Ask the Author: David Dodds
Answered Questions (2)
David Dodds
I don't really have a mysterious life, if I'm honest. The question of who ate the last slice of pizza is rarely difficult - usually me! But family history can throw up some fascinating mysteries - each old letter or document we uncover ofter provides more questions that answers.
I recently inherited a box of documents about my grandfather, Alfred Dodds. Both my father and grandfather waited to marry and have children, so there's a 77 year gap between my grandfather's birth date and mine, which means Alfred lived in a very different world to me and yet I never knew him. What was he like?
Alfred was born into a well-heeled glass-making family in Gateshead and he was brought up in a world where transport required a horse or a steam train, when lighting was usually by gas and when communications involved either a hand-written letter or a telegram.
When millions of men were dying on the Western Front during World War 1 he was nowhere to be seen, and now I know why. He spent 1916 in a sanatorium in Switzerland, being treated for Tuberculosis. This is a horrible respiratory disease that killed or disabled many, but was under control in the UK before I was even born.
Alfred must have recovered from TB, because he rose to be a manager for Barclays Bank before retiring during World War 2, but there must have been lasting effects. There are various records of his athletic prowess before he caught TB, but a photograph from the 1920's shows him posing in a heavy overcoat, alongside a football team. That must surely have been frustrating for him.
Alfred died in 1964, at the age of 76. He lived a whole life and is genetically very close to me, and yet I only have brief snippets about him and can never truly know him. Now that's a mystery.
I recently inherited a box of documents about my grandfather, Alfred Dodds. Both my father and grandfather waited to marry and have children, so there's a 77 year gap between my grandfather's birth date and mine, which means Alfred lived in a very different world to me and yet I never knew him. What was he like?
Alfred was born into a well-heeled glass-making family in Gateshead and he was brought up in a world where transport required a horse or a steam train, when lighting was usually by gas and when communications involved either a hand-written letter or a telegram.
When millions of men were dying on the Western Front during World War 1 he was nowhere to be seen, and now I know why. He spent 1916 in a sanatorium in Switzerland, being treated for Tuberculosis. This is a horrible respiratory disease that killed or disabled many, but was under control in the UK before I was even born.
Alfred must have recovered from TB, because he rose to be a manager for Barclays Bank before retiring during World War 2, but there must have been lasting effects. There are various records of his athletic prowess before he caught TB, but a photograph from the 1920's shows him posing in a heavy overcoat, alongside a football team. That must surely have been frustrating for him.
Alfred died in 1964, at the age of 76. He lived a whole life and is genetically very close to me, and yet I only have brief snippets about him and can never truly know him. Now that's a mystery.
David Dodds
Oh, this is a tricky question - there are so many! I'm especially fond of Ben Aaronovitch's 'Rivers of London' series, but if I lived there I might be unaware of the hidden world of magick, which would be very disappointing.
Perhaps Andrew Caldicott's 'Rotherweird' trilogy. These have such a deliciously vivid and quirkly world: like ours, but slightly different, in ways that delight.
I could play safe with 'Harry Potter' of course. Who hasn't secretly wished themselves in that world? But I enjoy historical novels too and, with my love of the Anglo-saxon world, being dropped into one of Bernard Cornwell's 'Last Kingdom' books would be a wonderful experience.
If I'm truly honest with myself, I wrote 'Touchpaper' (and the sequel I'm currently writing) for myself. I have tried to bring together all the different elements that make me sit up and read faster when I read a book, so of course it's a world I would love to be immersed in for real.
Perhaps Andrew Caldicott's 'Rotherweird' trilogy. These have such a deliciously vivid and quirkly world: like ours, but slightly different, in ways that delight.
I could play safe with 'Harry Potter' of course. Who hasn't secretly wished themselves in that world? But I enjoy historical novels too and, with my love of the Anglo-saxon world, being dropped into one of Bernard Cornwell's 'Last Kingdom' books would be a wonderful experience.
If I'm truly honest with myself, I wrote 'Touchpaper' (and the sequel I'm currently writing) for myself. I have tried to bring together all the different elements that make me sit up and read faster when I read a book, so of course it's a world I would love to be immersed in for real.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more