WEBVTT 00:00.500 --> 00:12.290 align:start [ Music ] 00:12.290 --> 00:14.960 align:start >> Sponsored by the James Madison Council 00:14.960 --> 00:24.510 align:start and the National Endowment for the Arts. 00:24.510 --> 00:41.600 align:start [ Music ] 00:41.600 --> 00:43.640 align:start >> Welcome to the National Book Festival, 00:43.640 --> 00:46.960 align:start and we've got a great panel for you here today. 00:46.960 --> 00:50.700 align:start My name is Bethanne Patrick, I am a book critic 00:50.700 --> 00:53.610 align:start and I also love to interview authors. 00:53.610 --> 00:59.280 align:start And today I have two wonderful women here with me. 00:59.280 --> 01:04.370 align:start First, Silvia Garcia-Moreno, whose "Mexican Gothic" came 01:04.370 --> 01:07.900 align:start out last year and whose "Velvet Was the Night" will come 01:07.900 --> 01:09.630 align:start out this summer. 01:09.630 --> 01:10.950 align:start Both from Del Rey. 01:10.950 --> 01:15.450 align:start And Sara Pearse, whose novel, whose debut novel, 01:15.450 --> 01:18.470 align:start "The Sanatorium" came out this year, 01:18.470 --> 01:20.360 align:start is from Pamela Dormand books. 01:20.360 --> 01:22.940 align:start And I want to say welcome to both of you. 01:22.940 --> 01:24.880 align:start Thank you for being here. 01:24.880 --> 01:26.740 align:start >> Thank you so much for having me. 01:26.740 --> 01:28.150 align:start >> Absolutely. 01:28.150 --> 01:29.990 align:start I have lots of questions, 01:29.990 --> 01:34.110 align:start and I will try very hard not to run over our time. 01:34.110 --> 01:36.730 align:start And I know we also want to make sure 01:36.730 --> 01:41.460 align:start that these questions are really clear and we are able to reach 01:41.460 --> 01:43.470 align:start as many audience members as possible. 01:43.470 --> 01:45.990 align:start So the first thing I want to address to both 01:45.990 --> 01:49.860 align:start of you is about genre itself. 01:49.860 --> 01:53.580 align:start And we're going to talk about a couple of different genres. 01:53.580 --> 01:57.090 align:start But working in a genre, I think, 01:57.090 --> 02:01.110 align:start can be really exciting and really freeing. 02:01.110 --> 02:05.910 align:start And so, I wanted to ask you each what genre means to you. 02:05.910 --> 02:08.650 align:start And it could be a sentence, 02:08.650 --> 02:11.040 align:start it could be a little bit longer, whatever you like. 02:11.040 --> 02:12.820 align:start Silvia, may I start with you? 02:12.820 --> 02:16.480 align:start >> Hello. I don't work in one specific category, 02:16.480 --> 02:20.240 align:start I like to move between categories and between genres. 02:20.240 --> 02:24.590 align:start Genre constitutes the basic tropes 02:24.590 --> 02:28.350 align:start that surround a certain narrative along with its history 02:28.350 --> 02:31.430 align:start and the text that have come before and that are 02:31.430 --> 02:33.040 align:start in conversation with each other. 02:33.040 --> 02:35.450 align:start >> Yes. Excellent. 02:35.450 --> 02:38.510 align:start And that is so true about the text being in conversation. 02:38.510 --> 02:40.130 align:start I think that's going to be very important 02:40.130 --> 02:41.870 align:start for some things we talk about later. 02:41.870 --> 02:43.170 align:start Thank you. 02:43.170 --> 02:44.470 align:start How about you, Sarah? 02:44.470 --> 02:48.420 align:start >> Yeah, I think very much to echo what Silvia says, 02:48.420 --> 02:51.360 align:start and I think also it kind of provides a touch point. 02:51.360 --> 02:52.830 align:start I think one of the key things I was thinking 02:52.830 --> 02:54.530 align:start about when I was writing the book is 02:54.530 --> 02:56.040 align:start around how a reader sees something. 02:56.040 --> 02:58.880 align:start And I think the genre is often very much a very easy touch 02:58.880 --> 03:01.160 align:start point for the reader. 03:01.160 --> 03:03.200 align:start And I know when I'm in a certain kind of mood, 03:03.200 --> 03:05.110 align:start I want to read a certain kind of book. 03:05.110 --> 03:06.410 align:start I think genre is something 03:06.410 --> 03:10.050 align:start that almost bypasses people's expectations of a book. 03:10.050 --> 03:13.130 align:start I think they can read a blurb, they can look at things, 03:13.130 --> 03:15.750 align:start but I think when you see a book categorized in a certain kind 03:15.750 --> 03:19.970 align:start of way, that immediately brings to mind for the reader certain-- 03:19.970 --> 03:22.530 align:start [inaudible] saying, a textual kind of context. 03:22.530 --> 03:25.490 align:start Yeah, it provides that shortcut for them, so I think for me, 03:25.490 --> 03:28.000 align:start genre encompasses sort of everything Silvia said. 03:28.000 --> 03:30.360 align:start And yeah, it's very much about the reader, I would say. 03:30.360 --> 03:33.480 align:start >> That is-- it's a really interesting thing. 03:33.480 --> 03:35.130 align:start I'm glad you brought up the reader. 03:35.130 --> 03:38.330 align:start Because I know that there are readers 03:38.330 --> 03:40.930 align:start who can't get enough of Gothic novels. 03:40.930 --> 03:43.380 align:start And we are going to talk about noir a little later 03:43.380 --> 03:46.790 align:start when we speak about Silvia's upcoming book. 03:46.790 --> 03:51.010 align:start But with-- I know I'm one of the readers who can't get enough 03:51.010 --> 03:54.230 align:start of the Gothic tropes and the Gothic conventions. 03:54.230 --> 03:56.600 align:start No matter what else I read, 03:56.600 --> 04:01.140 align:start no matter what other genres I look at, I really enjoy it. 04:01.140 --> 04:04.360 align:start And so what does Gothic bring up 04:04.360 --> 04:09.590 align:start and what does it allow you to do? 04:09.590 --> 04:11.050 align:start Silvia? 04:11.050 --> 04:14.250 align:start >> Gothic is a bit of a proto genre. 04:14.250 --> 04:21.140 align:start It is the forefather to some modern categories that we know. 04:21.140 --> 04:22.990 align:start On the one hand, horror. 04:22.990 --> 04:25.020 align:start On the one hand, I would say it's a forerunner 04:25.020 --> 04:26.320 align:start to domestic [inaudible]. 04:26.320 --> 04:28.630 align:start And also to some types of romance. 04:28.630 --> 04:32.030 align:start There are really two types of Gothic. 04:32.030 --> 04:34.720 align:start What is termed the female Gothic, 04:34.720 --> 04:36.440 align:start which are romantic stories 04:36.440 --> 04:39.170 align:start in which there are no supernatural elements. 04:39.170 --> 04:43.060 align:start So that's the Scooby Doo kind of situation, where it turns 04:43.060 --> 04:46.170 align:start out that it's not a ghost, it's a mad wife in the attic. 04:46.170 --> 04:47.470 align:start >> Right? 04:47.470 --> 04:48.770 align:start >> That sort of situation. 04:48.770 --> 04:52.440 align:start And then you've got what is normally termed the male Gothic. 04:52.440 --> 04:55.980 align:start And those tend to be stories that have supernatural elements, 04:55.980 --> 04:59.190 align:start have a lot more explicit violence and sex. 04:59.190 --> 05:02.230 align:start So the parent of that would be something like The Monk. 05:02.230 --> 05:05.140 align:start And then you would have works like Dracula, 05:05.140 --> 05:07.560 align:start that sort of situation. 