Steering a Safe Passage Through Philosophy and Fiction

We’ve just enjoyed a wonderful weekend celebrating a family wedding, a rare chance to gather with relations we love but don’t often see. Guests came from Nairobi, Edinburgh, Abuja, Bristol, and beyond – many on their way to destinations as varied as Dubrovnik, Thurso, and Budapest.

The celebrations were full of stories and laughter, and even a few memorable mishaps. On the first day, a nephew and I found ourselves stuck in a glass lift in Porthcawl – which brought back the memory of a time when a niece and I were trapped in the Ladies at the bottom of a boat in Halong Bay, Vietnam. On that occasion, it was another nephew who came to our rescue, though he was understandably uncertain about the etiquette of rescuing his aunt from the Ladies!

That same boat was, rather alarmingly, “steered” by our twin great-nieces, who were only about two or three years old at the time. We still have the photo, captioned “They steered a safe passage”, showing them at the helm between the spectacular limestone islands of Halong Bay. Today, those little girls are accomplished young women, whose degrees we proudly celebrated last year. Both brought their partners to this recent wedding, and I look forward to getting to know them in the years ahead.

We chose that Halong Bay photo as a kind of emblem when we launched our website – attfieldduttbooks.com – symbolising how we aim to steer a safe passage between Robin’s philosophy and my fiction, written in different rooms but in constant dialogue with each other.

Robin’s latest book, The Ethics of the Climate Crisis, offers a comprehensive and timely exploration of what is arguably the most pressing issue of our age. His ideas and insights have shaped the novel I am currently writing – a sequel to A Distant Voice in the Darkness. In it, I am bringing forward the characters I have known and loved for so long, carrying their stories twenty years into the present day.