This whole story came to me in a flash one spring morning in 2007 as I was walking along the Stowe, Vermont Recreation Path. (That's a picture of the Rec Path in spring right there, look down. Inspirational, no?).
I was listening to Adele’s first album on my iPod, and I got thinking about how important it was for gifted people to arrive at the right place and time if their gifts are to be realized.
I've always been a reader, of course, and my major in college was English literature. So when this thought flitted across my mind, I immediately thought of Thomas Gray’s famous poem, ‘Elegy Writtenin a Country Churchyard,’ which includes this notion as one of its major themes. That is, what might have been if people weren't constrained by the circumstances of their birth?
So, I thought, what if the Universe had a way of, very occasionally, correcting these mistakes? Of shifting people born in the wrong time and place to the place where they and their talents can flourish? How might that be done? How might a good story about this be told about this.
The book unfolded itself right there.
Well, sort of unfolded itself. I then had to spend the next five years working it all out.
It was a great journey and I am thrilled to have made it. I am hoping at least a few other people will like reading it as much as I liked writing it. If you like it let me (and the rest of the world) know- Amazon allows you to write reviews you know! If not, you can keep that to yourself. (Kidding! [sort of]).
I loved reading this. I'm a fan of the way typewriters look. Period. I hated, hated, hated typing on them. The mistake at the end of a page (before white out or whatever it is called) and pulling the whole thing out. It was a device that I had a brain/hand disconnect about. Makes me shudder to remember. :<)
ReplyDeleteAnd Tom and I have been Anglophiles for as long as I can remember. That's what we studied in college, that's what we watched and still watch on tv, and that's much of what we read. I'm always amazed that kids now travel to Thailand. I want to say, what about England?? I think it is my place to be - before the first war, or between the wars, and then die when Virginia did. I am slow reading your book because it has been busy, and I haven't sat down during the day. At night I just read the K. book for ease of handling. But, that said, I adore what I've read so far. Your descriptions put me right in the story.
Hey Nan - Sorry it took me so long to get a reply down here. I do so appreciate your comment. I am looking forward to hearing your final take on the book. Thanks again, so much.
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