05:07.560 --> 05:12.370 align:start Because Gothic is kind-- 05:12.370 --> 05:15.770 align:start develops from the romantic movement, which begins 05:15.770 --> 05:20.000 align:start in the 1700s and is all about heightened emotion, 05:20.000 --> 05:24.090 align:start both of these categories share certain commonalities, 05:24.090 --> 05:27.490 align:start things in Gothic are very big and sort of when you think 05:27.490 --> 05:30.310 align:start about Wuthering Heights, people are yelling across the moors. 05:30.310 --> 05:32.460 align:start It's big and dramatic. 05:32.460 --> 05:35.860 align:start But because it is a very large category, 05:35.860 --> 05:40.640 align:start and it encompasses these twin poles, you sometimes get things 05:40.640 --> 05:42.880 align:start that feel quite different in a way. 05:42.880 --> 05:46.240 align:start So, a narrative such as Frankenstein, 05:46.240 --> 05:49.920 align:start which is another type of Gothic, feels very different 05:49.920 --> 05:54.670 align:start from the Romanticism of Jane Eyre of Wuthering Heights. 05:54.670 --> 05:57.930 align:start But there's still-- it's kind of like this-- 05:57.930 --> 06:01.820 align:start it's forming this category and it will let her split 06:01.820 --> 06:04.430 align:start into other variants, and that's how you will get 06:04.430 --> 06:08.080 align:start on bookshelves something that we now recognize 06:08.080 --> 06:10.700 align:start as a certain type of romance. 06:10.700 --> 06:13.760 align:start We don't call that Gothic, but that has many of the elements 06:13.760 --> 06:17.630 align:start that might have been employed in a Gothic in the 1800s. 06:17.630 --> 06:21.340 align:start Such as the Byronic hero, he's bad, mad, and dangerous to know. 06:21.340 --> 06:27.770 align:start The exotic location, the ingenue that are deployed in romances 06:27.770 --> 06:31.160 align:start that are kind of bubbling up in the '70s as romance comes 06:31.160 --> 06:33.260 align:start to be a certain category. 06:33.260 --> 06:34.720 align:start >> There's so many things 06:34.720 --> 06:36.770 align:start that what you said just brought up for me, Silvia. 06:36.770 --> 06:40.460 align:start But Sarah, I want to let you talk a bit 06:40.460 --> 06:43.250 align:start about the Gothic genre, if, you know, 06:43.250 --> 06:45.520 align:start as Silvia said, a proto genre. 06:45.520 --> 06:48.510 align:start And about where The Sanatorium fits 06:48.510 --> 06:53.900 align:start in to these strains that overlap. 06:53.900 --> 06:55.980 align:start And I want to make sure to mention, 06:55.980 --> 07:00.510 align:start just because we may move along, is that Mexican Gothic, 07:00.510 --> 07:06.030 align:start Silvia's novel, is a Gothic that also has horror in it. 07:06.030 --> 07:09.420 align:start So it would be more that, you know, I guess, 07:09.420 --> 07:10.980 align:start male Gothic, if you will. 07:10.980 --> 07:13.250 align:start Although, it's not, I don't think so. 07:13.250 --> 07:18.340 align:start But The Sanatorium has elements of horror as well, 07:18.340 --> 07:22.060 align:start but they're less supernatural and more psychological. 07:22.060 --> 07:25.730 align:start Not to say there's no psychological horror 07:25.730 --> 07:28.820 align:start in Mexican Gothic, just that in The Sanatorium, 07:28.820 --> 07:31.950 align:start that really comes to the fore for your characters. 07:31.950 --> 07:36.200 align:start So, Sarah, again, what does Gothic mean do you? 07:36.200 --> 07:40.090 align:start What did it mean to you as you went in to write the book? 07:40.090 --> 07:43.160 align:start >> Yeah, I think it probably came a bit 07:43.160 --> 07:46.200 align:start from quite an unusual angle. 07:46.200 --> 07:48.130 align:start I did an interview recently where we were talking about kind 07:48.130 --> 07:49.430 align:start of the horror elements of the book. 07:49.430 --> 07:53.140 align:start And I think for me, I very much see it kind of crossing genre? 07:53.140 --> 07:54.740 align:start There's definite elements that kind 07:54.740 --> 07:57.040 align:start of constitutes it an ordinary murder mystery. 07:57.040 --> 08:00.630 align:start But I think really identifiable bits of the Gothic genre 08:00.630 --> 08:02.710 align:start within the book are very much that kind of sense, 08:02.710 --> 08:05.060 align:start I suppose I come a bit from that sense of melodrama? 08:05.060 --> 08:09.960 align:start I think for me, you have everything is almost-- 08:09.960 --> 08:13.340 align:start to use a modern term, maxed out. 08:13.340 --> 08:14.970 align:start So you have a very dramatic building, 08:14.970 --> 08:17.370 align:start for the kind The Sanatorium's building, very much kind 08:17.370 --> 08:18.670 align:start of fits with the tropes. 08:18.670 --> 08:21.900 align:start And I think actually I was very much influenced 08:21.900 --> 08:24.070 align:start by is A Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. 08:24.070 --> 08:26.010 align:start I don't know if you've read that book, yeah. 08:26.010 --> 08:28.250 align:start But yeah, where the house becomes very much a character 08:28.250 --> 08:29.550 align:start in itself. 08:29.550 --> 08:33.090 align:start And I think you have within Gothic novels, you often have 08:33.090 --> 08:34.960 align:start that very much, a very strong sense of place. 08:34.960 --> 08:38.100 align:start And I think for me, the sanatorium, the building, 08:38.100 --> 08:41.080 align:start the [inaudible], because as it becomes within the novel, 08:41.080 --> 08:43.160 align:start very much uses that sense of place 08:43.160 --> 08:44.460 align:start to create the sense of unease. 08:44.460 --> 08:47.810 align:start And I think you have within the main character of Elin that kind 08:47.810 --> 08:49.290 align:start of psychological that you mentioned. 08:49.290 --> 08:52.500 align:start That kind of almost chipping away at her sort of sense 08:52.500 --> 08:55.530 align:start of self as she sort of sees lots of things that happen 08:55.530 --> 08:58.100 align:start within the sanatorium but also the external environment. 08:58.100 --> 09:00.120 align:start And I think that kind of weather is very much, again, 09:00.120 --> 09:05.650 align:start the sort of trope you see within the Gothic novel. 09:05.650 --> 09:09.410 align:start I think for me it very much reflects Elin's internal kind 09:09.410 --> 09:10.710 align:start of character. 09:10.710 --> 09:12.010 align:start And how she's feeling. 09:12.010 --> 09:14.540 align:start I think we see the heightening weather 09:14.540 --> 09:19.120 align:start in The Sanatorium is very much something I wanted to sort 09:19.120 --> 09:20.420 align:start of build for the reader and for Elin alike. 09:20.420 --> 09:21.720 align:start That kind of sense of [inaudible]. 09:21.720 --> 09:25.510 align:start So for me, I think you have kind of lots of element 09:25.510 --> 09:27.220 align:start of the Gothic within there. 09:27.220 --> 09:28.680 align:start But yeah, also the elements of horror. 