Sarah Moss talk to Literary Society on "What is the Historical Novel for?"

Richard Thomas kindly provided this introduction to our first meeting of the 2015-6 season.:

"Sarah Moss, who will be speaking to the Literary Society on Friday 18 September, is both an author and an academic.  She has published six books: a history of chocolate, a memoir, and four novels, two of which are unalloyed historical novels, and one partially so.  These latter three together form a trilogy, but are all "stand-alone", with enough cross-referencing to enable one to read them in the wrong order.  They are "Night Waking", which is set in the present day on a deserted Hebridean island but contains evidence of past events that form the substance of the the other two, "Bodies of Light" and "Signs for Lost Children", which are set in the nineteenth century and focus on, among other issues, the uphill struggles faced by women then who wished to become, and later became, doctors.  "Bodies of Light" was shortlisted for the Wellcome Prize (for fiction with a medical slant).  I was gripped by all three.

The other novel, "Cold Earth", is a spine-chilling account of an archaeological dig in Greenland that goes very wrong, set against a world-wide pandemic about which the archaeologists are insufficiently informed, frighteningly so.  It is a psychological thriller and a page-turner.
The memoir, "Names for the Sea", is a compelling and amusing account of a year spent as a visiting lecturer at the University of Iceland, which by chance landed Sarah and her family (husband and two young children) right bang in the middle of the "kreppa", the Icelandic financial and economic meltdown.  It was shortlisted for the RSL Ondatje Prize (for travel writing).  Both Adam Nicolson and Margaret Drabble have told me that they were greatly impressed, and amused, by it - as indeed I was.  

I have not read the history of chocolate, which was co-written with another author, and was Sarah's first book.
Sarah's academic career has centred on nineteenth century English literature and creative writing.  She is a BA, MSt and DPhil of Oxford University, and has held academic appointments at the Universities of Kent, Iceland, Exeter and Warwick, where she is at present the Associate Professor of Creative Writing.  She will be asking us "What is the Point of the Historical Novel?"  She tells me that she will be freewheeling between thinking about history and fiction, historical fiction and fictional history, and talking in some detail about her "own stuff".  After Winchelsea she is going on to give a rather more formal talk at Glasgow University, for which she may be trying out some ideas on us, and she hopes that the session will develop into a genuine conversation.

It sounds as though we are in for a stimulating evening.  The Rye Bookshop have told us that they will have some of Sarah's books in stock."

If you click on the July archive of the blog (on the right), you will find a short item on Sarah Moss which contains a link through which you can hear a BBC Radio interview with our speaker.