1)
Q: So much of your debut novel, THE ABOLITIONIST’S DAUGHTER, was based on actual historical characters and events. Is the same true for THE SEAMSTRESS OF NEW ORLEANS?
A: All historical fiction is anchored in history, but not necessarily on actual people and incidents of a given time. Unlike THE ABOLITIONIST’S DAUGHTER, this novel is grounded in general historical context and events, but specific characters and events of the plot are fictionalized. New Orleans in 1900 was the setting of a grand ball put on by Les Mysterieuses, the second all-female krewe of Mardi Gras. Women who aspired to greater freedom and control, pre-Suffragettes if you will, took advantage of the 1900 Leap Year to stage this grand event. In fact, since the year could not be divided by 400, it was not an actual Leap Year. However, the first ball had been in 1896 and the ladies proceeded four years later as if it were a Leap Year.
2)
Q: The Black Hand and Storyville play such a part in this novel. How much of those two aspects of organized crime are based on history?
A: The Black Hand and Storyville played an integral part in New Orleans history. Storyville, established by municipal ordinance and named for alderman, Sydney Storey, who wrote the guidelines, was the district of regulated prostitution in the city from 1897 to 1917. Prior to such regulation a family might wake up one morning to find a brothel ensconced next door. Storyville conscribed one strictly defined section of the city, a sanctioned red-light district, thereby confining the approved illegalities and protecting property and culture in the wider areas. The Black Hand, or New Orleans Mafia, was an organization of Italian gangsters engaged in the extortion racket. They were known for threatening messages demanding delivery of money, signed with a warning hand imprinted in heavy black ink.
3)
Q: The Poydras Asylum for Girls plays a vital role in the book on several levels. What were the orphanages in the city like and why were there so many of them?
A: New Orleans was a center of various epidemics—yellow fever, primarily, as well as cholera and typhoid—that regularly left large numbers of children orphaned, or half-orphaned, in the terminology used to indicate a child with only one living parent. Because such parents often were unable to care for their children, the orphanages provided shelter and education. The city was full of such institutions of all denominations and color, and were the recipients of dedicated support from New Orleans citizens. In general, children of younger ages, especially siblings, might be housed and schooled together, but as they moved toward adolescence, were always separated by gender. Focus was generally on religion and trade skills.
4)
Q: Symbolism is a subtle but important component of Constance’s ball gown. How did that symbolism come about and did such symbolism play an actual part in women’s move toward greater rights for themselves?
A: Yes, symbolism of various sorts was an important aspect of women’s clothing, especially as related to the first women’s krewes and then the Suffragettes. The Mardi Gras ball encompassed a wide range of symbols in the choice of themes and tableaux, specifically as an unspoken means of emphasizing the strength and leadership of women in history and mythology. For the Suffragettes, proper attire was of vital importance to elicit respect for women as they marched and protested. The three colors they chose to wear—white, purple, and gold, or sometimes green—symbolized purity, loyalty, and a nod to the sunflowers of Kansas to honor Susan B. Anthony. Later they began to wear diagonal sashes in these symbolic colors over their white clothing. Constance’s gown becomes a collaboration in the transformation of defined societal norms. The process awakens the creative energies of both Alice and Constance to find and integrate the symbolic essence of both women, expressing power while remaining subtle and even incognito.
5)
Q: Dressmaking and skills in stitching and embroidery are crucial to both plot and character. Could you talk a bit about those skills? Did you need to do a lot of research about them or were you already familiar with them to some degree?
A: The dressmaking and stitchery were, in fact, one of the few things in the novel that required very little research. I grew up sewing, beginning with a miniature “toy”, but fully functional sewing machine I received when I was about five. In high school, I made most of my own clothes, learning from the women in my family and even from my father, who also sewed.
My embroidery and stitching skills came through the women in my family, as well as the community. In recent years, two close friends have shared their advanced skills in beading and bead embroidery. I love combining these skills to create unique jewelry.
6)
Q: This era saw the advent of the sewing machine, among other new inventions. Could you talk about some of the history and any experience of your own?
A: For the history of sewing machines, I did need a fair amount of technological research. In its earliest advent, there were multiple efforts to create a mechanism that would lock two separate threads into a single stitch. Ultimately the stitch evolved that even today with our computerized, electric-run machines varies little in its basics from the stitch of those early treadle machines. By 1900 sewing machines had become common household items. I learned and sewed on essentially the same treadle machine as Alice and the girls in the orphanage, with all the maintenance that requires.
7)
Q: 1900 was a time of great technological innovation. Was there anything in the way of new inventions that took you by surprise?
A: Indeed, there was. If anything needed little or no research, I thought it would be Dorothea’s car. My father bought an old Model T Ford when I was about nine or ten. He loved that car and I loved riding in it, standing beside him with my arm around his neck. When I was old enough to learn to drive, my first lessons were in that car. Then I lived in France as a student with a family whose antique cars are now in the museum at Le Mans. I went on rallies across France with them in caravans of antique cars. So I confidently began to write about Dorothea driving, describing the gearshift and clutch, the steering, the accelerator. All I needed at the end of the scene was the make of the car. Imagine my astonishment to learn that all cars at the time were electric, with no clutch, no accelerator, not even a steering wheel, but a throttle and tiller like a boat.
8)
Q: How did you go about your research for the book?
A: Research of any kind is always an adventure. When New Orleans is the base of your research, it is an even more enjoyable adventure. I rented an apartment in the French Quarter for a couple of years after Katrina, so knew my way around to some extent. I had ridden a float for the Iris parade, an historic all-female krewe, and had attended one of the grand balls of Mardi Gras. When I was invited to speak about THE ABOLITIONIST’S DAUGHTER on a panel at the Faulkner Festival there, I made time for a longer stay, with extensive research in various museums, especially focused on clothing and styles, then long days in the archives at Howard-Tilton Memorial Library of Tulane University and at the Williams Research Center of The Historic New Orleans Collection. Of course, the time arrived when I had to return home and work online, but given the material I was researching, even that was an adventure. One of my greatest challenges for research was to determine the coupling without vestibules between train cars prior to the Panama-Limited.
9)
Q: In addition to New Orleans, Chicago plays a major role in the novel. Was there anything in your research of that city that surprised you?
A: Chicago is one of my favorite American cities. I took the train with an overnight sleeper from Memphis to Chicago when I was in college. I have returned to Chicago a number of times with a friend to visit the Art Institute. For me, it is such a beautiful and comfortable city to explore. So I was entirely amazed to find in 1900 the unpaved streets, mud deep, icy in winter with plank boardwalks for pedestrians. I had naively expected to find at least cobblestoned streets. I was also intrigued to learn how the streets were named, numbered in one direction, of course, but in the other alphabetized so that according to letter, you would know how far you were from the state line.
10)
Q: You have talked a good bit about your research for historical accuracy. Are there other underlying goals that inspire your writing?
A: Oh, yes. Perhaps even more so. I want to present my characters not only as fitting appropriately into the era in which they are presented, but as thoroughly human as possible. I endeavor to present them in the full complexity and depth of our psychological and emotional makeup. None of us is “all” of any one thing; the best of us have flaws and the worst of us carry a woundedness that contributes to terrible outcomes. As a therapist myself, I have a deep desire to present the reader with characters who convey that human complexity.