Beth Golay

So we meet the Gilberts by way of Maximus, who is giving the reader a tour of Thorn Walk, which is about to be or has been sold to a hotel chain.

And I have a couple of questions about this.

And the first relates to structure because the chapters have titles like The Bolt on the Blue Room Door and A Button Between the Floorboards and The Library Request Slip.

The story of the Gilberts is revealed through these shorter stories explaining how these things came to be at Thorn Walk.

Can you talk to me about this idea, you know, to use relics to tell a complete story by providing context?

So did you have a list of what items in the house we'd be introduced to, or did they come to you as you were writing?

So the second question relates to perspective and point of view.

Maximus speaks directly to the reader, guiding us on a tour of the property, addressing the reader as you.

How did you choose this perspective?

Well, Max comes across as, you know, an omniscient narrator at times.

He does admit that he wasn't present for everything and sometimes relies on what he's been told or what he's read in diaries.

Do you consider him reliable?

The stories we learn about this family, they jump around a lot in time, you know, from the 1930s to the 70s.

I think I remember the 80s and the 90s perhaps, maybe even beyond that.

Some of what happened to these characters

I wonder if it was a product of the time, of misunderstanding.

Like, was Hugo's perceived madness really PTSD?

Or, you know, I won't say what was done to Annabelle, but she was considered an imbecile, yet she seemed to the most solid and sane among the bunch to me.

Do you think the Gilberts were misunderstood?

This question is about timing again, but it's more about craft this time.