by Scott Hales (bio)
S. P. Bailey's novel Millstone City
was published by Zarahemla Books earlier this year. It's a thriller about Mormon missionaries in Brazil who have to run for their lives after one of them witnesses a murder. Recently, S. P. was kind enough to answer a few of my questions about the novel. What follows are his thoughts on crime fiction, missionary stories, and much more.
You can read the first chapter of Millstone City
here or buy the book for Christmas through Zarahemla Books.
Scott Hales:
Millstone City combines two things we usually don’t put together: crime fiction and Mormonism. What are some of the challenges that come with making that combination work?
S. P. Bailey: I read recent crime fiction. I usually enjoy it. My book could have been coarser or more violent, and some would probably say it should have been. If you were raised a good Mormon boy (I was) and you are an active, believing Mormon (I am), it is probably impossible to write crime fiction — particularly with Mormon characters — without wondering
Is this demeaning to people in general? To my people? Thoughts like that probably helped shape
Millstone City. It is about murder and human trafficking and Brazilian crime culture in the slums and prisons. But I think it maintains a certain dignity in its approach to individual characters. Some might put
Millstone City down as old-fashioned. Depending on the context, I might take old-fashioned as a compliment. That being said, I think things like violence and coarse language can be surface issues. If you dig deeper, crime fiction is usually very moral. Good and evil exist there in completely non-abstract, concrete terms. Readers know it when they see it. They want the innocent to escape and survive. They want the detective to impose justice. They want evil vanquished and the universe set aright. In that sense, despite the potential surface issues, I think crime fiction and Mormonism are a good match.
SH: Can you trace the literary DNA of
Millstone City? What other works influenced the novel?
SPB: I don't know about "literary DNA!" I didn't have any particular works in mind when writing
Millstone City. I suppose the best I can do is give you a short list of things I admire that
might have influenced
Millstone City. I love the great American crime/noir authors: Raymond Chandler above all, but also Dashiell Hammet, James M. Cain, Cornell Woolrich, and others. I grew up watching and rewatching old Hitchcock movies. I also love Brazilian films like
Central Station and
City of God.
SH: Of all the characters in
Millstone City, Luz is my favorite. What do you think she brings to the novel?
SPB: I like Luz too. While lots of characters in the novel display humanity (the elders, the detectives, Heitor), she is not self-interested in what she does. And, despite her obvious limitations, I think she exudes a Brazilian sort of charm: bold, big-hearted, funny ... it pained me to write her last scenes in the book.
SH: How did you research the novel? Do you have first-hand experience with Brazilian prisons, for example?
SPB: I served a mission in northeastern Brazil in the 1990s. I came home in love with Brazil, warts and all.
Millstone City is a kind of love letter to Brazil — particularly the region where I served. I enjoy Brazilian music, movies, books, magazines, and newspapers when I can (not often enough!). I've never seen the inside of a Brazilian prison — not in person anyway. I became interested in Brazilian prisons when, as a missionary, I taught a few discussions to a Brazilian prison guard. His stories amazed me. They were told in the spirit of
never, ever, no matter what, should guys like you do anything that would land you in a Brazilian prison. If it is possible to get even more straight-laced than a couple of Eagle Scouts from Utah in short-sleeved white shirts and neck ties preaching the gospel, this guy scared us there. Subsequently, I read various things about Brazilian prisons (articles in newspapers and magazines, reports published by human rights groups, etc.).
Also, as a trial attorney, I represent inmates and their families in civil rights litigation arising from incidents in U.S. prisons and jails (among other things). While my professional life has taught me nothing about Brazilian prisons in particular, I think there is
something of that experience in
Millstone City.
. Now, just in time for the holidays, James is giving away a copy of his book to one lucky MMM reader.
