I'm delighted that my novel "Thai Girl" has gone down okay with Forum members. If you have a look at
www.thaigirl2004.com, you'll see that my first foray into fiction has done far better than I ever expected, with a new publisher in Singapore now offering it worldwide and on Amazon.
But I aways knew the ending wasn't what every reader's going to want. A friend who read the draft for me, a tough Aussie bloke, was wanting Ben to get his girl so much that on reading to the end, he was gutted when Ben copped out and got back on the plane, despite all his passion for Fon. He suggested some alternative endings to me that would have wrapped it up more positively... for example that he has a row at the airport with Emma and heads back to look for Fon, or even that Fon is waiting for him at Departures and they sail off into the sunset together.
But I was reluctant as this would have made it a completely different novel, a standard poolside romance. On the contrary I wanted it to be an easy read but with a serious side to it... to make the reader reflect a bit about Thailand and about the mutual admiration and incomprehension that exists between farang and Thais. Novelists can produce silly endings out of hats and it's not very difficult, but it's the journey and not arriving that's more important. Victorian novels always tied up the loose ends, but that's not necessarily the style today as it leaves little for the reader to reflect upon.
So what is the realistic ending when two very young backpackers suspend reality with a few months holiday in Thailand? Inevitably, they find themselves at Heathrow staring out of the window at a rain swept runway. Meanwhile the Thai woman who told Ben she didn't want to risk her heart, and who tried to remain independent but ultimately fell for him, is left on her island wondering.
Emma told Ben off on the plane about leading Fon into a hopeless holiday romance and the reader is left to ponder the consequences for Fon and like her to wonder what Ben is going to do about all his promises. Most likely, as a nice middle class lad, he is now back on the rails and committed to a conventional career in London. That's what was always likely to happen even if it leaves the reader feeling slightly disappointed.
That's life and I wanted my story to reflect reality and not to sell out to the commercial pressures of a slushy ending. But I hope the story doesn't just stop as you suggest. Ben, the protagonist comes to the end of his trip and goes home, as was inevitable, but not without a strong drubbing from Emma on the plane in which they review the course of their holidays and she makes him reflect on the impact that Ben may have had on Fon's life.
Maybe you think that's just a load of pretentious crap! The farang always gets his girl! Okay, so the ending was always going to be a bit controversial, but I think more readers like it than loathe it.
I wonder what the critics of the ending think ought to have happened?
It's good to talk and thanks for your effort and interest in discussing the book. It and it's subject matter are very dear to my heart. And do have a look at the Readers Forum on
www.thaigirl2004.com. It's been of huge satisfaction to me to have had this (and your) feedback on the book. Without it the work of several years would just disappear into a black hole with no response. Writing is a lonely business and you never meet your audience, but it crosses my mind that from the number of copies that have been sold, there's probably somebody somewhere in the world at any given moment reading "Thai Girl", perhaps even weeping or splitting their sides! Or complaining about the ending.
Andrew Hicks