Louisa Treger is the author of the new novel The Dragon Lady, which focuses on the life of Lady Virginia Courtauld. Treger also has written the novel The Lodger. Also a classical violinist, she lives in London.
Q: You note that the idea for this novel came from a
question a friend asked you: "Have you seen Zimbabwe's secret Monet?"
How did that question lead you to writing this book?
A: The “secret Monet” was allegedly hidden in the vaults of
the National Gallery of Zimbabwe to keep it safe from Robert Mugabe, who was
then president.
I have family in Southern Africa and on a trip to Harare, I
managed to access a few of the “secret” paintings. There was no Monet, but I
did see works by Renoir and Durer among others, donated to the Gallery by Sir
Stephen Courtauld and his wife, Virginia.
My curiosity was piqued and I began
to research Stephen and Virginia. The more I found out, the more intrigued I
became, and I decided that I needed to tell their story.
Q: You've also written about the author Dorothy Richardson.
Do you see any similarities between her and Lady Virginia Courtauld?
A: Although Virginia was far more privileged than Dorothy,
there are similarities between them. Both were strong women who refused to
conform and who struggled to find their place in the world; women who were
ground breakers and pioneers.
This is important to me as a storyteller because their lives
and achievements have been undervalued or overlooked by history. Virginia and
Dorothy were ahead of their time, and their interests and conflicts are still
relevant today.
Q: What did you see as the right blend of fiction and
history as you wrote the novel?
A: I looked at the historical information as a skeleton on
which to hang my story. Fiction gave me licence to imagine myself into the
characters’ private thoughts, to invent conversations and details which
animated their conflicts and drew out themes I found interesting.
At the same time, I tried to stay as true to their
personalities as I could. In other words, the outline of the plot was already
there and within that framework, I created my own image of real people.
Q: How did you research the book, and did you learn anything
especially surprising?
A: Researching The Dragon Lady was a hugely enjoyable and
exciting adventure. A particular highlight was travelling to the Courtaulds’
house in Zimbabwe, where I slept in Virginia’s bedroom, which made me feel
close to her living, breathing presence. I also spent time at Eltham Palace, in
the archives and walking around soaking up the atmosphere.
A cousin, George Courtauld, gave me access to letters and
photographs, and shared his own memories of Stephen and Virginia with me.
One surprise was discovering a child’s unmarked grave on the
Zimbabwean property. I learnt that it belonged to the daughter of the previous
owners, and her ghost was said to haunt the place.
There was certainly a sad and eerie atmosphere hanging
around the grave, and it was sufficiently powerful to keep me awake at night,
waiting for her to appear. She didn’t, but when I was at home in London writing
about the ghost, my water glass cracked for no reason.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: My next novel continues my theme of strong women who live
by their own rules. It’s about Nellie Bly (1864-1922), America’s first female
investigative journalist. She grew up without privilege or education, knowing
that her greatest asset was the force of her own will.
I am going to focus on her stay in the infamous Women’s
Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell’s Island, off New York. Rumors of abuse were rife,
but no one had dared investigate it until Nellie managed to fake insanity and
get herself committed in order to write an undercover story.
Nellie’s reportage
brought her fame and led to a grand jury investigation and financial increase
in the Department of Public Charities and Corrections.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: I am doing a tour of the U.S. around the publication of
The Dragon Lady. I am very excited! Here are my dates.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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