MEET THE AUTHOR

After 10 years, Tendai Huchu struggled to let go of his lead character Ropa’s voice after penning the fifth and final instalment of his Edinburgh Nights series.

“I miss her!” Tendai exclaims over the phone from his home in Wester Hailes, Edinburgh. “I miss the quirk and snark in her voice. Weirdly, for a while, I found myself replying to emails in a strange syntax that sounded like Ropa.”

He muses: “I guess it’s like having a kid go off to university and they leave you alone in an empty house. I’m waiting for her to call home, but she’s too busy being on someone else’s bookshelf.”

Tendai is the opposite of snarky as he laughs through our chat about wrapping up Edinburgh Nights with its thrilling conclusion, Secrets Of The First School.

Set in a fantastical version of Scotland’s capital, the series is a unique blend of fantasy, magic, Scottish history and Zimbabwean mysticism.

It follows teenager Ropa Moyo, who uses her ability to talk to ghosts to solve mysteries. She later becomes tangled in the magical rivalries between Scotland and England.

This comes to a head in book five, where she must fight to save her sister and gather allies across the country before Edinburgh falls.

“Each book ratcheted up the stakes,” says Tendai. “At first, Ropa is only interested in communicating with ghosts and delivering messages from them. Her main problems are paying rent and bills until she investigates missing children.

“By the fifth book, she is caught up in a grand, historical political drama that’s been brewing in Scottish magic for 300 years.

“There are weighty themes in the book, like history, politics and class, but it’s also a fun romp with magic, ghosts, villains and a magical investigation that I hope readers will enjoy.”

Tendai became fascinated with Scottish history when he moved from Bindura, Zimbabwe, to Edinburgh 20 years ago to study podiatry.

“Edinburgh is the city of Robert Louis Stevenson, Jekyll and Hyde. There’s a long tradition of Scottish folklore that people know all around the world.

“Locals love talking about their city, its origins and its little peculiar histories. You can discover something new around every corner.

“There’s this endless theme of history, and once you fall down that rabbit hole, you can’t find a way out. I’m a great lover of Scottish history, and it pops up in my work a lot.”

He is now immersed in researching his next project, which is worlds away from an urban fantasy set in Scotland but sounds just as fascinating.

“It’s a historical fantasy set in medieval Africa, a kingdom akin to the Kingdom of Great Zimbabwe that ran from the 11th to the 15th century,” Tendai, 43, explained.

“I’ve had fun researching everything, from the granular details about how people lived in that time – the foods they ate, weapons they used, the emperors that ruled, and the trade links they forged.

“I’m relishing this different kind of creative challenge.”

Tendai’s first novel, The Hairdresser Of Harare, was published in 2010 when he was still working as a podiatrist in Edinburgh. He says conversations with his patients influenced his writing.

“When I was at an NHS training clinic on Leith Walk, patients would sit in my chair for about two hours and tell the most fascinating stories that I still remember,” he recalls. “I was still learning my craft, so those stories really shaped me as a writer.

“I was on my third manuscript at the time. What kept me going was the energy you find in Edinburgh as a city that’s welcoming to any writer who washes up on its shores.”

Secrets Of The First School by TL Huchu is published by Tor, £20.

FINAL INSTALMENT: Tendai Huchu has wrapped up the Edinburgh Nights series and is excited about his latest project.