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****Karen Odden’s A TRACE OF DECEIT is #87 in the never-ending series called INSIDE THE EMOTION OF FICTION where the Chris Rice Cooper Blog (CRC) focuses on one specific excerpt from
a fiction genre and how that fiction writer wrote that specific excerpt. All INSIDE
THE EMOTION OF FICTION links are at the end of this piece.
Name of fiction work? And were there other names
you considered that you would like to share with us? A TRACE OF DECEIT. But believe
me, I have an awful time with titles! When I have 400 pages worth of book in my
head, it is hard to come up with four words to suggest even a part of it.
Various titles that were suggested
for my most recent one included A Picture
of Death, A Forged Fate, The Art of Murder, A Sinister Silhouette, and A
Stain of Deceit. My friend Anne Morgan talked through all of them with me
and together we came up with A Trace of Deceit, which everyone
agreed felt right. But titles are my bugaboo.
Has this been published? And it is
totally fine if the answer is no. If yes, what publisher and what publication
date? Yes, I’ve been lucky to find a wonderful
publisher. A TRACE OF DECEIT is forthcoming
from Harper Collins/Wm
Morrow, with a publication date of December 17, 2019.
What is the date you began writing this
piece of fiction and the date when you completely finished the piece of
fiction? I worked at Christie’s Auction House in
New York years ago, and that began my fascination with the bizarre and often
touching stories that surround particular pieces of art. Since then, I’ve
drafted or begun stories about missing or stolen artwork.
But I began TRACE OF DECEIT in
earnest in June 2017 after I read an article about the infamous London fire of
1874 that destroyed the Pantechnicon—an enormous warehouse filled with
priceless art and antiques, right in the heart of Mayfair. I sent the first
draft to my editor and agent around August 2018. But it’s been reworked and
reworked since then.
Where did you do most of your writing
for this fiction work? And please describe in detail. And can you please
include a photo? I do most of my writing in my
home office. I have an entire wall of books, a writing table I’ve had for
thirty years that I love, a comfortable tapestry-ish armchair where my
15-year-old beagle Rosy usually sleeps, a large canvas with a photo of a sunlit
street in Crete, and a large map of 1870 London tacked to my wall.
What were your writing habits while
writing this work- did you drink something as you wrote, listen to music, write
in pen and paper, directly on laptop; specific time of day? I live in the Arizona desert, so I usually hike first
thing in the morning when it’s cool, come home and shower, do a bit of
housework, make a cup of coffee, and then sit down at my desk by 9:30 or 10. Years
ago, I used to become very anxious if I didn’t stick to a strict schedule; but my
life with two young kids simply didn’t work that way, and over time, as I wrote
every day, I’ve gained faith in my steadiness, as it were. I don’t write to a
word limit or even to a time limit; I write for as long as I’m focused and
emotionally present, which is usually about three hours a day. Sometimes I go
down the research rabbit hole for an hour or two afterwards, and that’s a fun
break, a way to both get outside my story and find the bits of true history
that help shape it. When I’m beginning a book, I put pen or pencil to paper,
and I do a lot of scribbling; as the character is taking shape in my head, I
feel closer to her (or him) with a pen in my hand. But once I have a few
chapters drafted and some back-stories written longhand, I start writing on my
laptop. My son arrives home from school around 3pm, and I don’t work after
that. I’m too busy running him around!
What is the summary of this specific
fiction work? In 1875 London, a young painter
named Annabel Rowe is studying at the Slade School of Art. Her older brother
Edwin is a gifted artist himself, but also a ne’er-do-well gambler and opium
user who was arrested for forgery and sentenced to prison for a year. Recently
released, he swears to Annabel that he’s reformed, and she longs to believe him—although
he has made her promises before and broken them. One day, she goes to his room
where she finds two Scotland Yard inspectors searching his things. Her heart
sinking, she asks them what Edwin has done this time. But unexpectedly, they
tell her that Edwin has been murdered. At first she thinks it’s merely his dissolute,
selfish past catching up with him. However, then she discovers that a priceless
French painting has gone missing from his studio the same night—a portrait of
Madame de Pompadour, slated to be auctioned at Bettridge’s the following week.
As Edwin’s closest relative and as
an artist knowledgeable about the art and auction world, Annabel convinces Inspector
Matthew Hallam (introduced to readers in my previous novel A DANGEROUS DUET) that
she is crucial to the investigation. Together, they work to discover the truth
behind her brother’s murder.