09:28.680 --> 09:31.220 align:start I think a lot of people as well, touching on the supernatural, 09:31.220 --> 09:32.520 align:start saw the beginning going that way. 09:32.520 --> 09:34.350 align:start It wasn't something I ever had in my mind. 09:34.350 --> 09:38.060 align:start But I think through using those other elements, you kind of have 09:38.060 --> 09:39.360 align:start that sense, that creeping sense 09:39.360 --> 09:41.040 align:start that something else is going to happen. 09:41.040 --> 09:43.830 align:start That might not perhaps be connected to the real world. 09:43.830 --> 09:45.350 align:start So I think I drew on lots. 09:45.350 --> 09:48.510 align:start But it wasn't necessarily a conscious thing while I was 09:48.510 --> 09:50.160 align:start doing it. 09:50.160 --> 09:52.140 align:start >> It's not necessarily conscious, 09:52.140 --> 09:55.670 align:start because I would never presume to think 09:55.670 --> 09:59.100 align:start that writers have all the answers about their own work. 09:59.100 --> 10:03.970 align:start Because the work, you know, takes on things that the rest 10:03.970 --> 10:06.350 align:start of us interpret, the reader responds. 10:06.350 --> 10:10.620 align:start However, I do want to bring up-- 10:10.620 --> 10:13.580 align:start I want Silvia to respond in a way. 10:13.580 --> 10:17.800 align:start Because the atmosphere of the books, both books, 10:17.800 --> 10:19.750 align:start is extremely important. 10:19.750 --> 10:25.800 align:start And I wanted you, Silvia, tell us a little bit about the layers 10:25.800 --> 10:27.440 align:start of atmosphere you built up. 10:27.440 --> 10:33.750 align:start Because we go from a modern Mexico City in the 1950s, 10:33.750 --> 10:38.340 align:start very cosmopolitan and sophisticated, to this almost-- 10:38.340 --> 10:43.080 align:start well, it is a colonial British kind of home which is set 10:43.080 --> 10:46.860 align:start in the middle of a Mexican silver mining town. 10:46.860 --> 10:51.020 align:start And then that home has layers beneath. 10:51.020 --> 10:53.300 align:start And so the atmosphere builds 10:53.300 --> 10:57.210 align:start up through those different-- it's a journey. 10:57.210 --> 11:00.170 align:start Mexican Gothic is a real journey in the atmosphere. 11:00.170 --> 11:04.040 align:start So would you talk about that for a moment please? 11:04.040 --> 11:08.550 align:start >> Yes. I think that sometimes people who are-- 11:08.550 --> 11:11.570 align:start people who are not very familiar with subgenres 11:11.570 --> 11:16.390 align:start or categories tend to have a very broad understanding 11:16.390 --> 11:20.730 align:start of books and that means that they don't kind of get some 11:20.730 --> 11:23.070 align:start of the nuances and differences between one and the other. 11:23.070 --> 11:25.650 align:start So for example, in terms of Gothic horror, 11:25.650 --> 11:30.140 align:start what I call the male Gothic, it is definitely a category 11:30.140 --> 11:34.460 align:start that relies on ambience and on subtleties, 11:34.460 --> 11:37.340 align:start rather than being the equivalent of a slasher film. 11:37.340 --> 11:41.960 align:start So Edgar Allen Poe, when you read him, has elements 11:41.960 --> 11:46.040 align:start of decay, of death, of disease. 11:46.040 --> 11:48.070 align:start And sometimes even of the supernatural 11:48.070 --> 11:50.910 align:start that are woven into the narrative. 11:50.910 --> 11:52.780 align:start And that create this ambience 11:52.780 --> 11:54.940 align:start that helps you sink into the story. 11:54.940 --> 11:58.570 align:start But it's not necessarily incredibly gory and violent 11:58.570 --> 12:00.740 align:start in a very explicit sort of way. 12:00.740 --> 12:04.560 align:start And so that is one of the keys of Gothic is atmosphere 12:04.560 --> 12:06.340 align:start and the creation of this sense of malaise 12:06.340 --> 12:08.170 align:start that overlays the story. 12:08.170 --> 12:11.570 align:start You see it Turn of the Screw, you see it in other works. 12:11.570 --> 12:16.170 align:start And there's a certain slowness to it that naturally seems 12:16.170 --> 12:18.040 align:start to be embedded in these narratives. 12:18.040 --> 12:20.750 align:start And I think one of the problems with that is that audiences 12:20.750 --> 12:23.720 align:start that are not accustomed to that say 12:23.720 --> 12:26.660 align:start that it's very boring or slow or dull. 12:26.660 --> 12:29.760 align:start So I remember there's somebody that I know 12:29.760 --> 12:34.290 align:start that they hadn't read, I think it was, yes, 12:34.290 --> 12:36.360 align:start I think it was Turn of the Screw. 12:36.360 --> 12:37.970 align:start They had never read it before. 12:37.970 --> 12:41.010 align:start And it's recommended, widely recommend it as a, you know, 12:41.010 --> 12:45.190 align:start Gothic novel, or classic literature, also a ghost story. 12:45.190 --> 12:49.840 align:start And I told them, well, you know, just be warned that Turn 12:49.840 --> 12:52.130 align:start of the Screw is a classic kind of Gothic narrative. 12:52.130 --> 12:54.550 align:start But they didn't understand what that meant and later they came 12:54.550 --> 12:55.850 align:start on and told me nothing happens. 12:55.850 --> 12:57.150 align:start This is so-- 12:57.150 --> 13:00.040 align:start >> Oh! 13:00.040 --> 13:01.350 align:start >> They thought nothing happens. 13:01.350 --> 13:06.490 align:start And it is because it is a lot about atmosphere and psychology 13:06.490 --> 13:10.280 align:start and the interior being reflected by the exterior, right? 13:10.280 --> 13:14.260 align:start So those windswept moors and those stormy nights. 13:14.260 --> 13:17.650 align:start The wind banging on the shutters are reflections 13:17.650 --> 13:19.230 align:start of the interior psychology of characters. 13:19.230 --> 13:22.070 align:start And so you've got a lot of work that is being done interiorly. 13:22.070 --> 13:27.310 align:start Not so much people hacking heads off 13:27.310 --> 13:30.120 align:start and fighting the living dead sort of situation. 13:30.120 --> 13:34.190 align:start And so yeah, it's definitely about atmosphere and layers. 13:34.190 --> 13:39.030 align:start I think for modern audiences, that can be difficult to grasp 13:39.030 --> 13:43.100 align:start and to toy with because it can seem very old fashioned. 13:43.100 --> 13:46.910 align:start It's not exactly something that we're used to reading 13:46.910 --> 13:48.540 align:start and consuming in certain ways. 13:48.540 --> 13:49.840 align:start Also, especially, a lot 13:49.840 --> 13:51.840 align:start of Gothic narratives use framing devices 13:51.840 --> 13:53.640 align:start that are unusual for nowadays. 13:53.640 --> 13:56.830 align:start People writing a letter or sitting in a salon 13:56.830 --> 13:58.560 align:start and saying let me tell you the story of this person 13:58.560 --> 14:01.150 align:start who went mad, that those sorts 14:01.150 --> 14:03.840 align:start of framing devices sometimes throw people off 14:03.840 --> 14:06.440 align:start and also this building of atmosphere, 14:06.440 --> 14:07.740 align:start which is characteristic 14:07.740 --> 14:09.790 align:start of the Gothic can also throw people off. 14:09.790 --> 14:12.130 align:start Because it can seem too much for a modern audience. 