Like all else, the French take crime thrillers seriously

I am now convinced that the French are more than comfortable with their ‘dark’ side, and here I mean literally and metaphorically, because their interest in crime fiction is very well known. And thus I am one of the writers (and the only Indian author) invited to a crime writers festival in the beautiful city of Lyon, the third largest city in France.

But frankly, I came here wondering how a genre-based crime writers festival could even attract attention in a city which is bustling with commercial activity, as well as places of tourist interest: especially as Lyon is set rather dramatically on the banks of a free flowing river Rhone. But Quais du Polar has been running for 11 years, and very successfully too. 

The reasons are obvious: apart from a genuine enthusiasm for crime fiction, there is a healthy governmental support. It seems all the main city structures, including the Townhall, are all venues given over to the festival. Indeed the festival is supported by the city's mayor, and that is why on the opening day, we had the unique experience of seeing the Palais du Commerce converted into a book bazaar. Many of us writers (there would easily be more than a hundred of us invited to the festival) were asked to sit in for book signings on the first evening itself. 

This was, I thought, very unusual. And when I walked into the packed hall, and saw the winding queues for international best-selling authors John Grisham and Ian Rankin, my heart sank. 'This is going to be very embarrassing,' I thought, wondering how I could escape what looked like a very unfair situation. Compared to these celebrated authors, what chance did I have? No one would want even a single book signed by me. And besides this was the opening day of the festival. I had only just got off the   train from Paris, and had only had one session so far. No one even knew about me here, or so I thought gloomily. But I had not taken into consideration the great French Republic, and their voracious interest in diverse crime fiction! 

As a result, I found that I was facing an interested queue of my own! Not only that, many readers wanted to know more about the books, and patiently stood by and listened while I answered questions. Many of them seemed to have already bought some of my books. This became curiouser and curiouser! More so when readers actually told me how they had picked up copies of my books as presents last Christmas. This was very welcome news for me! And so I cheered up very quickly, getting myself photographed with readers who were very encouraging and thoughtful. Obviously, my French publishers are doing something very wonderful to promote my books.  

Even more surprising was my interaction, just after I had arrived in Lyon, with teenagers over my second novel in the Simran Singh series, 'Origins of Love'. These were students from a local school, accompanied by their teachers. They had all been given the book to read as a school assignment, and were then asked to question me about it. 'Origins of Love' is the most complex book in the Simran Singh series, and I was wondering what possible interest would schoolchildren have in the whole business of surrogacy. Yet, they asked me very detailed questions, many of them intensely focussed on the issues raised in the book. I could not imagine a school in India ever inviting me for a discussion about the renting out of wombs of very poor women, and the ethics of it. Some students, who are studying literature, went into minute details, even wanting to know how I had chosen the book title!  The French, thus, appear to be quite eclectic and egalitarian in their taste for reading. Unlike in India, where there is still some snootiness about crime writing, here it was heartening to see a celebration of the genre with over 65,000 attendees. My trepidation at being an 'unknown' author among so many stars is rapidly melting away because the French are always happy to try a variation on the theme.

Interestingly, most of the venues contain a great mix of traditional and modern creativity. They display spectacular examples of historical and baroque Christian art, and that does not seem to bother the blasé French, even as we discuss grisly murders and serial killers within what were once hallowed precincts. We had, for instance, our opening night cocktail party in a disused church, Trinity Chapel, where everyone guzzled champagne surrounded by Christian icons. Unlike in India where this might be whipped into a controversy, the French make no bones about distancing themselves from religion. And so some of my sessions today are teasingly titled 'Hell and damnation: characters confronting fate'. And then we will also return to the Trinity Chapel for a debate on the growing violence towards women all over the world. 

As crime writing grows, gathering readers, it is only befitting that festivals such as the Quais du Polar, also expand. And so right now in Lyon, I can only rejoice that we are possibly turning the tide against those who are still cocooned in old-fashioned divisions of the 'literary' novel and 'crime fiction'. In fact, looking at the marvellously engaged audience at Lyon, it is obvious that good books will be celebrated everywhere, despite the resistance from literary snobs!