Susan Coventry is the author of the new novel Till Taught by Pain. Her other books include The Queen's Daughter. She is also a physician, and she lives in Louisville, Kentucky.
Q: What inspired you to write a novel based on the life of Dr. William S. Halsted (1852-1922), and how was the book’s title chosen?
A: I can trace a path starting with curiosity about Sigmund Freud’s cocaine habit, though I can’t remember what initially sparked my interest in that.
I picked up a dual biography of Freud and William Stewart Halsted called An Anatomy of Addiction by Howard Markel. As I read, I became fascinated by Halsted and lost interest in Freud.
Halsted was the first surgeon-in-chief at Johns Hopkins, and he had an extraordinary, groundbreaking career despite a cocaine and morphine habit. But what really grabbed me was the love story buried in that biography. In a nutshell, Halsted invented rubber surgical gloves to protect the hands of his O.R. nurse, and later married her.
She, Caroline Hampton, was the niece of Confederate General Wade Hampton. But defining Caroline by the famous men in her life didn’t explain who Caroline was. I was inspired to write about Halsted’s life because I knew there had to be more to the story and I suspected that “more” was Caroline’s contribution.
As for the title, I wanted something pulled from the book itself. I first considered One That Loves and Knows, which comes from a Tennyson poem that features prominently in the novel and in the true-life love story. But as a title, it did a poor job of reflecting the plot or theme.
Till Taught by Pain is taken from another poem quoted in the novel, this one by Byron. In one way or another, pain and attempts to control it are central to the story.
Q: How would you describe the relationship between William and Caroline?
A: I think of the aphorism “still waters run deep.” I don’t see the Halsteds (or portray them) as a demonstrative couple. They are very private, which I imagine was partly due to their inherent personalities but also a result of the need to keep Halsted’s addiction from being exposed. And yet, behind their reserved facades, I believe there was a deep and lasting love.
Q: As a physician yourself, how did you research the novel, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?
A: As a physician, I had two research advantages. The first was ready access to medical libraries, librarians, and databases, and the second was a basic familiarity with the subject matter that made it easier to absorb the large amount of material I collected.
The first thing I did was to read biographies of Halsted and other pioneering physicians at Hopkins. I also read a biography of Wade Hampton and a genealogical book about the Hampton family. I read a history of Johns Hopkins University.
Then I dug deeper by looking through some of Halsted’s private papers and correspondence kept at the Hopkins medical school archives, which was the most fascinating and fun part of the process. There were only four letters extant written by Caroline, but they were crucial in giving me a sense of her voice. I read many of Halsted’s surgical papers. Finally, I read newspaper articles, journals, and letters of the time.
As for what surprised me? It wasn’t anything medical. While there was a tremendous amount of material on Halsted, there was very little biographical information about Caroline—that wasn’t the surprising part.
Rare colleagues of Halsted commented on the marriage, calling it “odd.” Or calling Caroline odd. Of course, they weren’t aware of Halsted’s addiction and likely blamed the couples’ insularity on her.
But there was one quote from Halsted’s closest friend, Dr. William Welch, who said that Halsted had called Caroline “Romance Itself.” That gave me insight into the relationship. And it was a surprise to know that this gruff and often sarcastic man could show such a soft and romantic side when speaking to a trusted friend about the woman he loved.
Q: The writer Rilla Askew said of the book, “Till Taught by Pain is the style of historical fiction I most admire: one that holds true to the history and the real characters underpinning it while pulling the reader magically into their world.” What do you think of that description?
A: I absolutely love that description. Historically accurate biographical fiction that pulls the reader into the past is my favorite type of novel, and it was what I was aiming for with Till Taught by Pain. I’m glad it met the mark for her and hope it does for other readers as well.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I’m currently working on a biographical novel of Maude Hutchins, an early 20th century modern artist and author, whose talent was overshadowed by her (strangely) wildly famous-at-the-time husband, Robert Maynard Hutchins. He was an educational reformer and the youngest ever president of the University of Chicago.
They were compared to Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, a comparison that seems to have foreshadowed Maude’s own struggle with mental illness.
Modern art and educational philosophy are both out of my wheelhouse, so while I am breaking the maxim of “write what you know,” I am definitely learning a lot!
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: You can find out more about me and sign up for my monthly newsletter at my website, https://susancoventry.com/. If you visit, you’ll see I also write historical romance under the pen name Carol Coventry, and had a four-book Regency Romance series published this past year.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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