14:12.130 --> 14:14.450 align:start Like it's just way too much information 14:14.450 --> 14:17.410 align:start about the architecture of a certain place or the weather. 14:17.410 --> 14:20.220 align:start And I think people might be like what's next, 14:20.220 --> 14:21.520 align:start what's next, what's next? 14:21.520 --> 14:22.820 align:start So. 14:22.820 --> 14:24.130 align:start >> That is so interesting. 14:24.130 --> 14:27.460 align:start It never occurred to me, just because I am 14:27.460 --> 14:31.340 align:start such a devoted reader of the Gothic. 14:31.340 --> 14:34.130 align:start And have read so many different kinds. 14:34.130 --> 14:38.100 align:start Like as you said, the different layers and strands 14:38.100 --> 14:41.510 align:start in the genre itself, not just in these novels. 14:41.510 --> 14:44.730 align:start So Sarah, how do you feel about that? 14:44.730 --> 14:48.600 align:start Have you seen readers wondering, you know, 14:48.600 --> 14:50.820 align:start why isn't something happening? 14:50.820 --> 14:52.890 align:start Why do we have to wait so long? 14:52.890 --> 14:55.240 align:start Have you heard things like that? 14:55.240 --> 14:58.820 align:start >> Actually, as Silvia mentioned, there has been a lot 14:58.820 --> 15:01.710 align:start of feedback initially about my-- the kind of beginning, 15:01.710 --> 15:03.040 align:start probably quarter, of the novel. 15:03.040 --> 15:06.940 align:start I think I do quite a lot in terms of sort of setting, 15:06.940 --> 15:08.340 align:start not just the sort of wider environment 15:08.340 --> 15:09.640 align:start but the hotel itself. 15:09.640 --> 15:11.960 align:start And I focused a little bit on the architecture. 15:11.960 --> 15:14.210 align:start You have the building is obviously an abandoned 15:14.210 --> 15:17.220 align:start sanatorium, it's been converted, but you have lots of elements 15:17.220 --> 15:20.330 align:start of the sort of clinical aspect of the sanatorium described. 15:20.330 --> 15:22.400 align:start As well as lots of sort of modernist aspects 15:22.400 --> 15:26.580 align:start of the architecture, which was used particularly in the Alps. 15:26.580 --> 15:28.300 align:start Buildings themselves 15:28.300 --> 15:32.170 align:start were used, essentially, as a clinical instrument, 15:32.170 --> 15:34.010 align:start so they have huge windows, 15:34.010 --> 15:37.300 align:start balconies to bring in lots of light. 15:37.300 --> 15:39.380 align:start And yet, the building itself, as I say, 15:39.380 --> 15:41.630 align:start became a clinical instrument, and then within the novel, 15:41.630 --> 15:43.080 align:start I've used it kind of as a device. 15:43.080 --> 15:45.040 align:start But I think there has been a lot of frustration. 15:45.040 --> 15:48.350 align:start It takes a while to get into the novel. 15:48.350 --> 15:50.360 align:start I also draw a lot on kind of Elin's feelings. 15:50.360 --> 15:54.380 align:start And you have a sense of her anxiety as it's building. 15:54.380 --> 15:57.040 align:start You're then describing, as I say, the architecture, 15:57.040 --> 15:58.340 align:start the surrounding environment. 15:58.340 --> 16:00.370 align:start And a lot of people have kind of said well I want to get 16:00.370 --> 16:01.670 align:start to when something happened. 16:01.670 --> 16:03.280 align:start So we do have the kind of discovery of a body, 16:03.280 --> 16:04.890 align:start but I think there was a sense 16:04.890 --> 16:08.010 align:start of some readers saying why didn't that happen sooner? 16:08.010 --> 16:09.510 align:start But I think on the other side of the coin, 16:09.510 --> 16:13.070 align:start a lot of readers have said they enjoy that slow buildup. 16:13.070 --> 16:14.370 align:start And that kind of tick, tick, 16:14.370 --> 16:16.400 align:start tick of the atmosphere slowly building. 16:16.400 --> 16:18.070 align:start So yeah, I think what Silvia says is right. 16:18.070 --> 16:21.330 align:start I think it very much depends on the reader expectations 16:21.330 --> 16:23.190 align:start and what they are wanting from that. 16:23.190 --> 16:25.430 align:start Because yeah, I don't have something dramatic happening 16:25.430 --> 16:29.220 align:start immediately, but I did that in order to build that atmosphere. 16:29.220 --> 16:34.050 align:start >> What you both just said brings me so many questions, 16:34.050 --> 16:35.650 align:start so many questions, ladies. 16:35.650 --> 16:39.730 align:start But one that I want to get to is about the ladies. 16:39.730 --> 16:42.110 align:start Because you mentioned Elin, Sarah. 16:42.110 --> 16:46.630 align:start Noemi in Mexican Gothic. 16:46.630 --> 16:49.040 align:start Elin in The Sanatorium. 16:49.040 --> 16:52.250 align:start And also we will talk about, and Silvia, 16:52.250 --> 16:54.620 align:start I hope I'm saying this correctly, 16:54.620 --> 16:56.620 align:start but please help me get it right. 16:56.620 --> 16:58.040 align:start Maite in Velvet Was the Night? 16:58.040 --> 17:00.040 align:start >> That's right. 17:00.040 --> 17:01.680 align:start >> Excellent. 17:01.680 --> 17:07.250 align:start All of these are women who-- they're not damsels in distress. 17:07.250 --> 17:10.690 align:start The distress comes from other places. 17:10.690 --> 17:15.960 align:start I see them as strong women, women with a lot of, 17:15.960 --> 17:20.160 align:start not complete self knowledge, but some self knowledge. 17:20.160 --> 17:25.670 align:start And of course, in much earlier Gothic novels, mystery novels, 17:25.670 --> 17:29.110 align:start horror novels, you would often find a woman 17:29.110 --> 17:32.300 align:start who was completely helpless. 17:32.300 --> 17:34.010 align:start Completely incapable. 17:34.010 --> 17:37.000 align:start And so one of the things about these novels 17:37.000 --> 17:42.740 align:start that I enjoyed was seeing women who aren't necessarily-- 17:42.740 --> 17:45.910 align:start they don't have all the answers, they don't have all 17:45.910 --> 17:47.640 align:start of the things they need. 17:47.640 --> 17:54.970 align:start But they are pretty savvy and they are willing to be active 17:54.970 --> 17:57.990 align:start on their own behalf and on the behalf of others. 17:57.990 --> 18:01.220 align:start Would both of you-- either one of you can respond first. 18:01.220 --> 18:04.320 align:start >> Yeah, I think it's interesting, you used the word, 18:04.320 --> 18:06.430 align:start Elin as a strong character? 18:06.430 --> 18:08.890 align:start And I think that's something, it's interesting kind 18:08.890 --> 18:10.720 align:start of hearing different feedback from readers; that is something 18:10.720 --> 18:12.040 align:start that has quite polarized people. 18:12.040 --> 18:14.940 align:start I'm actually quite glad about that. 18:14.940 --> 18:18.820 align:start I think for her, a lot of people have said they don't see her 18:18.820 --> 18:20.870 align:start as a strong character because she is quite kind 18:20.870 --> 18:23.210 align:start of open about her emotions. 