When Life Gives You Mangoes - Kereen Getten Q&A

October 14th 2020

Kereen Getten grew up in Jamaica where she would climb fruit trees in the family garden and eat as much mango, guinep and pear as she could without being caught. She now lives in Birmingham with her family and writes stories about her childhood experiences. 

Kereen Getten's debut novel When Life Gives You Mangoes is a heartwarming coming-of-age tale about family and teenage friendships. We chatted to Kereen to find out more.

Q: Tell us about the inspiration for When Life Gives You Mangoes. How much influence was your own upbringing in Jamaica?

The book is heavily inspired by my childhood in Jamaica. We lived in a small fishing village on top of a hill that overlooked the town with a beautiful view of the ocean. We had a lot of freedom on that hill to play. I wanted to write about that experience, where you have the freedom to go on adventures and explore.

Q: It’s a story about friendship and coming of age and the magic of childhood – what message do you hope your readers take from the book?
I hope they feel seen, I hope they feel understood. I hope they know it’s okay to be themselves. That friendships will come and go but what’s important is that you love yourself.

Q: Did you always want to be an author? What made you start to write?
I’ve wanted to write since I was eight years old. As soon as I started reading books for fun, I immediately wanted to recreate those worlds for myself.

Q: Do you have a writing routine? Has it been impacted this year by the pandemic and lockdown?
When I have a novel I am working on I like to keep a timetable. I give myself a deadline and work on it every day. Lockdown has really affected that. I have found it a lot harder to motivate myself. Everything seems ten times harder since the pandemic. I think most people are feeling that.

Q: October is Black History Month and many schools will be covering this with their pupils. How important do you think it is for children to see characters like themselves in the books they read?
Representation is so important. When I was younger, I didn’t have any books with people who looked like me and so I didn’t believe my story could be told. I would write and keep my stories to myself. It wasn’t until I started seeing black authors being published that I realised I could do it too. If children don’t see themselves represented then they will believe their stories are not important. That they are not important and that is devastating at a time when you are learning about yourself.

Q: Who are your favourite authors – is there anyone who has particularly inspired you?
I really love Angie Thomas, Khaled Hosseni, Justina Ireland, R.J Palacio and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Angie Thomas inspired me to tell my story. After her success with THUG I believed that my stories might also have a chance. Another example of representation being important.

Q: What are you working on next?
I’m working on another story set in Jamaica, about a group of friends, eleven letters and a devastating secret.

When Life Gives You Mangoes is available to buy now. Follow Kereen on Twitter @kereengetten or on Instagram at @kezywrites.