Crazy Good: Jane Eagland
RSSBy Debra Lau Whelan
SLJ caught up with the British author to talk about this first-time honor, her love of libraries, and another historical mystery in the works. Congratulations on winning a Lambda Award. Did you set out to make Louisa gay or is that something that evolved as you were writing? I am absolutely delighted to have won the Lambda Award for Wildthorn. It means all the more to me as this was my first novel, and this is the first award I have won. I didn't know about Louisa's sexuality when I started writing her story—it was one of the things I discovered about her, along with a lot of other things, as I went along. It just emerged and felt right. One thing I hope might come of it is that more young readers will read the book. It presents an unconventional relationship in a positive way, and I hope that some readers might be encouraged by that and others might question their assumptions. But mostly, I hope they'll enjoy the story. How important is it for young adults to see themselves reflected in the books they read? I think it's very important for young readers of any sexual orientation to read books which reflect the full range of human emotional experience. But when I was writing Wildthorn, I didn't think before I started, "It will be good to make Louisa gay." It was only in the process of writing that I discovered that she experienced passionate feelings for her cousin Grace. It just felt right. I am interested only in writing as a human being trying to reach other human beings, irrespective of their age or anything else. To be honest, I write for myself, so I guess my inner child must be somewhere between four and 15! Incidentally, some people have commented that "in those days" such a relationship would have been completely unacceptable. But the book is set in 1875, when "romantic friendships" between girls were accepted. It was only later that they were regarded with suspicion and defined as "transgressive." Louisa herself does feel guilty but her guilt is like a straitjacket that she has to struggle to Both Wildthorn and your second novel, Whisper My Name, were set in the Victorian age. Are you a history buff? No, on the contrary, when I started writing the first novel I was woefully ignorant about history. I stopped studying it at school because the teacher was boring, and this is something I've regretted ever since, because I have found it so fascinating. The reason I set Wildthorn in the Victorian period is because I was inspired by a true story—you can read more about this on my website. And while I was researching for that book, I came across some information about Victorian mediums and séances and that led me to write Whisper My Name. You've said you were a serious bookworm—not a partying teen. When did you realize you wanted to write? I enjoyed writing stories at school, but I don't remember writing at home until my teens—when I poured out terrible poems of angst and wrote a play. Unfortunately, studying literature at university undermined any aspirations I had—most of the writers we studied were male, dead, and terribly clever. I thought to be a writer you had to write like James Joyce or T. S. Eliot. And I knew I could never do that. Did being a former English teacher influence you to write for young adults? Not in any way that I'm aware of. I started out writing for younger children, and then I wanted to tell the story that became Wildthorn, and the subject matter was suitable for an older readership. I don't think about the audience at all when I'm writing the first draft. I just think about the story. But when I'm re-drafting I might think about it more, for instance, cutting out passages of description because they slow the pace or considering whether readers will understand any references. Where do you draw your inspiration from? It's hard to pin it down. Things I read or hear about mostly, I think. It's as if I have a special antenna and when something might be an idea for a story or fit into the story I'm currently working on, I feel a little thrill like an electric current. I like to get started early. I often get up before 7 and deal with emails before breakfast. Then after breakfast, I go to my desk and work till lunchtime. I like to get out in the afternoon and have a walk, but I'm usually still thinking about the story. I might do some more before the evening meal, but not usually afterwards, because my brain seems to slow down. I'm definitely a morning person! Tell us what it like growing up in the London suburb of Ilford, Essex? Unusually, I lived a long way away from my junior school. I went to the school my dad taught at, and he took me every day, so I didn't live near any of my classmates. This made for rather a solitary childhood, and we didn't get television until I was 10, so I didn't know what everyone else was talking about. I think this was part of the reason I always felt on the edge of things rather than at the centre. And read a lot! I made more friends at high school, but in those days we walked everywhere. That's what I remember looking back, walking down those long streets of identical houses. And there were parks. When I was little, the park was an exciting place to play and later, in a different part of town, another park where I met friends—and my boyfriend... I've read that libraries played a big role in your life—you used to go a lot with your dad, and you spent a lot of your high school days reading in the library. I love libraries—the smell, the atmosphere—and in the past, they were hushed places which I liked. I always relax when I enter a library. One of the best things about libraries is the way you can browse and dip into books and stumble across marvels by chance; you can enter other worlds so simply. It seems the sad state of libraries is just as bad in the UK as they are in the US. I am enormously saddened that libraries are under attack, but I realize it's because people use them less now—or mainly for the Internet. I think people, and children especially, are missing out; books are an education and a joy; they are deeply satisfying in a way the Internet can never be. What you're working on these days? I am just finishing off a project that has been quite unusual for me. I was commissioned to write some words which, along with silhouettes, will decorate a local library. It was a combination of poetry and wordplay, and it has been quite a challenge! I've enjoyed it though. It was interesting to try something different. I've already got the idea brewing for the next book—it will be another historical mystery, but that's all I can say at the moment! This article originally appeared in the newsletter Extra Helping. Go here to subscribe.
Jane Eagland's Wildthorn (Houghton, 2010), a historical romance set mostly in an insane asylum, recently won a Lambda Literary Award, which honors works that explore lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender themes.
break free of in the same way that she has to struggle against the role society tried to impose on all middle class women at that time. I guess it would be good if young readers could identify with her and see the dangers of the self-imposed closet, but this isn't something I consciously set out to achieve.
What are your work days like?