18:23.210 --> 18:26.060 align:start And she's able to kind of talk through that kind of, sort of, 18:26.060 --> 18:28.300 align:start I don't think she even talks through it, necessarily. 18:28.300 --> 18:30.160 align:start I think you have some of that kind of in a monologue, 18:30.160 --> 18:32.040 align:start but you very much have her behavior. 18:32.040 --> 18:33.810 align:start She's acting in what would be described 18:33.810 --> 18:35.220 align:start as kind of an emotional way. 18:35.220 --> 18:37.070 align:start But I don't even necessarily like that kind of description. 18:37.070 --> 18:41.290 align:start I think she is a person who's just very much her. 18:41.290 --> 18:44.140 align:start And I think as a detective, I kind of wanted her 18:44.140 --> 18:46.580 align:start to be quite different from the traditional detective you 18:46.580 --> 18:47.880 align:start usually see. 18:47.880 --> 18:49.920 align:start And I think people have struggled 18:49.920 --> 18:51.220 align:start with that a little bit. 18:51.220 --> 18:53.050 align:start I think people want to see almost the kind 18:53.050 --> 18:54.350 align:start of masculine detective. 18:54.350 --> 18:56.500 align:start Kind of masculine traits, 18:56.500 --> 18:57.800 align:start which I wouldn't even necessarily describe 18:57.800 --> 18:59.100 align:start as masculine. 18:59.100 --> 19:00.400 align:start But that's kind of how people describe that kind 19:00.400 --> 19:03.560 align:start of very much physical strength, the bottled up emotion. 19:03.560 --> 19:06.280 align:start So yeah, I think Elin is a strong woman because she is kind 19:06.280 --> 19:07.580 align:start of unafraid to be herself. 19:07.580 --> 19:11.690 align:start And I think she kind of lays it all out there for the reader, 19:11.690 --> 19:12.990 align:start and in a way, for herself. 19:12.990 --> 19:14.290 align:start She's kind of going on a journey, 19:14.290 --> 19:16.060 align:start exploring who she is through what happens. 19:16.060 --> 19:18.400 align:start But yeah, that's kind of been polarized. 19:18.400 --> 19:21.030 align:start And I think a lot of people see that kind of behavior 19:21.030 --> 19:23.050 align:start and there's something I want to look 19:23.050 --> 19:24.420 align:start at in the workplace as well, as weak. 19:24.420 --> 19:27.060 align:start If somebody is openly emotional, that's seen as a weakness. 19:27.060 --> 19:30.320 align:start But yeah, that for me is a strength. 19:30.320 --> 19:35.390 align:start And that's something I wanted to play on. 19:35.390 --> 19:38.920 align:start >> Yeah, Gothic heroines are interesting because they-- 19:38.920 --> 19:42.220 align:start just like the Gothic genre, they tend to be different things 19:42.220 --> 19:44.420 align:start at the same time, and sometimes contradict each other. 19:44.420 --> 19:48.350 align:start So if you look at kind of a traditional Gothic 19:48.350 --> 19:52.130 align:start in the very beginning, and some of the stuff in the 1700s 19:52.130 --> 19:56.510 align:start and 1800s, characters like Emily from the Mysteries of Udolpho, 19:56.510 --> 19:59.890 align:start she faints 10 times in the narrative of the novel. 19:59.890 --> 20:01.190 align:start So-- and is completely a victim. 20:01.190 --> 20:04.690 align:start On the other hand, Victor Frankenstein also faints, 20:04.690 --> 20:07.260 align:start swoons, three times during that novel. 20:07.260 --> 20:08.560 align:start So. 20:08.560 --> 20:10.380 align:start You know. But mostly it's women. 20:10.380 --> 20:14.260 align:start And they are fainting and they're being kind of helpless. 20:14.260 --> 20:17.580 align:start You kind of get an evolution of that as the years 20:17.580 --> 20:18.880 align:start and the decades go by. 20:18.880 --> 20:22.320 align:start And so by the time you get to the 1960s, 20:22.320 --> 20:23.810 align:start when you have the Gothic revival, 20:23.810 --> 20:25.740 align:start which is when you've got Victoria Holdt 20:25.740 --> 20:29.340 align:start and all the mass market paperbacks that you find 20:29.340 --> 20:33.350 align:start at drug stores and that we, people my age are most familiar 20:33.350 --> 20:35.300 align:start with because our mothers bought those 20:35.300 --> 20:38.090 align:start with a woman running away on the cover. 20:38.090 --> 20:40.160 align:start Very specific aesthetic. 20:40.160 --> 20:42.370 align:start Those heroines are really-- 20:42.370 --> 20:46.120 align:start they're both victim and active player. 20:46.120 --> 20:48.380 align:start And often victim and detective at the same time. 20:48.380 --> 20:50.720 align:start They're doing the Scooby Doo romantic Gothic kind of thing, 20:50.720 --> 20:52.780 align:start where they have to find out what's really happening 20:52.780 --> 20:54.700 align:start and it's going to be that there's the man, 20:54.700 --> 20:57.540 align:start old farmer Willis in the yard pretending 20:57.540 --> 21:00.360 align:start to be the ghost admit that, that sort of situation. 21:00.360 --> 21:04.360 align:start And so these women are constantly being victimized 21:04.360 --> 21:06.760 align:start for the narratives, but they're also active agents in a way. 21:06.760 --> 21:08.060 align:start Because they are playing sleuth. 21:08.060 --> 21:13.870 align:start They are trying to solve a mystery, a puzzle of that sort. 21:13.870 --> 21:20.170 align:start It is sometimes difficult for people, I think, to understand 21:20.170 --> 21:23.190 align:start that women, especially women-- well, characters in general, 21:23.190 --> 21:27.020 align:start but women specifically, can be multifaceted. 21:27.020 --> 21:30.270 align:start In that one person is not just one single thing. 21:30.270 --> 21:32.740 align:start And the demands are often 21:32.740 --> 21:36.340 align:start that men can be multifaceted in some ways. 21:36.340 --> 21:38.730 align:start And so that's why you have the Byronic hero 21:38.730 --> 21:42.970 align:start who is both kind of, you know, he has elements that are evil 21:42.970 --> 21:45.990 align:start and coercive at the same time, but he's also a romantic hero 21:45.990 --> 21:48.150 align:start and is redeemable and all that kind of stuff. 21:48.150 --> 21:51.500 align:start You had a woman playing the romantic Byronic hero, 21:51.500 --> 21:52.800 align:start everybody would you know, 21:52.800 --> 21:56.380 align:start say that she is a big bitch and would hate her. 21:56.380 --> 21:59.400 align:start And you don't have to be that for people to hate a heroine, 21:59.400 --> 22:03.470 align:start you just have to have somebody who like was mentioned, 22:03.470 --> 22:05.690 align:start has emotional problems. 22:05.690 --> 22:08.720 align:start Or is, you know, emotionally open, 22:08.720 --> 22:10.460 align:start and that's considered weakness, 22:10.460 --> 22:13.400 align:start and she's considered to be stupid or dumb. 22:13.400 --> 22:16.850 align:start And so there's certain things that we can allow of other kinds 22:16.850 --> 22:19.570 align:start of characters but not of women characters. 22:19.570 --> 22:25.710 align:start We seem very disinclined to give them certain nuances and leeway. 22:25.710 --> 22:30.140 align:start And especially, I think, the psychological frailty 22:30.140 --> 22:33.350 align:start that can sometimes be found in Gothic. 