I read Walden for the first time when I was in high school. It was one of the most transformational books of my life. It certainly impacted my view on nature, on frugalness, and on weighing want verses need. Thoreau has been a writer to whom I have returned time and time again for wisdom. He was not a perfect man, and there are even some scholars who say that his roughly two years living in his cabin on Walden Pond was the indulgence of a rich man who knew he had finer things waiting for him on the other side of his self-assigned poverty, but there is no denying the impact that he and the American writers of his time had on the creation of truly American literature. These writings were not the rephrasing of European ideas but new American ideas. As an American author, I’m grateful to those writers for this.
There are characters in this novel who would suggest, some rather strongly like Imogene, that Thoreau had a child out of wedlock, and therefore, there are descendants of the author walking the earth today. There is no evidence of this in real life. In fact, as Violet points out time and time again in the novel, Thoreau never married and had no children. The same was said for his two sisters and one brother. The four Thoreau children were the end of their family line. I can say confidently that the suggestion of Thoreau’s indiscretions are purely fiction. I hope that you will allow me to use this fictional idea for the story, which is really more about how far a person like Imogene is willing to go for her truth—no matter how many times she is told she is wrong.
In this series, I have highlighted Violet’s interest in transcendentalism and nineteenth-century transcendentalist authors, both those who ascribed to that philosophy and those who were just on the periphery of it. When I was in fifteen, I learned about transcendentalism for the first time, and although I don’t accept all transcendentalist tenets, many did strike a chord with me at that young age and remain with me today. It’s been an honor to highlight these writers and their great works in a new and magical way. Thank you for that chance. And, as always, thank you for reading.