Here is Clare Dunkle on the natures of her two main characters:
"When the story of my new novel, The House of Dead Maids, first came to mind, it was like a spooky dream: gray, eyeless ghosts gathering in dim stone hallways, storm clouds sweeping over weedy, overgrown gardens, and through it all, a little boy playing happily, unworried in the midst of horror. That little boy, called Himself in my book, becomes Heathcliff in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights

I drew inspiration for Tabby from strong narrators in two Brontë classics: Nelly Dean, the housekeeper in Wuthering Heights, and Jane Eyre, the protagonist of her own novel. These are women who feel that they can rely on themselves, and they speak frankly to the reader because they have a strong sense of self-worth. Both of them are telling stories from the comfortable perspective of maturity: they are looking back over a lifetime of difficult decisions, and they feel few regrets. This adds to the power of their narrative voice.
My narrator, too, is looking back from a comfortable distance to tell the story of The House of Dead Maids—she tells us this in the very first sentence of the book. Every now and then, Tabby contrasts her younger, inexperienced self with the wisdom she has gained since, but for the most part, she lets us know that she is who she is. Whatever others think of her—that she is ugly or odd-looking or unintelligent or meddling—doesn’t do much to upset Tabby’s self-esteem. Instead, she congratulates herself on having a good conscience, and she works hard to keep it that way.
Tabby derives her strength from an unshakeable belief in the strict rules of her day: the rich do what they please, the servants work, the bad go to hell, and the good go to heaven. Himself derives his strength, both in my book and in Emily Brontë’s classic, from his refusal to believe anything of the sort. Children or not, two such strong characters are a force to be reckoned with, and in The House of Dead Maids, they deal with ghosts, mobs, and murderers, and both make it through to new chapters of their own. What neither Tabby nor Himself manages to do, at the end of the day, is to change one another. Their adventure only cements their conflicting attitudes."
Thanks, Clare!
Also, here is a Special Brontë-themed giveaway!
One Grand Prize winner will receive The House of Dead Maids, a gorgeous Brontë sisters pocket mirror, and the HarperTeen edition of Wuthering Heights! Two lucky runners-up will receive the two books. To enter, send an email to DeadMaidsBook@gmail.com with your name, email address, and shipping address (if you're under 13, submit a parent's name and email address). One entry per person and prizes will only be shipped to US or Canadian addresses. Entries must be received by midnight (PDT) on October 31. Winners will be selected in a random drawing on November 1 and notified via email.
5 comments:
Love the cover art of this book!
~Jen
I Read Banned Books
What a fantastic premise for a novel. Please enter me!
Laurie
I am so excited to read this book!
Have you read her book, The Hollow Kingdom? I've read a thousand Young Adult books, but The Hollow Kingdom is still one of my absolute favorites. I highly, highly recommend it.
Gorgeous book cover. I haven't read this and will definitely, ... that cover is appealing enough to charm the bookworm in me.
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