22:33.350 --> 22:36.260 align:start Because it is about women sometimes being gaslighted. 22:36.260 --> 22:38.920 align:start About finding themselves in these positions of victim. 22:38.920 --> 22:41.120 align:start But active player at the same time. 22:41.120 --> 22:46.060 align:start Can cause people to have very negative emotions towards them. 22:46.060 --> 22:52.360 align:start Because we really want women to be kind of-- 22:52.360 --> 22:55.040 align:start when they are in a certain active role. 22:55.040 --> 22:58.000 align:start When they're the main protagonist and they're 22:58.000 --> 23:00.230 align:start in this kind of narrative where they're facing off 23:00.230 --> 23:03.600 align:start against somebody or something, we want them 23:03.600 --> 23:07.290 align:start to take an Ellen Ripley approach to get the flamethrower 23:07.290 --> 23:11.240 align:start and burn the alien down, you know, immediately and be 23:11.240 --> 23:13.670 align:start like I'm a bad, tough lady! 23:13.670 --> 23:17.810 align:start And if a woman stops for a second and says oh my god, 23:17.810 --> 23:20.680 align:start I don't know if I'm going mad or what is happening here? 23:20.680 --> 23:23.400 align:start I don't understand how the pieces of the puzzle fit! 23:23.400 --> 23:24.880 align:start We just say oh, what a weakling. 23:24.880 --> 23:27.100 align:start And what a silly lady that is. 23:27.100 --> 23:28.410 align:start Or even worse, you know? 23:28.410 --> 23:32.560 align:start But I think that has to do a lot with how we envision women. 23:32.560 --> 23:35.840 align:start Dimensions that we allow women to inhibit. 23:35.840 --> 23:37.540 align:start And how uncomfortable we are 23:37.540 --> 23:40.420 align:start with what I would call complicated women. 23:40.420 --> 23:42.040 align:start >> Yeah. Sorry, just to-- 23:42.040 --> 23:43.340 align:start >> Oh no, please. 23:43.340 --> 23:44.640 align:start [Crosstalk] said. 23:44.640 --> 23:45.940 align:start Go ahead. 23:45.940 --> 23:47.240 align:start >> Yeah, no, I think that was-- 23:47.240 --> 23:48.940 align:start it's such a good point about kind 23:48.940 --> 23:50.240 align:start of an almost double standard 23:50.240 --> 23:52.330 align:start about how men are held up within fiction. 23:52.330 --> 23:54.050 align:start And I think it's really interesting as a reader. 23:54.050 --> 23:57.820 align:start I don't think it's something people are necessarily aware of. 23:57.820 --> 24:00.530 align:start But yeah, when I've been reading feedback, 24:00.530 --> 24:02.050 align:start not just about my book, but about other books. 24:02.050 --> 24:06.710 align:start As Silvia says, there's a lot of leeway given to a male character 24:06.710 --> 24:08.010 align:start that isn't to a woman. 24:08.010 --> 24:10.000 align:start I think, as we said, really believe 24:10.000 --> 24:12.950 align:start that the female characters, in order to be strong 24:12.950 --> 24:15.630 align:start and the leading character, they are meant to be seen in a very, 24:15.630 --> 24:18.400 align:start what I would describe as the traditionally masculine way. 24:18.400 --> 24:20.830 align:start So they are kind of there with their sword, 24:20.830 --> 24:22.770 align:start they're behaving in a masculine way. 24:22.770 --> 24:25.690 align:start Which yeah, definitely Elin doesn't in The Sanatorium. 24:25.690 --> 24:27.150 align:start And I think that definitely causes people problems. 24:27.150 --> 24:29.590 align:start I think they're very uncomfortable. 24:29.590 --> 24:33.660 align:start I can always-- you can echo it in any kind 24:33.660 --> 24:34.960 align:start of workplace I've worked in. 24:34.960 --> 24:36.260 align:start I've seen a very similar thing where people are uncomfortable 24:36.260 --> 24:37.560 align:start with kind of emotions being shown. 24:37.560 --> 24:40.870 align:start And you are meant to conform to a standard 24:40.870 --> 24:42.840 align:start which I don't think anybody has said. 24:42.840 --> 24:46.100 align:start There's just that in built within society 24:46.100 --> 24:49.210 align:start of how we are seen to be meant to behave in that kind 24:49.210 --> 24:50.510 align:start of workplace environment. 24:50.510 --> 24:52.670 align:start And I think if someone breaks away from that, 24:52.670 --> 24:55.580 align:start it kind of makes people question themselves a little bit as well. 24:55.580 --> 24:58.420 align:start So yeah, it's been really interesting. 24:58.420 --> 25:03.170 align:start >> I love hearing you both talk about this because it's so true. 25:03.170 --> 25:05.850 align:start And sometimes, you know, used to be 25:05.850 --> 25:08.640 align:start that women were the Madonna or the whore? 25:08.640 --> 25:12.630 align:start And now I almost see it as women get 25:12.630 --> 25:16.140 align:start to be Sansa Stark or Arya Stark. 25:16.140 --> 25:21.170 align:start And you know, I mean, you get to be the very noble, you know, 25:21.170 --> 25:25.430 align:start ruler who sits on the throne and is queen in the north, 25:25.430 --> 25:29.780 align:start or you get to be the action hero with your sword named Needle. 25:29.780 --> 25:33.780 align:start And it's very difficult for us to accept a woman 25:33.780 --> 25:35.470 align:start who could do all of those things. 25:35.470 --> 25:39.530 align:start But it's also very difficult for us to accept 25:39.530 --> 25:43.990 align:start that a woman might not want to do all of those things. 25:43.990 --> 25:47.090 align:start And so, with that, I want to take a quick turn 25:47.090 --> 25:51.410 align:start to Velvet Was the Night, Sylvia's upcoming novel. 25:51.410 --> 25:55.220 align:start Because this is a noir. 25:55.220 --> 25:57.990 align:start And Silvia, I don't mean to embarrass you, 25:57.990 --> 26:02.970 align:start but having just read it, it is pitch perfect and superb. 26:02.970 --> 26:06.380 align:start I mean truly, this is an amazing, amazing book. 26:06.380 --> 26:10.090 align:start I want to encourage everyone after you read Mexican Gothic 26:10.090 --> 26:13.710 align:start and The Sanatorium, to pick up Velvet Was the Night. 26:13.710 --> 26:17.440 align:start It's set in Mexico City, if I'm correct about that, 26:17.440 --> 26:21.130 align:start at least parts of it, in the 1970s. 26:21.130 --> 26:24.500 align:start And the reason I want to bring this up now is not just to talk 26:24.500 --> 26:29.190 align:start about women in other genres, including mystery, 26:29.190 --> 26:31.140 align:start Sarah, not leaving you out. 26:31.140 --> 26:35.720 align:start But I also want to bring up the fact that Maite, 26:35.720 --> 26:41.860 align:start the protagonist who's a woman, sort of joins forces with Elvis, 26:41.860 --> 26:49.930 align:start who is involved in a government sponsored/sanctioned movement, 26:49.930 --> 26:53.230 align:start and this is historically accurate, that is supposed 26:53.230 --> 26:56.320 align:start to put down student uprisings. 26:56.320 --> 26:59.430 align:start And I'm not going to spoil anything else for readers. 26:59.430 --> 27:05.920 align:start But Maite has such different expectations on her as a woman 27:05.920 --> 27:09.110 align:start in the 1970s in Mexico. 