SARA FRANKEL
447
MS:
Well, Newman asked this question , and he said he didn't really
see how anyone could write a novel without treating of evil, since if
you write a novel you're writing about fallible human beings. But
no, there's nothing antithetical about being a Catholic and a
novelist, or a Catholic and anything.
If
you're a Catholic, you're a
human being .
SF:
Jacques Maritain said that he thought Catholics were in fact the
best qualified people to write novels, because they have an under–
standing of what there is in man and can therefore write what he
called "complete" novels.
MS:
Well, I think Maritain was full of a bit of air, actually. But I see
what he means. I can ' t help thinking that Christianity is the best
religion, the religion that explains everyone to themselves. It's not
one of the by-products, and it's a natural fulfillment of what man is
supposed to be .
SF:
Can I ask you about your background in Edinburgh, and what
you think of it now looking back? Do you consider yourself very
Scottish?
MS:
I'm very Scottish , yes. I don't feel that much of a personal con–
nection to Scotland anymore, because everything changes. But I
know that I'm Scottish by formation. For instance, Scots have a
work ethic, and I feel guilty if! don't work; I can watch other people
lazing around and it doesn't worry me, but I like to work.
SF:
Did you ever intend to go back to Scotland permanently, for in–
stance when you got back to Britain from Africa in 1944?
MS:
Well I had gone to Africa-to Rhodesia-in 1938 because my
husband got a job there when I was engaged. So I went after him,
got married there, and had a son. Then the marriage broke up, and
I came home in 1944, but I didn't go back to Scotland because it was
during the war, and I had to work in the Foreign Office . And when
the war was over, I got another job and was settled in London , more
or less .
SF:
Did you plan on staying in England then?
MS:
At that time, yes. But now-I like to go back to England, but I
didn't want to stay there. You get to a point where you cannot ex–
press yourself fully in your own environment, you ' re never
understood, you
want
to spread. And I got to be too well known in
England-not exactly on the street, but I was quite well
known-and you cannot get people to be normal if they know that
you're a celebrated writer. You can't
see
life in its normality, people
don't behave the same way. So it's better to go around where people
