Interview With the author 'Floats the Dark Shadow', Yves Fey

A murder mystery set in late nineteenth century Paris, what could be more intriguing? In my interview with author Yves Fey she sheds light on her thriller, "Floats the Dark Shadow", centering on young American Artist Theodora Faraday, who helps investigate a series of child murders leading to a killer who believes he's the reincarnation of Gilles de Rais, the most notorious murder in the history of Paris.

Q: Much of “Floats the Dark Shadow” is based on history. Did you enjoy the research involved or did you find it tedious?

A: I love historical research. I never find it tedious unless something eludes me, and then it can be extremely frustrating. Originally, I had a chapter set at the Paris grand art Salon (it’s been cut but will become an extra on my website). First I found out that by 1897 there was not just one official Salon, but two. I picked the one that had the best timing, which was held in the Palais de l’Industrie, near the Champs Elysees. Then, after the catastrophic historical fire happens, I was moving bodies to the Palais de l’Industrie, and realized that there should be thousands of paintings hung on its walls as the salon was not supposed to be over yet. Hunting, hunting, hunting…. Books yield nothing. Googling… Finally, ten pages into my Google search, I find a letter from an American woman to a relative saying that this year, 1897, the Salon is being held a month earlier. Ten pages! Absolute miracle that I ever found the answer. I had a similar long hunt for information about the architect Julia Morgan, who has a cameo appearance. She was the first woman ever admitted to the Academie des Beaux Arts architectural school, but that didn’t happen for another year. However, she was working at an architect’s atelier in Paris. She warns my heroine of the police coming to stop the student riots when the Beaux Arts does admit a couple of women to the Painting division for the first time. The male students protest. Probably the most difficult part of the series is the police research. My French isn’t good, so some sources aren’t available to me. I have found several excellent books, including a charming one from the period about the law courts with engravings. But often the particular fact that’s needed is very difficult to find. It may not even be of great importance to the novel, but once you wonder it’s difficult to give up the hunt.

Q: How long did it take you to write “Floats the Dark Shadow”?

A: Years. About six with all the revising I did as well. My normal writing speed is probably about two years. I’m not a two book a year person! But this was the most ambitious book I’d tried and it intimidated me. I spent a long time with the wrong characters and plot that remained nothing more than a slide show in my mind. Then I found my story, had the plot, but Michel absolutely refused to talk to me for months. He was incredibly private, and didn’t want me to tell his story. If you’re not a writer, this sounds nuts, no doubt, since I knew his story perfectly well. But he wouldn’t speak, so I couldn’t get it the words onto the page. But I finally had a couple of breakthrough moments and wrote more in six months as I had in the previous two years.

Q: Who are some of your biggest influences as an author?

A: I have many many writers I love, though I don’t know who would have most influenced me. Perhaps Mary Renault and Dorothy Dunnett, in that they both did such a glorious job of bringing history to life. I know that I’ve studied Dunnett’s fabulous action scenes avidly. I even understand how she accomplishes what she does, but it doesn’t help me to write mine. I have to get the movie rolling in my head, and that happens of its own accord. Other amazing world builders are Tolkien, Thomas Hardy, and Tanith Lee. Dostoyevsky has a sort of helpless courage in being swept away into the darkness of the psyche that both fascinates and frightens me, and I consider him a major influence, though not one that shows particularly. Character is the most important facet of a book for me, and I definitely prefer writers who have vivid descriptions and a poetic bent. It’s what I like to read, and to write. I work hard on plot and pacing, because they can sabotage a book if they are weak, but I don’t read books for clever plots or breakneck pace.

Q: “Floats the Dark Shadow” is a fascinating but very dark mystery. Is it difficult to write about characters and actions that are so unspeakably evil?

A: I used to enjoy reading and writing horror more than I do now. It was good catharsis. In Floats the Dark Shadow, I was able to write the more suggestive of Gilles’ scenes without too much difficultly, but I postponed the worst one for quite a while. But if you have a horrific serial killer, you can’t chicken out of doing a horrific scene. Plus, Gilles de Rais was real and many details of his crimes are known. I finally took the plunge and did a really ugly, graphic scene. But my editor felt it was darker than was needed so we cut the latter half. I think she was right. The scene has enough awful details that I don’t feel I avoided what was needed, and it’s followed up with some nasty graphic bits in the cemetery chapter. Actually, what I found the most chilling about the first Gilles’ crimes was his delight in pretending to rescue the children.

Q: Did you have a specific audience in mind when you were writing “Floats the Dark Shadow”?

A: It’s a book for people who love historical mysteries, and I hope for people who just like historicals. It’s not lean and spare. It’s a rich, complex world, so it’s not for someone who wants a quick, dash through it sort of entertainment. I do also warn readers that it’s dark, with violence against children. Violence against people of any sort is not something that I have difficultly reading – I’m the reader who freaks out if you kill the cat.

Q: What are your future writing plans?

A: I’m working on a sequel to Floats the Dark Shadow. One of the surviving Revenants will narrate along with Michel and Theo. It’s played out against the backdrop of the Dreyfus Affair, but dealing with prejudice on many levels. At the moment, it’s a total snarl! It’s dark, but more the murky dark of twisted motives than the black occult brew of Shadow.