27:09.110 --> 27:11.090 align:start And you work with that. 27:11.090 --> 27:14.090 align:start She is wholly of her time and place, 27:14.090 --> 27:19.040 align:start but she also is very individual and very, I think, 27:19.040 --> 27:23.670 align:start I think she's pretty feisty for who she is 27:23.670 --> 27:24.970 align:start and where she's come from. 27:24.970 --> 27:29.860 align:start Would you agree with that, Silvia? 27:29.860 --> 27:32.290 align:start >> I think, I don't know if she's feisty, 27:32.290 --> 27:36.880 align:start but I do think Maite is chaffing against certain expectations. 27:36.880 --> 27:41.670 align:start So, in 1971 in Mexico, I mean a lot of things are happening. 27:41.670 --> 27:43.840 align:start One of the things that is happening is obviously 27:43.840 --> 27:49.040 align:start that the Mexican government is imprisoning, torturing, 27:49.040 --> 27:52.770 align:start and killing student activists that they see in any way 27:52.770 --> 27:54.410 align:start as communist or left leaning. 27:54.410 --> 27:56.580 align:start But the other thing that is happening is 27:56.580 --> 27:58.230 align:start that the role of women is changing. 27:58.230 --> 28:01.180 align:start And this is happening in other parts of the world, obviously. 28:01.180 --> 28:03.540 align:start It's in the United States, it's in Canada, the UK, 28:03.540 --> 28:05.830 align:start and all parts of the world. 28:05.830 --> 28:07.130 align:start Several parts of Latin America. 28:07.130 --> 28:10.830 align:start There are questions about what are the limits and the roles 28:10.830 --> 28:15.720 align:start of womanhood and sexual moors, reproductive rights, 28:15.720 --> 28:17.520 align:start all that kind of thing. 28:17.520 --> 28:19.540 align:start But we're still in 1971 28:19.540 --> 28:22.270 align:start in Mexico City amongst a certain social class. 28:22.270 --> 28:25.260 align:start And for example, you're an old maid if you haven't married 28:25.260 --> 28:26.560 align:start and you're 30, like Maite. 28:26.560 --> 28:29.520 align:start >> Right. 28:29.520 --> 28:31.390 align:start >> People don't take you seriously 28:31.390 --> 28:32.690 align:start if you don't have a husband. 28:32.690 --> 28:36.120 align:start And there are certain things where in that time period, 28:36.120 --> 28:39.000 align:start you really needed to have a husband. 28:39.000 --> 28:42.040 align:start So one of the things I [inaudible] I think is she has 28:42.040 --> 28:43.340 align:start problems with the mechanic 28:43.340 --> 28:46.350 align:start because they are price gouging her and if [inaudible] a guy, 28:46.350 --> 28:48.470 align:start it wouldn't be like that? 28:48.470 --> 28:50.320 align:start This was something that I remember, you know, 28:50.320 --> 28:52.260 align:start my mother saying that was true. 28:52.260 --> 28:57.480 align:start That when you were unmarried, there were certain kind 28:57.480 --> 29:00.000 align:start of monetary transactions where you would be, 29:00.000 --> 29:03.390 align:start there would be a premium you would have to pay for inhabiting 29:03.390 --> 29:06.150 align:start that role of the old maid. 29:06.150 --> 29:09.300 align:start And not everybody could inhibit that role of the old maid, 29:09.300 --> 29:11.380 align:start that also comes with a lot 29:11.380 --> 29:14.150 align:start of social privilege [inaudible] can be an old maid, 29:14.150 --> 29:16.220 align:start then you don't have to marry. 29:16.220 --> 29:19.630 align:start So there's all these ideas about what it's like, 29:19.630 --> 29:24.550 align:start what it is like to be living in 1971 in Mexico City. 29:24.550 --> 29:26.720 align:start It wasn't so long ago, but that's when my mother was young 29:26.720 --> 29:28.020 align:start and the things that she tells me 29:28.020 --> 29:32.730 align:start about being a woman back then is kind of terrifying in many ways. 29:32.730 --> 29:38.310 align:start But the other thing is Maite is a reader of romance novels. 29:38.310 --> 29:39.890 align:start And she is a fan of that. 29:39.890 --> 29:41.870 align:start And she's a fan of those narratives. 29:41.870 --> 29:45.830 align:start Romance comic books, which were popular at the time, in Mexico 29:45.830 --> 29:49.210 align:start but in other parts, in the United States too in English. 29:49.210 --> 29:51.170 align:start And it's really a clash of genres. 29:51.170 --> 29:54.110 align:start It's the clash between noir, 29:54.110 --> 29:57.090 align:start which has a certain aesthetic, and romance. 29:57.090 --> 30:01.770 align:start And the destruction of romance in many ways reforms how 30:01.770 --> 30:04.140 align:start that is not what is going on here. 30:04.140 --> 30:07.300 align:start It's somebody who would like to maybe be 30:07.300 --> 30:10.870 align:start in a Victoria Holdt novel in the castle with the moor 30:10.870 --> 30:14.000 align:start and the Byronic hero and have the happy ending, 30:14.000 --> 30:18.240 align:start but instead ends up in this seedy little, you know, 30:18.240 --> 30:21.130 align:start dirty little noir and is not even like, you know, 30:21.130 --> 30:23.040 align:start the Hollywood noir of the Gildas and the-- 30:23.040 --> 30:25.320 align:start >> Right, right. 30:25.320 --> 30:29.740 align:start >> Noir. It's the 1970s sort of Chinatown, 30:29.740 --> 30:32.240 align:start grungy, sort of [crosstalk]. 30:32.240 --> 30:34.590 align:start So it is-- it's a play on genre. 30:34.590 --> 30:36.150 align:start And genre expectations. 30:36.150 --> 30:41.230 align:start In a way. But there's also some thought put into expectations 30:41.230 --> 30:44.090 align:start of what it's like to be a woman at that time. 30:44.090 --> 30:45.390 align:start >> Thank you. 30:45.390 --> 30:48.220 align:start I, again, I just loved it. 30:48.220 --> 30:50.530 align:start And there's so much to talk about with it. 30:50.530 --> 30:53.070 align:start But maybe I'll get a chance to speak with you about it 30:53.070 --> 30:55.130 align:start after it comes out, too. 30:55.130 --> 30:58.140 align:start And that leads me, Sarah, to asking you 30:58.140 --> 31:00.880 align:start about what comes next? 31:00.880 --> 31:04.010 align:start Because The Sanatorium is your debut. 31:04.010 --> 31:09.570 align:start And I know, you know, either or both of you may or may not want 31:09.570 --> 31:13.510 align:start to talk about what you're working on, but I also know 31:13.510 --> 31:17.490 align:start that since we are talking in a panel 31:17.490 --> 31:19.660 align:start that so many readers are going to enjoy, 31:19.660 --> 31:23.710 align:start if you can give us a few hints, that would be great. 31:23.710 --> 31:27.190 align:start >> My next book will be called The Retreat. 31:27.190 --> 31:30.760 align:start And it is out probably sort of March or April time next year. 31:30.760 --> 31:32.080 align:start And I continue with Elin. 31:32.080 --> 31:35.020 align:start And I think when I first started thinking about her 31:35.020 --> 31:37.120 align:start as a character, I kind of knew there was more. 31:37.120 --> 31:43.180 align:start I think with her and the partner we meet in the book called Will, 31:43.180 --> 31:45.220 align:start I'm sure readers will be familiar with the relationship. 