Angela Tomaski on her novel, 'The Infamous Gilberts'
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
I'm Beth Golay, and this is Marginalia. Angela Tomasky's novel, The Infamous Gilberts, opens with a house tour of the fictional Thornwalk Manor, led by Maximus, a neighbor who knows all the ins and outs of the Gilbert family, of which there are five siblings. Through this tour by Maximus, we learn about each of the Gilberts, from childhood through late adulthood. sometimes through artifacts left behind in the house. I recently spoke with Angela Tomasky about her original use of perspective and some of the dark issues that haunt the characters.
What is 'The Infamous Gilberts' about?
Here's our conversation. So who are the infamous Gilberts of the title? Could you introduce us to them and to Thorn Walk?
Yes, so the infamous Gilbert, it refers to the five Gilbert siblings who grow up in this crumbling Gothic mansion with their mother. Thorn Walk is a big neo-Gothic mansion. It was based on a beautiful real house, Tinsfield, which is near Bristol in Somerset.
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?
Yes. Well, I think that we do often come across stories that way. As we're walking around our own environment, we see things, you know, tangible objects that spark stories. memories. So I'm looking at that, I'm thinking of Maximus as a real person in a real house, coming across these objects, and seemingly inconsequential little things that carry meaning. I think often it's these little things that are so important to us. I remember as a child having a little box of a thread and a jelly bear, little tiny things that meant something to me, a blade of grass that I'd taken from the school playground and then couldn't put down again. And these were more precious to me than many of the other things around me.
They really mattered to me. In terms of the book, I actually went on a tour of Tinsfield and saw the bed, the sort of deathbed of the last man that had lived there. And of course, that was very quickly removed by the National Trust, who had just bought this house. But I felt that so much... atmosphere and so many ideas were conjured by this this this this simple very simple bed and it was such a shame that it was lost and it was sort of lost for good so that's where the idea came from so the combination of those two things my experiences as a child in this this view of this bed
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?
They came to me as I was writing, I think. I think the majority of them, yes. I wanted some to be really kind of thrilling, like the sort of the crack door, those sorts of things, you know, the bolt on the door, things that would sort of raise a sort of question in the mind of the reader, things that would seem interesting or dramatic somehow. But other things, I think I just sort of, you know, in my mind, in my imagination, I sort of walked through the house and found these things. There are obviously certain things I wanted to say. And I sort of thought about, you know, what would be the best object to tell this story? What would really encapsulate that event or that idea or.
Who are the main characters in 'The Infamous Gilberts'?
or the character best, you know, in some way.
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, it was a number of different things that I played with. I just felt it would be engaging. It would sort of bring the reader in. Initially, I had the idea of referring to you, but having that as an actual person who was sort of visiting the house, who might actually pick up the manuscript.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:36
2
What is 'The Infamous Gilberts' about?
0:36–3:52
3
Who are the main characters in 'The Infamous Gilberts'?
3:52–8:31
4
How does the author use artifacts to tell the story?
8:31–19:51
5
What perspective does Maximus provide in the narrative?
19:51–29:06
6
Are the Gilberts misunderstood characters?
29:06–29:18