Katr surprised me with tickets to the Vancouver International Writers Festival last weekend and it was AWESOME. Because the talk she got us tickets for was Sarah Waters in conversation with Bill Richardson - two of my favourite gay authors in the SAME PLACE. JEALOUS?
I must confess that Sarah Waters' latest book, The Little Stranger, was not my bag, and not just because there were no lesbians in it. It had that air of inevitable tragedy about it that instantly makes me not care about anything that happens. Would I have cared more if there was muff-diving AND inevitable tragedy? I'd like to say "no" but let's not be coy. Muff-diving adds a lot to any work of fiction. That's why Stephen King writes so many lesbian books.
The Little Stranger was beautifully written and meticulously researched, like all of Sarah Waters work, and I enjoyed the moment-to-moment reading of it. But overall, it didn't really draw me in. And then, when it ended, I was like "Oh. Huh. Well, that's done then." - unlike when I finished Affinity, which was a totally brilliant yet totally devastating kick in the box.
But hey - that's clearly just me. Because The Little Stranger has gotten rave reviews and been nominated for fancy awards.
Back to the festival - Sarah Waters and Bill Richardson were an hilarious pair of gays. And it was really interesting to hear her discuss the inspiration behind the book and the gloomy, decaying house as a metaphor for the tectonic shifts of the class system after WWII and the decline of the great estates and I loved listening to her talk about it. Because I'm not a total hick you guys - even if I didn't like it, I could still appreciate it.
There was a book signing afterwards and I brought Fingersmith, because I have the sexy hardcover and I'm re-reading it right now anyway and it fit in my purse. (I thought it would be funny to bring a copy of Emma Donaghue's Life Mask instead, but ultimately decided that would only be funny to me.)
I always feel like a total nim-nong at book signings. I don't know that there's anything you can say to your literary idol in a 20 second encounter that won't make you sound like an idiot or encourage her call the police. Although I did tell Simon Callow at a book signing once that I was so excited to meet him I might barf. He seemed really charmed.
So anyway - I stood in line behind countless people who seemed to all be telling Sarah Waters their life story while she signed every book they owned. When it was my turn to meet Sarah Waters, I really just blushed and handed her my book and squeaked out my name and left. Because I'm a dork. But what I WANTED to tell her was this:
Back in the early part of the decade, I went to see Sarah Waters read the dirty bits from Fingersmith at Buddies with some friends. I remember that I was a little worried I'd get lost on the way there, as I was taking a new route and didn't know the neighbourhood at the time. Fortunately, as it turned out, all I had to do was follow the HUGE CROWD OF LESBIANS leaving the subway station and join them as they streamed across the parking lot and down the alley to the theatre.
One of the audience questions that night was "What are you reading these days?" I forget the name of the book, but I remember Sarah Waters saying that she hadn't finished the book yet because her girlfriend had given it to her on their first date and she was afraid that if she finished the book, then the relationship would somehow also be over. It was unbearably cute.
I was totally taken by this idea and thought that giving someone a book on the first date was a keen thing to do. So when I met Katr for our first date, I stole Sarah Waters' girlfriend's idea and brought Katr a copy of Waiting for Gertrude by ... Bill Richardson! The same Bill Richardson who interviewed Sarah Waters on Saturday afternoon!! DO YOU SEE THE CONNECTION? Isn't that AWESOME??
Anyway, Sarah Waters - that's the creepy fan story I wanted to tell you on Saturday. Now you know.
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