The Legacy of Eden (35 page)
Acknowledgments
While writing in itself may be a
solitary act, the process of getting published would not have happened
without the following people: to my amazing agents Sallyanne Sweeney and
Beth Davey, without whom this literally would not have happened; to my
editor, Krista Stroever, who was the first person to take a chance on an
unknown, and I hope this repays your efforts; to Juliet Mushens for all her
amazing support throughout; to my English teacher Mrs. Wells, who was the
first person to ever encourage what was before just a shameful habit; and to
my husband, Jack Davy, who held me together with tape and glue and who was
this book's biggest supporter, counselor and defender.
Questions for Discussion
- How much is Lavinia
the architect of her family’s downfall? Is she the cause of their
destruction, or had they already willingly created the situations that
would ultimately lead to their ostracism and exile? - What do you make of
the role of mothers in the novel? Lavinia, Julia and even Antonia all
have devastating impacts on their children. What do you make of their
approaches to motherhood and their relationships with their
children? - Meredith faces a
heartrending and difficult journey back to Iowa to confront her family’s
past. How much do you empathize with Meredith’s place in her family’s
history? What do you make of the final reveal of her betrayal of Ava? Do
you agree with the reasons for why she fled and her need for
self-preservation or do you find her ultimately as selfish and as cruel
as the other members of her family? - What do you make of
Piper’s relationship with Lavinia? Why do you think Lavinia cries when
Piper dies, but doesn’t when she discovers Cal Sr., dead in bed next to
her? How much of an adversary is Piper to Lavinia? - Is Julia a victim or
does she deserve her exile from the farm? Is she the cruel, spoiled,
capricious monster Lavinia portrays her to be, or is her character
poisoned and influenced by the jealous influences of her stepmother?
What effect does her abandonment have on Cal Jr.? And why do you think
she never comes back for him? - Forgiveness is a
running theme through the novel. To what extent, if any, do the
characters deserve forgiveness or sympathy for their
actions? - To what extent are the
men passive participants in the novel? Are they merely puppets
manipulated and controlled by the female characters in the book or do
they willingly and actively participate in the family’s
politics? - To what extent can it
be argued that Aurelia is the central character of the novel? What do
you make of the bloodletting ritual of the Hathaways and the notion that
the farm was a world in its own right? What do you make of the portrayal
of the outside world compared with that of Aurelia? - How do you interpret
the ending of the novel and the last line “And I go home”? Do you think
this means Meredith has accepted her past or is unable to escape
it? - What do you make of
the relationship between Meredith and her sisters? Do you agree with her
assertion that they never really knew each other because of how much
they hid from one another? Was their relationship doomed because of the
effects of Lavinia’s machinations or were Meredith, Ava and Claudia the
cause of the break in their sisterly bond?
A
Conversation with Nelle Davy
Set on a magnificent stretch of
farmland in Iowa,
The Legacy of Eden
has a quintessentially American sensibility, so
it is especially surprising to learn that you were born and raised in the
U.K. What drew you to this time and place, and what were the challenges of
writing about it? What kind of research did you do?
When I set
out to write
The Legacy of Eden,
I wanted a location that had great swathes of
space, and I was intrigued by Iowa’s moniker as the American Heartland and
its huge agricultural presence. I knew this would require a lot of internet
and book research on farming techniques, as I am a resolute city girl from
London, but I did not let that daunt me. Imagination has no boundaries or
maps, nor should it.
What inspired your idea for the
story and characters in
The Legacy of Eden?
I fell in
love with the story of family politics and the cruel machinations of an
amoral matriarch when I read Robert Graves’s
I,
Claudius.
I could not stop thinking
about what it would be like if this was transported from ancient Rome to
modern day and to a family people could empathize with. Katherine Anne
Porter once said that “In the nicest houses, in the most comfortable homes,
the best people do the worst things to each other.” I am paraphrasing, but
that notion really intrigued me: the idea of not knowing what goes on behind
closed doors. And I wanted to create a story of hubris and ambition, but one
with real devastation. These are people who start off loving one another,
but in the end they sacrifice each other for their own ends.
