Wow, that’s absolutely amazing! How long did it take you to compile all that material? At what point did you feel you had enough to start writing The Invention of Charlotte Brontë? Did you continue collecting documents and then revising what you’d written, or did you have everything laid out before you wrote your first word?
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That makes sense. I’d think it would be easy to get wrapped up in one’s subject to the point of idolizing them, and then being unable to paint an unbiased picture. Why Charlotte, though? What made you pick her as your subject and not, say, one of her sisters, or Gaskell?
Collating all the historical and biographical information took about 4 years. Add to that the lifetime of reading that went on before! Before I started writing I had to make sure I’d found everything that could possibly be relevant. I knew that if I hadn’t, the discovery of another detail later could threaten what I’d already concluded and written. And it’s sometimes the small details that make all the difference in clarifying an event. For example, I remember reading in one of the old Brontë biographies that Charlotte had stayed with friends at one point and historians were divided about whether it was for four days or two. None of the historians had considered comparing the dates to a 19th century calendar. When I did, I saw the dates corresponded to a weekend, with Charlotte likely travelling on a Friday, staying two nights, and returning on the Monday. Hence the confusion of 4 or 2 days. Now, this isn’t biographically significant for Charlotte Brontë, it simply demonstrates how this methodology helps us accurately reconstruct past events.
Have you been on tour for your book at all, and if so, what can you tell us about the experience? (Or are author book tours an American thing?)
At some point you wrote the last word & said, “That’s it, it’s done!” What was that like? After being so involved in the creative process for four years was it hard to move on, or were you ready to change gears?
Yes, I have been on tour through the UK. One of my first events was in Haworth, the village where the Brontës spent most of their lives. This week I’m going to Belgium to speak to a group who have read and appreciated my book and want to hear more. I’ve loved meeting readers, particularly the Brontës fans.
I’d love to visit the US - but that’s down to whether Pegasus thinks there’d be any interest.
Writing the last section felt like accelerating down the mountain I’d climbed, it had such momentum. I finished writing the book on an August morning and more than anything else I felt a huge sense of relief: that it was done and complete.
Yes, I have enjoyed rereading books that I first read when I was much younger. You’ve inspired me to take it up again, especially with a long stretch of winter coming up. Thank you.
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Did you do anything to celebrate?
Were there any later rewrites or changes (e.g., something requested by the publisher)?
Was there anything you would have liked to have included in the book that you had to leave out for one reason or another?
Yes! In the end I cut quite a lot from the finished book, about 30,000 words. They might appear in another publication some time in the not-to-distant future!
I did celebrate! Being told my book had been signed was an unforgettable moment.
I wasn’t asked to rewrite or change anything, but I chose to re-edit the book myself to streamline it. One of the pitfalls of writing something based on your own research is you want to include EVERYTHING you’ve discovered. So, before it was published I cut lots of details and minor incidents from the book that I thought were fascinating but objectively I knew would be irrelevant to most readers.
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Thank you! The Brontë novels are perfect companions for cosy winter evenings.
I was just about to ask if you had something else in the works. Can you tell us anything about it?
I can’t say too much about it at the moment… But I haven’t left the Brontë world behind, and I’m now researching an earlier period of their lives for my next book.
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Looking forward to it, Graham!
Our three days are just about up. Before we wrap up the conversation, is there anything we haven’t touched on that you’d like to talk about?
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Thanks Kim! I think we’ve covered it all! Many thanks to you and the BookBrowse community for this Q&A, for the insightful and interesting questions - and to Peg Kurkowski, whose wonderful review of my book kicked it off!
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Graham, you’ve been a fantastic guest. Thanks so much for your thoughtful replies. Best of luck to you on your future books!
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