Research on Spiritualists?

[Trillian]

Arthur, may I ask what kind of research you did on spiritualists/spiritualism for this book (this has interested me very much since I read Julian Barnes's novel Arthur & George)? I love Anne's character and the way she was able to manipulate Constance. Was she based on anyone in particular?

[ArthurPhillips]

Hi, Trillian -

I really didn't do a great deal of research on spiritualism. It seemed like something I could imagine and play with. That said, I read Peter Gay's "Schnitzler's Century", which is in turn a sort of synopsis of his 5-book masterwork on Victorian life, "The Bourgeois Experience". There was quite a bit on spiritualism, its origins and popularity and practice, in there.

Arthur

ps - Thank you about Anne! I love her, too, and am really proud of her, to be honest.

[ArthurPhillips]

Sorry - forgot to answer: no, she's not based on anyone in particular, although there was a Joan Armatrading song called, I think, "If Women Ruled the World" that sort of irritated me, and became part of Anne's world-view!

[Trillian]

OK, that's a surprise -- the inspiration for Anne is an American singer-songwriter (I mean sort of, I guess).

Anyway, you did a great job making her "real"!

---

ArthurPhillips wrote:
Sorry - forgot to answer: no, she's not based on anyone in particular, although there was a Joan Armatrading song called, I think, "If Women Ruled the World" that sort of irritated me, and became part of Anne's world-view!

---

[Raabe]

I, too, found Anne a particularly strong character although not in any ethical sense! In a way, Constance was the real source of her own undoing though. The way she manipulated motherhood as an excuse to remain distant from her husband (even if necessary and that's all I have to say about that!) wasn't very ethical either.