You’ve created such a complex and
memorable cast of characters in this novel, particularly the matriarch,
Lavinia. When you started the book, did you have her story and personality
already mapped out, or did she reveal herself to you over the course of
writing? What surprised you the most about your characters along the
way?
I plotted
an initial arc for all my characters, but some things revealed themselves
when I was writing. For example, I didn’t initially plan for Lavinia to be
married to someone else with a different name… I firmly believe that you can
make a character as hideous as you want to, just as long as the reader can
understand why they behave the way they do. Although Lavinia does horrendous
things, it is clear why she does them. In the end, she triumphs, but the
reader knows that the farm fails. All the sacrifices and devastation is
ultimately all for nothing, and Lavinia never knows it.
Aurelia comes to life in the
novel, almost as if it’s a character itself. Why did you choose to focus the
story on a farmhouse in Iowa? What about the rural setting appealed to you,
and how did it inform and enrich the novel as you were writing
it?
I love novels in which the setting becomes a
character in itself. The best example of this I can think of is Manderlay in
Rebecca.
I
wanted to create a place that was vast and alluring, but that also had an
unbreakable hold on the characters. When I travelled to America, I was
struck by the sprawling farmlands full of crops, and I thought that it must
be incredibly rewarding to start off with a blank piece of land, cultivate
it and, in the end, yield enough crops to feed a family and make a living.
The idea really seduced me, though obviously I romanticized it even more so
for the book.
Aurelia is an unusual name for
such a sprawling rural estate. What is the significance?
This is
going to sound strange, but I think it was divine providence. I thought I
had made up the name when I began writing. But then I discovered that there
actually was an Aurelia in Iowa. After researching it further, I discovered
that Aurelia means golden, and everything came together. It was so organic,
yet so perfect.
The Legacy of Eden
is divided into
sections for each of the four leading female characters: Meredith, Lavinia,
Julia and Ava. Why did you choose to structure the novel in this way, and
why these characters?
I chose to
structure the novel this way because ultimately this is a tale about the
women, and each of them has a pivotal role in their family’s history.
Meredith’s acknowledgment of the past and her resolving of her family’s
dissolution are crucial to the story; Lavinia marks the beginning of the
family history; Julia’s breaking of her father’s heart leads to horrendous
consequences; and what happens with Ava is the final nail in the family
coffin. Though the farm is governed by men, it is the women who make this
story, who guide their present and who are instrumental in shaping their
history.
Can you describe your writing
process? Do you outline first or dive right in? Do you write the scenes
consecutively or do you jump around?
Writing is
hard. It takes so much patience, and drive and constant revision. I always
start with the characters, plotting out every detail from their backstory to
what they look like to what they eat. Inevitably (and this is when I know
the story is working) they will take on a life of their own; my initial
kernel of an idea will develop into fully fleshed characters that feel like
real people, and the story will grow from them. I always write
chronologically. I’m a traditionalist in that way.
Aside from being a writer, you
also work in publishing, so you must find yourself having to read quite a
bit of other material while you are writing. Do you find this distracting or
does it help to inform your own work?
It is never
distracting. My writing style is my own; I have my own voice, and reading
another person’s work does not make me insecure. In fact, I know how
personal writing is and I am always so excited to find fresh new talent. I
love being able to give others the same chance I have been given. I know how
much writing and publishing means to them because of how much it has meant
to me.
Can you tell us about your next
book?
I am loving
writing my next book. It is set in Louisiana in 1963 and charts the civil
rights movement and Martin Luther King’s nonviolent protest as seen through
the eyes of a white child from a middle-class family and the black son of
her family’s maid. The two form a beautiful and loving friendship, but the
racial politics of the day threaten to pull them apart and destroy
everything they have known. Once again, a character I did not intend to be
major has completely taken over, but that is why I love writing. Even though
you start off in one place, something unexpected yet so exciting comes out
without you ever intending for it to happen.
ISBN: 9781459220362
Copyright © 2012 by
Janelle Davy
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