Bad Archive by Flora Feltham. There are all kinds of writing calling themselves all kinds of things out in the wonderful world of books. This past month I encountered ‘Creative Non-fiction’ for the first time.
It happened just as Raynor Winn was being hammered in the media for effectively lying in her memoir ‘The Salt Path’. Where does Creative non-fiction end and Memoir begin? What is a ‘true story’ anyway? It’s an interesting debate to have in book clubs or around the dinner table in this age of fake news.
The author of ‘Bad Archive’, Flora Feltham clarifies the category in her Author’s Note at the back of the book. If you don’t usually read the extra bits like author’s notes in books, I would encourage you to do so. You find out all sorts of stuff when you do. ‘Bad Archive’ is non-fiction, “because it conveys facts and describes real events, people and experiences: creative because it is also a work of memory and imagination”. She had me right there – such a clear and alluring description.
Flora is a writer and a weaver, and the book is a collection of essays loosely strung together with themes of archiving, memory, storytelling, family, grief and honesty. She is funny and disarmingly candid recalling her life in a landscape that will be familiar to many. Loss,mental illness, addiction and jealousy all make an appearance as do joy, contentment, hope and humour. The writing is gentle even when examining hard things. It is skilful and without pretence. When you reach the end, you may find like I did that you know more about Meccano and party drugs that you ever thought you would but you definitely want Flora Feltham to write more books. Available at your local bookshop.
