Tragedy, Triumph and The Tree: R.D.K Marjoram discusses his debut novel

How has your personal journey led you here, to The Tree’s publication?

I’ve always loved books. As a little boy, I’d be up all night with a torch, taking a book everywhere I went. Books, particularly the more fantastical stories, have always been a beautiful escape for me if I was feeling afraid or alone. 

I do wonder if, since then, some of my creativity started to erode a little bit, perhaps because of the intensity that I've dealt with over twenty years of working with mental health. Writing The Tree has been my opportunity to step back, reset, reconnect with nature, rediscover myself, and find a different way to bring my creativity back into the world.

Writing The Tree came about a bit by accident. My podcasts with Annalisa Barbieri inspired me to write a self-help book on envy. And because I didn't want to use any patient-identifiable material, I found myself getting really into writing characters and stories to convey the psychological themes I was talking about.

The Alchemist and Paolo Coelho's books have really inspired me in my life, and I thought, rather than limiting myself to envy, why don't I just play around with themes and see what comes up?

Is there a story behind your pen name? 

When I got married, my husband and I decided to break with tradition. We combined both of our mothers' maiden names, and so, my legal name, Ryan Bennett-Clarke, has become more associated with the professional and clinical years of my life. 

Ryan David Kraig Marjoram is my original name, and it speaks to my creative, childhood self that had been somewhat buried.

How would you define The Tree? As a ghost? A demigod? An Ent? 

The Tree is an ancient being with a soul, even a demigod. It is a bit like an Ent character, because there is that sort of wisdom. Its true nature is revealed later on in the novel, so I am mindful not to spoil that by giving too much away here. However, its spirit and essence are very much rooted in nature and linked to the tragedies and triumphs of the human soul. The Tree possesses supernatural elemental powers, and yet, it also has experiences associated with human biology, such as getting high.  

Would you expand on the connection you feel to your protagonist, The Tree? 

Certainly, as a therapist, when you hear people’s stories, much like The Tree, you come to care very deeply for them. There is something about the nature of this story that speaks to the cost of compassion and caring so deeply, and what can happen if your own self-care is thrown out of balance. Also, hearing stories of trauma and pain from anyone that we care about can evoke such a rage, that desire to seek retribution on behalf of my patients, when I've heard despicable things that have happened to them. In Chapter 10, The Tree unleashes a very violent but satisfactory fury, which gave my shadow part a bit of freedom to exact revenge on behalf of all the victims that I've worked with, and hopefully will give the reader an experience of healthy catharsis too.

What inspired you to name the chapters of The Tree’s life in accordance with the 12 months in the year?

The significance of the number 12 seems to come up a lot in religion, especially in mythology, and there are 12 months of the year, 12 hours in the day, and 12 hours in the night. It felt like quite a natural journey for The Tree because of my interest in nature, the seasons, and a lot of the more pagan, Wiccan belief systems. So, naming each of the chapters after the months of the year symbolises the natural life cycle of The Tree’s rise, its fall, and its transformation.

You cover several mental health topics through characters confessing their heartbreaks to The Tree, including grief, coming out, and stalking. What motivated you to provide such a wide range of commentary, rather than focusing solely on envy as you had originally planned?

I wanted to have a bit more creative license to explore a range of topics which are prevalent but not hugely discussed. I wanted to bring them more into people's awareness and shine a light on some of the aspects of human behaviour that are denied, minimised, or hidden.

It was a bit of a dilemma in terms of what to include, because there are so many mental health issues which I haven't addressed. In the end, I chose to write about those which I have experience with clinically, but also know about academically and in some cases, personally.

If your readers could take only one silver branch of self-help advice from your novel, what would you want that to be?

Don't suffer in silence. When people have experienced trauma, people can often feel very alone.

As a psychotherapist, were Jungian archetypes and storytelling analysis on your mind while you were writing? 

Other than focusing on the power of the shadow, the duality of self, and the importance of acknowledging duality, I haven’t consciously been thinking about the archetypes. I think there's something quite wonderful about the way that our unconscious mind works and taps into these various stories and archetypes, without us being necessarily aware of it.

Do you ever use similar storytelling methods as healing tools with your patients?

With some of my patients, I do invite them to be creative when we're analysing their dreams and fantasies. I think that lets us dive deeper into what's not being said, and allows for a breakthrough into consciousness so that new insights can be acquired and alternative choices can be made using awareness and empowerment.

Similarly, I think The Tree can also be interpreted like a dream. There's the manifest content, which is the narrative story that we see on the surface, and then there's the latent content, which would be all the symbolism and the archetypes that will be taken depending on where the reader is at in terms of their own emotional journey. I have no doubt that each of the characters and story arcs will draw all sorts of projections and identifications.

Have fairy tales influenced your writing of The Tree? Does this transform as readers move into the novel’s darker second half?

Fairy tales often contain a lot of archetypes, don't they? There are often heroes and villains, and magical aspects, but I don't think I was consciously thinking of fairy tales while I was writing it.

Unconsciously, I’d say that fairy tales have played a huge part. I wanted to create a story where there was escapism, as well as lessons to take away, and those aims are both very much like fairy tales.

I also noticed elements of Pagan and Buddhist philosophies throughout your novel. Would you say that these belief systems, or any others, have influenced The Tree?

Yes, particularly from the Buddhist philosophies. When working with people who are emotionally dysregulated, the Buddhist aspects of mindfulness and meditation have been really valuable in terms of helping people to feel safe in the present. So, I wanted to weave some of those belief systems and techniques into The Tree. Although I'm mindful not to be too instructive, because no technique is a one-size-fits-all.

In terms of paganism, there is definitely an influence there too, and I think that very much links to being the child of nature that I am, or at least certainly was when I was a teenager, trying to find my way in the world through belief systems that fit me.

After reading Chapter Two: February, I had a dream of red petals falling through a thick fog, reminiscent of how The Tree scatters its blossoms in mourning for the death of its young friend. Could this be a sign that The Tree’s powers extend into our own world?

I'm a big believer in the value of self-analysis and curiosity, so my hope is that The Tree will inspire curiosity about ourselves, as well as about other people, and that it will internalise a wise companion that can be a constant guide for us. 

I would be so fascinated to hear from readers like you about what dreams or fantasies come up for them in between reading chapters. And, of course, I’d like to discuss further: what is the power of the tree? How does it extend into our world, and how far-reaching can its influence be in terms of our own journey of self-discovery?

Is there anyone you would like to thank?

The people I would like to thank are my husband, my friends, and family, all of whom have been really supportive; they've had to listen to me going on and on about this project for the past 18 months. I want to thank them all for putting up with my constant rantings. I’m also always very grateful for my two handsome ginger cats, Aslan and Falkor, who are always a source of comfort and inspiration.

The Tree is available to purchase from Amazon Books and Waterstones

You can listen to R.D.K. Marjoram’s podcast at Apple Podcasts

Or reach out to R.D.K. Marjoram via his Instagram or email