'My father was secret agent 007, long before James Bond'
Tomas Ross is the Dutch grandmaster of the faction novel, a genre mixing fact and fiction. In 1980, he published his first thriller The dogs of betrayal on the freedom struggle of the South Moluccans. He now has over 70 titles to his name and also writes screenplays for films and TV series, such as 06/05 of Theo van Gogh and the series Bernhard Schavuit van Oranje. His father was active in the resistance during the war and was one of the first secret agents of the BVD.
Secret intelligence plays a role in much of Tomas Ross's work, as does World War II. That is also the case in this thriller The Viceroy of India, also the second part of a trilogy about the Netherlands and Indonesia just after World War II (1945 -1950).
Excerpts from the podcast:
Your father had an eventful but secret life. When did you hear he was a James Bond avant la lettre?
'I did not know until I was 16 that my father was in the secret service. We always had to say he was a civil servant in the Home Office. He was but it was much more exciting than that. By the way, my father was the original number 7. I once saw that on his badge, a green pass with the number 007 on it, long before James Bond. His frustration was that he could never tell anything about his work. As it turned out, my mother did not even know after his death that he interrogated the infamous traitor King Kong. My father, without knowing it himself of course, pushed me to write books like this. He died quite young when I was 27. A very charming, mysterious man. My first books are all about him and intelligence.'
When did you know this genre faction wanted to write?
'My inspiration was The Day of the Jackal by Forsyth. He combined fiction with facts in that book. I thought that was a great way to tell histories that journalists or historians cannot tell because the archives or sources are no longer there. They - rightly - have to justify everything, but as a novelist you don't have to. I always look for stories that still have a lot of holes in them. As a faction writer, you can create order out of chaos. I often get the reproach that with me, the reader doesn't know when the truth ends and the fiction begins. I don't find that a reproach but a compliment. Then the reader goes along with the story.'
How precise are you with the facts and details?
'I think details are very important for giving couleur locale and then I also think the facts should be correct. For example, in this book, which is set in spring 1947, it says that a film with Ava Gardner is running in Tuschinski, The Killers. That was really the case in May 1947. You have to be able to control it. You just shouldn't overdo it. In my first books, I used to exaggerate. Until an editor mockingly wrote in the margin 'gosh, how much do you know'. Then I thought, oh yes, it's an exciting book and not a history lesson or an episode of Teleac.'
How did you come up with the idea for the story of this book?
'By the book HRH by Jort Kelder and Harry Veenendaal, in which they make it plausible that Prince Bernhard wanted to become viceroy of the East Indies.'
Prince Bernhard often turns up in your books. Did he ever call you angrily?
'Not directly but through my publisher Robbert Ammerlaan with whom Bernhard was good friends. Ammerlaan has in a vault at home 800 cassette tapes recorded by Bernhard with his memoirs, which he is not allowed to publish. That is an agreement between him and the Royal Household. However much I urged him, for instance about the Greet Hofmans affair I wrote about - he is my publisher, by the way - he wouldn't let me hear anything.'
The main fictional characters in The Viceroy of India are Arnie Springer and Henry Meertens. Who are they?
'Meertens is an idealistic communist based on Poncke Princen. Princen chose the Indonesians out of idealism. My character Meertens was in the KNIL and deserted. He wants to support the Indonesians' fight against us.
Arnie Springer also appears in Of the dead nothing but good the first part of this trilogy. I named it after my hero F. Springer who wrote beautifully about the East Indies. He is commissioned by Drees to prevent Meertens from succeeding in his mission to build a mercenary army.'
About this podcast
The podcast series The Story features writers talking about their books. The interviews are nice and long, about 45 minutes so there is plenty of time to go deeper into the content. Both fiction and non-fiction and more or less weekly. Also with famous and less famous Dutch and Flemish writers.
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