Lightkeeper's Wife (24 page)

1.
The Lightkeeper's Wife
introduces Hannah Snow, who rows into a storm to save a shipwrecked sailor. How does Hannah's determination carry through the rest of the novel, and how does it save or undo her?

2.
William Pike remembers Annie in his dreams. At what point do you figure out that Annie/Blue is in fact William Pike? How believable is his/her transformation from a wife to a pirate to a man? At what points do you notice the changes, both inner and outer?

3.
When John goes missing and is finally believed dead, Hannah experiences an ocean swell of grief. How does she handle it? What are the ways in which her emotions are clear, and what are the ways in which they are misplaced?

4.
Hannah and Tom have an attraction between them and a past that we learn about in a flashback. Why won't Hannah accept his marriage proposal when she clearly cares for him? Why doesn't she want to marry again?

5.
What do you think of Hannah's decision to take over the care of the lighthouse and pursue her rescues? What motivates her daring on the sea? Is she reckless, brave, compassionate, strong? What are her strengths and weaknesses in regard to her performing the rescues?

6.
What does Annie learn from her experiences in Jamaica when her infant child dies? How does her experience there change her relationship with her husband? How does meeting Therese's society of strong women impact the rest of Annie's story?

7.
Billy is haunted by his life aboard the
Alice K.
How does his life at the lighthouse help him come to terms with his past actions? Can he ever escape his past or make up for the things he's done? What are some of the ways in which his past catches up with him?

8.
When is the first time we get a glimpse of the attraction between Hannah and Billy? What initially attracts them to each other, and how does their interest evolve throughout the story?

9.
Billy drinks to escape his demons. Hannah's father drinks to cope with pain and not being able to work. What is the role of alcohol in the story? How does drinking impact the lives of the characters?

10.
The Lightkeeper's Wife
is initially told in flashbacks. Why do you think the author unfolded the story this way? What did she want to accomplish by withholding the fact that Billy is in fact Annie/Blue?

11.
What elements of the characters' lives do you think are universal? What aspects of the characters do you identify with? Are there characters you see as “good” or “bad”? What is the role of evil in the story?

12.
The characters often fail: Annie at protecting her husband's ship, Hannah at saving a little girl at sea. Men are murdered. Sailors are rescued, while some are lost. What does this tell you about life and the lives of the characters? What do the characters learn through their failures?

13.
The novel takes place in Dangerfield, Barnstable, the Caribbean Sea, and Jamaica. How palpable is the sense of place? What is the role of place in the narrative? How does place impact the lives of the characters?

14.
Gender and sexuality are large themes in the novel. How would you describe Billy's gender throughout the course of
The Lightkeeper's Wife
? What about Hannah? How does Billy's relationship to sex evolve throughout the narrative? How does Hannah come to accept and love Billy for who he is? Does reading the novel change how you think about gender or sexuality?

15.
The story ends with Hannah and Billy coming together both in how they do the rescues and in how they form an intimate connection. How does their relationship in carrying out the rescues impact their love relationship?

Where did you get the idea for Hannah, the female lightkeeper, and Blue, the lady pirate?

Hannah came to life when I saw a print of Grace Darling, a lightkeeper's daughter in the UK who became famous for rowing into a storm to rescue a drowning sailor. The print was at the Highland House museum in Truro, Massachusetts, where they had a book about female lightkeepers. When fathers or husbands died, a daughter or wife would often take over the care of a lighthouse to maintain an income. While the male lightkeepers were known for staying ashore to watch the lights, the women became known for rowing into the sea to rescue drowning sailors, perhaps out of a sense of empathy. This fascinated me. In my research of women's maritime history, I came across female pirates; how could that not grab my interest?

What was your process like for writing this novel?

Long and slow. I conducted two years of research while writing the first few drafts. I researched everything: women's maritime history, female pirates, clothing from the 1800s, famous shipwrecks, photos of Truro from the 1800s. I started with a first draft that I wrote through without listening to my internal critics. I threw everything in there, every bit of research and character and scene that came into my mind. Then I whittled it down and fleshed it out and worked it like clay. I searched for the nerve of the narrative and built from there, using that one twitch to guide me. In the case of
The Lightkeeper's Wife
, I struck a nerve every time I started to write about the relationship between Hannah and Billy, and more specifically, as it related to their gender and sexuality. I also had readers who provided feedback and helped me work the material over the years.

