Deidre
asked
Kate Quinn:
I read The Alice Network in two days and loved every second of it. What inspired you to write it? And as a writer, did you have Eve or Charlie possess any of your traits or qualities?
Kate Quinn
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I knew going in that I wanted to write something 20th century, and I wanted to try a dual narrative. Surfing for inspiration, I stumbled across a wonderful non-fiction book about women heroes of WWI (Kathryn J. Atwood; I recommend it highly) with a series of fascinating essays on unsung heroines of the war, and found the story of the historic Alice Network. It begged to be told, simple as that.
As for Eve & Charlie, I suppose they both probably have little bits of me in there; most of my protagonists do to some degree. (Although I cannot, sadly, calculate numbers in my head the way Charlie does.) Eve does share one very important trait not with me, but with my husband, and that's her stammer. I've watched him deal for many years with the problems that assail Eve: being frustrated by conversational hitches, by well-meaning people who try to finish his sentences for him, by ignorant people who assume someone with a stammer must be stupid. It was important to me, and to him, to show a speech impediment realistically, and to show someone who turned what might be seen as a weakness into an asset--in Eve's case, she uses her stutter to make people underestimate her. My husband helped me fine-tune all Eve's dialogue, and is delighted to see the reaction readers are having to her.
As for Eve & Charlie, I suppose they both probably have little bits of me in there; most of my protagonists do to some degree. (Although I cannot, sadly, calculate numbers in my head the way Charlie does.) Eve does share one very important trait not with me, but with my husband, and that's her stammer. I've watched him deal for many years with the problems that assail Eve: being frustrated by conversational hitches, by well-meaning people who try to finish his sentences for him, by ignorant people who assume someone with a stammer must be stupid. It was important to me, and to him, to show a speech impediment realistically, and to show someone who turned what might be seen as a weakness into an asset--in Eve's case, she uses her stutter to make people underestimate her. My husband helped me fine-tune all Eve's dialogue, and is delighted to see the reaction readers are having to her.
More Answered Questions
E
asked
Kate Quinn:
Hello. I adore your writing style- your books are truly breaths of fresh air in a genre that came sometimes be quite plodding or stale. I've read your books over and over, and in this vein wanted to ask you if you can recommend any similar historical fiction authors? Obviously, no two authors are alike, but I figured you might know of similar ones with that special literary *spark* that you have.
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