Take Five: Erika Robuck and The House of Hawthorne
By Guest | May 3, 2015 |
Longtime WU contributor Erika Robuck just released her latest novel, The House of Hawthorne. We’re so happy she’s here today to tell us about it!
Q: What’s the premise of your new book?
In THE HOUSE OF HAWTHORNE, artist Sophia Peabody must find the cure for what ails her body and spirit, and her eventual husband Nathaniel Hawthorne—one who so often feels isolated and lonely—seeks the harbor of a home on earth. It is the story of their love and their art told on a canvas of many years.
Q: What would you like people to know about the story itself?
I want readers to know that, unlike my previous novels, this is the first time I have only used the true “characters” from history. While I conducted research for the novel, seeking the best way into the lives of the Hawthornes, Sophia asserted herself as the narrator. She wanted to tell the story.
Q: What do your characters have to overcome in this story? What challenge do you set before them?
Sophia is the heart of the novel, and she must overcome her debilitating headaches and infirmity to live life to its fullest. In spite of many accidents, deaths, family difficulties, and career setbacks Sophia must seek to embody her charge: to bring beauty and light into the suffering world.
Q: What unique challenges did this book pose for you, if any?
Taking on and sustaining the voice of one so effusive, optimistic, transcendental, and spirited as Sophia Peabody Hawthorne was a great challenge. I read her 700-page Cuba Journal, her marriage journal, and all of her letters to attempt to embody her. I hope I did her honor.
Q: What has been the most rewarding aspect of having written this book?
Sometimes it feels as if the stories want to be told so badly, they lead the writer. I had many occasions throughout the writing of the novel, and visiting the places where the Hawthornes lived and traveled, when I felt the warmth of their spirits guiding me. I have great affection for the Hawthornes.
You can learn more about The House of Hawthorne on Erika’s website.
Many thanks to today’s guest.
You can read more WU guest posts by visiting this link.
Congrats, Erika Robuck!
Thank you, Brian!
Erika,
Thank you for this book. I’ll be looking for it immediately. Congratulations!
Thank you, Judith! Much appreciated!
Congratulations! And thanks for all your information about Salem prior to the UnConference. The Transcendentalists are an endless source of fascination for me, but not enough has been written about the women. I enjoyed Megan Marshall’s biography of the three Peabody sisters and look forward to reading your book.
Thank you, Barbara! Marshall’s book about the Peabody sisters is a favorite.
I’ve loved all your books, Erika, and can’t wait to read this one.
Congratulations!