What is the interplay between fact and fiction in the story?

I use history as a catalyst for the story, but I don't stick to the facts. I embellish and embolden as the story unfolds. For example, Dangerfield is a fictional town based on Truro, Massachusetts, which was at one time called Dangerfield. I wanted the freedom to invent and not be tied to the specific history or place. The same is true of the pirate culture, which was in fact more prevalent in the 1700s than in the 1800s. But fiction is fiction, and I had fun with it.

What interested you in exploring gender roles in
The Lightkeeper's Wife
?

In my research about women's maritime history, I came across women who lived as men at sea. I was intrigued not only with what it would take for a woman to pass as a man, but also with how much of being a man a female character could identify with and finally take on for herself, as we see with Billy. And when Hannah puts on John's pants, she steps into aspects of gender outside the norm for her time period. Yet, while she carries out daring rescues and feats of strength, she remains a feminine figure, and Billy, even stripped of his disguise, remains more male. How can two women be so different? What is gender all about? This is some of what I wanted to explore in the novel.

How do you write sex scenes without becoming pornographic?

Sex scenes are always tricky. Like any scene, they should let us know more about the characters and further the story. Part of the work is not to get bogged down in cliché and to choose the right physical details—that is, physical details that are specific to a character and what their particular sexual experience means to the story. For example, when Hannah unwraps the strap from Billy's chest, it's sexy, but it also shows Hannah embracing Billy's complicated gender and desiring Billy as she moves from her disguise to her naked and true self.

You've written three previous books, two of interviews with other authors and one on how to interview authors and creative people. How did writing these books influence your fiction?

In writing
Conversations with American Women Writers
and
The Very Telling
, I was able to speak with authors whose work I most admired. In preparing for the interviews, I read all of the authors' works, both in their main genre and outside of it. I read other interviews with them and anything written about them, so that I became immersed in the writing life of each author. This deep study answered questions I had in my own work and generated even more questions about writing in general. I was able to sit down with each author and ask whatever questions came to mind. It was a wonderful opportunity to study and learn, as well as to publish and build relationships with other writers. So, to answer your question, how did writing those books impact my fiction—it furthered my education and helped me in the continual process of discovering my craft.

What would you say to writers working on a first book?

Read, read, read, and sit in your chair at your desk and write. Commit to a certain amount of time each day and stay in your chair. I read a great piece of advice in a Ron Carlson book: if you hit a roadblock in your writing, sit with it for twenty minutes. Don't get up to get a cup of coffee or check the mail. Don't go on the Internet. Just sit with it. Every time I've tried this, I've been able to write through my snag. Sitting is half the work of writing. So, just sit there.

I want to thank the Jentel Artist Residency Program for time and support in writing
The Lightkeeper's Wife
, as well as Vermont Studio Center.

Thank you to my parents, Susan O'Leary and Charles E. Johnson, who got me in a boat as soon as I could walk, and the rest of my family who offered their support over the years, including Edward J. O'Leary III, my first lighthouse keeper. Thanks to my editor, Shana Drehs, and the good people at Sourcebooks; the Posse; and Allison Hill, Joy Johannessen, Bret Anthony Johnston, Alice Mattison, Jenny Stephens, and Randi Triant for their readings. And to Miriam Kahn for keeping my eye on the heart of the matter and staying in the boat with me through every storm. This book would not have been possible without the guidance, creative support, and friendship of Laurie Liss. Thank you to Susan Kurtzman, the other half of my writing life, who held the lantern at the door every day. She is my first reader, editor, and creative consort. She encouraged me to get the book done through every obstacle and contributed in so many ways, offering love and support and tireless edits.

Photo credit: Elyssa Cohen

Sarah Anne Johnson is the author of
The
Very
Telling
,
The
Art
of
the
Author
Interview
, and
Conversations
with
American
Women
Writers
, all published by the University Press of New England. She is the recipient of residencies in fiction from Jentel Artist Residency Program and Vermont Studio Center. She lives on Cape Cod.