Can you give the reader just enough information
for them to understand what is going on in the excerpt? The day of Edwin’s
funeral, a priest tells Annabel that one of Edwin’s first acts upon being
released from prison was to write a will that would ensure she would receive
the family house. She realizes that her brother truly had changed in prison—but
now he’s dead and she cannot tell him so.
Please include just one excerpt and
include page numbers as reference. This one excerpt can be as short or as long
as you prefer.
And then,
at last, I was alone by the grave. I looked down into the hole and saw the
coffin, several shades paler than the nut-brown earth around it. The white
flowers I placed on top had rolled off, or been blown to the side, dropping
into the crevasse between the wood and the dirt, leaving only the oblong box,
devoid of ornament and polished to a dull sheen.
God, what a fool I’d been.
The
feeling of self-loathing struck me as fiercely as a bitter wind on naked skin.
There was no getting away from the consequences of my stubbornness and my
stupidity, keeping myself at a distance from him. Of course I knew that people
could die swiftly. My parents had taken ill and were gone in a matter of days.
But Edwin was only twenty-five! I had counted on there being time—time
enough for me to be angry with him; to hold myself aloof so that he might learn
what it had felt like to be abandoned; to inscribe my uncertainty and fear indelibly
upon his heart, so that he would never, ever do it to me
again. And then, at last, I would let him see I’d forgiven him. That, really,
I’d forgive him anything, so long as he came back for good.
I thought
there would be time for all of that.
Now there
wasn’t time for any of it.
And while
I had been tending my resentment and distrust, Edwin had made sure I’d be taken
care of, if anything happened to him.
The wind
stirred the trees, shifting the shadows of the limbs across the ground and
tumbling detritus into the grave. The dampness of the late afternoon air knifed
its way into my insides, and I shivered. Yet again, Edwin’s death took on a
fresh, startling clarity. Perhaps it was because everything seemed to be
moving, while the coffin remained so still.
Inspector Hallam
came to my side and took my elbow, nudging me gently away from the grave,
through the trees, and onto the gravel path, the small stones rough through the
thin soles of my shoes. He asked if he should come and fetch me the next day,
prior to going to the Sibleys’ house to speak with Mr. Pagett. I told him there
was no need. I would come to the Yard.
Felix
appeared beside us and said something to the effect that whatever
Inspector Hallam had to say could wait until tomorrow. I heard the
coldness in his voice, and I sensed Mr. Hallam’s resentment, but I was in no
state to conciliate either of them.
I let Felix
lead me away. He helped me into a cab, settled me in my flat with a cup of hot
tea, and asked several times if there was anything else he might do. Each time
I replied in the negative, and at last he left me. I held the cup until the tea
had gone cold and then I set it aside undrunk and fell into bed, feeling as
weary and worn as if I’d been marched from one side of London to the other.
(Page
108)
Why is this excerpt so emotional for you
as a writer to write? And can you describe your own emotional experience of
writing this specific excerpt? I still feel
something twist inside my chest when I read this section. This book is to some
extent about what it means to long for and to be disappointed by the people we
love. One of the things Annabel comes to realize during the course of the book
is that she has particular memories of her brother—many of them painful and
even traumatizing. But after his death, both her brother’s sketchbooks and
certain events recall some happier memories as well, and she realizes, as
Matthew Hallam says, that there is a trace of deceit in what we remember.
Were there any deletions from this
excerpt that you can share with us? There aren’t really any deletions. My first drafts tend to
be a bit spare, so in later versions I expanded this scene because I was trying
to portray the full range of Annabel’s feelings—the regret, the self-loathing,
the longing, and the pain as she acknowledges her deepest wish with respect to
Edwin—that he’d return to stay.
Other works you have published? A LADY IN THE
SMOKE (Random House, 2016) and A
DANGEROUS DUET (Harper Collins, 2018)
Anything you would like to add? I spend a lot of time getting the historical information right, and I have some blogs on historical elements in my books on my website. I love to hear from readers, so please contact me through the STAY IN TOUCH tab!
Anything you would like to add? I spend a lot of time getting the historical information right, and I have some blogs on historical elements in my books on my website. I love to hear from readers, so please contact me through the STAY IN TOUCH tab!
Karen
Odden received her Ph.D. in English literature from New York
University and has taught at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. She formerly served as an assistant editor
for the academic journal Victorian
Literature and Culture. Her debut novel, A Lady in the Smoke, was
a USA Today bestseller.
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https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/10/87-inside-emotion-of-fiction-trace-of.html
Historical Suspense
A TRACE OF DECEIT
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/10/87-inside-emotion-of-fiction-trace-of.html
