The US publication of The Virgin Cure is only 3+ weeks away (June 26th!), so in anticipation of the big day I thought I’d start a new feature on my blog to share some of my favourite memories from the time I spent researching the novel in New York. In a series of “New York Minutes,” I’ll be posting moments from the past couple of years – snapshots, quotes, audio and such. I hope you enjoy them! New York Minute #1 On a rainy morning in May, while my husband Ian and I were strolling through Central Park, we came …
Category: The Virgin Cure
While the world has been memorializing the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, I’ve been thinking about a quieter, yet equally mysterious passing that happened on the same day. In the mid-nineteenth century a man who became known as “Jerome” was found on the shores of Sandy Cove, Nova Scotia, mute and missing both legs. He lived for over forty years with a local family. Many attempts were made to locate his relatives, with hopefuls rumoured to have travelled from as far away as Alabama and Milan, but when he died on April 15, 1912, the mystery of …
Here are a few highlights from my recent trip to Toronto. Yes, it’s true. The fabulously talented Erin Morgenstern (author of The Night Circus) “accosted” me at the Toronto Public Library Foundation’s Book Lover’s Ball. And, of course, I loved every minute of it. In truth, we were mostly bonding over our love of sparkly things…me, adoring the stars in Erin’s hair; Erin, loving the vintage gown I was wearing. It was a magical night to be sure, with loads of literati sightings (Linden MacIntyre, Margaret Atwood, Lawrence Hill, etc.) and conversations with facebook author friends I hadn’t met face-to-face …
There is no frigate like a book To take us lands away, Nor any coursers like a page Of prancing poetry. – Emily Dickinson Libraries hold a special place in my heart. The public library in my hometown of Lebanon, Indiana was the place I spent most Saturday mornings as a child. My mom would drop me off on her way to do her grocery shopping, and by the time she returned, I’d have a stack of books piled high on the librarian’s desk, ready to bring home. The children’s section, with its giant, 1970’s coloured floor pillows was …
In 1870, there were over thirty thousand children living on the streets of New York and many more who wandered in and out of cellars and tenements as their familes struggled to scrape together enough income to put food on the table. Under the mentorship of sister physicians Drs. Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell, my great-great grandmother (Dr. Sarah F. Mackintosh) and her classmates worked tirelessly to care for such children. They faced fierce opposition from the medical establishment as well as from society. Riots formed outside the doors of the infirmary, and funding was difficult to obtain. It was their …
I’m often asked, how much research goes into your historical fiction? And more specifically with this new novel, was it difficult to write about New York City, (even the New York of another era,) while living in Nova Scotia? The answer to the first question is loads. It takes a tremendous amount of research before I feel that I can even begin to create a world that will not only satisfy readers, but hopefully make them feel as if theyve been transported to another time and place. (good thing I love libraries so much.) The answer to the second question …