Her new novel is What Strange Creatures.From Arsenault's Q &A with Caroline Leavitt:
How did you find out about Margery Kempe, the medieval mystic, and how does she function in the novel?Visit Emily Arsenault's website.
I learned about Margery Kempe through a survey of early English lit class when I was fulfilling credits for English teaching certification years ago. I was intrigued by her unusual life—particularly the fact that she managed to convince her husband to allow her to take a vow of celibacy—and to go on pilgrimages by herself—after she’d had fourteen children with him. When I started What Strange Creatures, I knew I wanted Theresa to have kind of a quirky dissertation topic, so Margery Kempe came back to mind. It wasn’t until then that I read the entire Book of Margery Kempe (her autobiography—which she had a scribe write for her, as she was illiterate). I was happy to find some very odd stories about her life that I was eager to share with readers along the way. Additionally, I wanted Theresa to have a thesis topic somehow related to religion, so she could struggle a bit with the concept of faith. Margery Kempe gives Theresa an outlet—albeit a bizarre and at time frustrating one—for reflection during very difficult times.
For such a terrifying scenario, there is also a lot of humor in the novel. How did you balance the lighter moments with the darker ones?
That’s a good question. This is my fourth book. My first book, The Broken Teaglass, had a lot of humor in it. The two after that didn’t have all that much, and when I sat down to write What Strange Creatures, I was determined to make humor a priority again. I decided that what had prevented...[read on]
The Page 69 Test: The Broken Teaglass.
My Book, The Movie: What Strange Creatures.
--Marshal Zeringue