The surroundings outside the classic London taxi gradually change, and the 54-year-old becomes noticeably more and more nervous. She does not like to look back, but is nevertheless on her way back to the London of her childhood. She has long since moved from the district where poverty and crime marked her childhood and adolescence. news brings her here because moving between social classes is often a theme in her books. In Toner i natten, too, the main character moves, from prosperity in the city to a dilapidated estate in the country. – The book is about a renovation project that goes wrong, says the author himself. But also about a woman who lets everything but the music fade away, and does not live up to society’s expectations of a mother. Her proudest moment Jojo Moyes has already published 11 books in Norway. She has sold over 40 million books internationally. A whole half year is the best-selling book in Norway in the last decade, according to the Bokhandlerforeningen. – My proudest moment was when I was told that I had sold more than Jo Nesbø. It’s big in Scandinavia, laughs the author in the back seat of the taxi. – Sorry, Jo! The car stops outside Hackney Town Hall. Moyes looks around confused, and makes constant outbursts of the type “wow” and “everything is new”. The district has gone from being run-down and dangerous to becoming a popular area for first-time settlers. Class society and mobility But all is not lost. She finds again the building where her father ran a business, and the place where a stable stood in her childhood. Now there is a parking lot. – Cities must change and develop, and we do too, she states. Therefore, she causes the characters in her books to change by physically moving them. Out of the comfort zone and into something new and unknown. Preferably from one class to another. The class system still strongly characterizes British society. – People who say “toilet” instead of “bad” or “do” are middle class trying to be upper class, she explains. Successful author: Jojo Moyes has sold 40 million books internationally. Photo: Håvard Blekastad Almås / NRKS Successful author: Jojo Moyes has sold 40 million books internationally. Photo: Håvard Blekastad Almås / news Moyes grins when she comes up with examples of what she believes are comical effects of the class division. But as a writer, she uses the differences actively. – It is when you take people out of their familiar environment that the interesting things start to happen, she says. Is not a “literary” writer She herself grew up with middle-class parents who were concerned with education. But she was also strongly influenced by the working-class environment they lived in, and was, among other things, chastised by her mother because she spoke with too broad an eastern dialect. Moyes comes across as unfussy and natural, despite the fact that a make-up artist is with us for the whole trip to make sure the author looks good in pictures. Nor is she interested in being mistaken for high-quality literature. – Even a “commercial” writer like me – I am not a “literary” writer – does the readers a disservice by overlooking social developments. Thinks reading gives the brain a holiday She is concerned that especially younger people seem to be reading less. – Reading affects the brain, and is like a holiday in the head, she says. But she also reads less herself. The competition from TV and mobile is great. She feels refreshed after an hour on Instagram. So she will continue to do what she can to tempt people to read more. Because it is a privilege to create worlds, says Jojo Moyes. She looks at the photograph she brought with her, then looks up. She looks straight into a brick wall with two stones in two different colours, the same wall as in the picture. Horsegirl: The street in Hackney where she used to ride is the same. But Jojo Moyes likes to look ahead rather than backwards in life. Photo: Håvard Blekastad Almås / news Horse girl: The street in Hackney where she used to ride is the same. But Jojo Moyes likes to look ahead rather than backwards in life. Photo: Håvard Blekastad Almås / news The 16-year-old Jojo Moyes sits proudly on a horse in front of the wall in the picture. The 54-year-old writer Jojo Moyes thinks back to the frequent break-ins and daily attacks she had to escape. But growing up here gave strength. – I learned that with hard work you can manage anything.
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Jojo Moyes publishes his 12th book in Norway. – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
