’t like to come across as ‘up themselves’, so we’re never going to be like France, where philosophical discussions make prime time TV. But beneath that, you only need listen to the lyrics of some of the best Aussie pub-rock anthems to know that there is some real soul searching going on.
How do you feel about UK tabloids?
One of the issues in Page Three is how the British media builds up someone, who doesn’t do anything, into a celebrity. I don’t lie awake worrying about that, but it is kind of sad. Like all sensationalist media, the tabloids are about heroes and villains. If you become one of their villains, you’d better watch out … However, the phone hacking was as low as it gets.
Page Three: A Very London Story is available as an ebook from Amazon, iBooks, smashwords.com and online retailers now