31:45.220 --> 31:48.250 align:start And there was some interesting feedback on the dynamics 31:48.250 --> 31:49.550 align:start between the two of them, 31:49.550 --> 31:50.850 align:start which we'll see develop more in the next book. 31:50.850 --> 31:52.910 align:start But yeah, it's very much continuing in the kind 31:52.910 --> 31:54.600 align:start of murder mystery genre. 31:54.600 --> 31:57.780 align:start But we also have elements again of horror, 31:57.780 --> 32:01.280 align:start I think I'm very much attracted to that sense of place. 32:01.280 --> 32:04.910 align:start So we have, it's actually set locally, 32:04.910 --> 32:06.210 align:start so where I am in South Devon. 32:06.210 --> 32:08.430 align:start And we have a real sense of Elin's home environment, 32:08.430 --> 32:11.490 align:start what has kind of influenced her as a person, and yeah, 32:11.490 --> 32:14.390 align:start hopefully another very sort of fun book. 32:14.390 --> 32:15.730 align:start >> That sounds really fun. 32:15.730 --> 32:19.040 align:start I do want to know what kind of retreat it is. 32:19.040 --> 32:20.490 align:start >> Yeah it's very isolated. 32:20.490 --> 32:22.240 align:start I can't say too much. 32:22.240 --> 32:25.890 align:start I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to say. 32:25.890 --> 32:31.890 align:start But yeah, we follow from Elin's point of view but we also follow 32:31.890 --> 32:33.190 align:start from a group who are staying at the retreat. 32:33.190 --> 32:36.700 align:start But yeah, we have a very kind of strong topography, I would say, 32:36.700 --> 32:40.380 align:start without giving too much away, which yeah, provides a challenge 32:40.380 --> 32:43.600 align:start for Elin and also links to sort of a past case. 32:43.600 --> 32:46.540 align:start So we sort of delve a little more into Elin's psyche. 32:46.540 --> 32:49.310 align:start And I think we're sort of unpeeling her layer by layer. 32:49.310 --> 32:51.220 align:start There's more to Elin than what we saw. 32:51.220 --> 32:54.020 align:start I think I had a few people kind of say they very much found her 32:54.020 --> 32:56.040 align:start to be an unreliable narrator. 32:56.040 --> 32:57.890 align:start And I didn't explicitly kind of do that, 32:57.890 --> 33:01.330 align:start but I think within Elin's character, 33:01.330 --> 33:02.630 align:start she isn't telling us everything 33:02.630 --> 33:04.260 align:start and I think we learn a little more 33:04.260 --> 33:06.290 align:start about that in the next book. 33:06.290 --> 33:07.590 align:start >> Thank you. 33:07.590 --> 33:10.540 align:start Now, Silvia, how about after Velvet Was the Night? 33:10.540 --> 33:15.060 align:start Can you talk about what you're working on post-Velvet? 33:15.060 --> 33:18.240 align:start >> Yes. Velvet will come out in August. 33:18.240 --> 33:21.340 align:start So that is the immediate next for me. 33:21.340 --> 33:27.480 align:start But I am working on corrections for my next novel this month. 33:27.480 --> 33:32.420 align:start And that would be, I'm taping this in July, should I say that? 33:32.420 --> 33:33.810 align:start I don't know. 33:33.810 --> 33:36.550 align:start But yeah, no, that is called The Daughter of Dr. Moreau. 33:36.550 --> 33:41.190 align:start And that's a historical novel set in 19th century Mexico 33:41.190 --> 33:43.280 align:start in Yucatan in the south Mexico. 33:43.280 --> 33:46.040 align:start We don't have a release date, sometime in 2022. 33:46.040 --> 33:48.380 align:start >> That's very exciting. 33:48.380 --> 33:49.680 align:start Just from the title. 33:49.680 --> 33:52.070 align:start I don't want to push too much on it, because again, 33:52.070 --> 33:53.760 align:start you don't know, you know, 33:53.760 --> 33:55.610 align:start whether you should be talking about it or not. 33:55.610 --> 33:57.800 align:start But you heard it here, first, everyone, 33:57.800 --> 33:59.440 align:start The Daughter of Dr. Moreau. 33:59.440 --> 34:03.010 align:start I'm going to ask a few more questions. 34:03.010 --> 34:05.830 align:start I know we don't have all the time in the world. 34:05.830 --> 34:08.980 align:start But I think another thing people want to know 34:08.980 --> 34:12.430 align:start about is the research that you each did 34:12.430 --> 34:16.100 align:start for Mexican Gothic and The Sanatorium. 34:16.100 --> 34:19.200 align:start So Silvia, for the-- excuse me. 34:19.200 --> 34:23.980 align:start For Mexican Gothic, you have a lot taking place 34:23.980 --> 34:27.770 align:start in this abandoned silver mining town. 34:27.770 --> 34:32.700 align:start Mexico City, I imagine, I won't say that was easy to research, 34:32.700 --> 34:35.580 align:start because you know, you can't go back to the 1950s, 34:35.580 --> 34:37.530 align:start we don't have a time machine yet. 34:37.530 --> 34:42.330 align:start But was it more challenging to look at the mining town 34:42.330 --> 34:46.800 align:start or was it more challenging to figure out Noemi's world? 34:46.800 --> 34:50.510 align:start A comment on that would be great. 34:50.510 --> 34:52.430 align:start >> It's based on a real mining town 34:52.430 --> 34:55.350 align:start that is called [inaudible] or Mineral del Monte. 34:55.350 --> 34:57.080 align:start And it's in Hidalgo. 34:57.080 --> 34:58.390 align:start I've been there. 34:58.390 --> 35:00.610 align:start So I've physically seen what it looks like. 35:00.610 --> 35:03.190 align:start It is in the mountains, it is kind of cold and chilly. 35:03.190 --> 35:06.850 align:start And it was in fact, an English mining town in the middle 35:06.850 --> 35:09.820 align:start of Mexico at one point in time. 35:09.820 --> 35:15.560 align:start I do a lot of research, but it's, you know, quite variable. 35:15.560 --> 35:18.500 align:start I'm not sure how to explain it most of the time. 35:18.500 --> 35:21.140 align:start For example, for the architecture for the house, 35:21.140 --> 35:24.480 align:start it's not one single house; it's a composite of several houses. 35:24.480 --> 35:29.000 align:start But there was one house in Mexico City, specifically, 35:29.000 --> 35:31.700 align:start that I was looking at, that was around the 19-- 35:31.700 --> 35:34.310 align:start early 1900s, late 1800s that was built 35:34.310 --> 35:36.040 align:start by an Irish man, I believe. 35:36.040 --> 35:39.260 align:start And that had this kind of architecture 35:39.260 --> 35:40.840 align:start that I found very interesting. 35:40.840 --> 35:42.300 align:start It looked-- somebody told me that it looked 35:42.300 --> 35:43.890 align:start like the Addams Family house, 35:43.890 --> 35:45.840 align:start and it is true, after I looked at it. 35:45.840 --> 35:48.250 align:start It has that certain kind of look. 35:48.250 --> 35:49.800 align:start So if we picture the Addams Family house, 35:49.800 --> 35:51.310 align:start that's the look of that house. 35:51.310 --> 35:52.610 align:start In the middle of Mexico City. 35:52.610 --> 35:55.170 align:start And so nothing else looks like it, 35:55.170 --> 35:57.200 align:start even in that time period kind of around it. 35:57.200 --> 35:59.320 align:start But there's just this house in the middle of that. 35:59.320 --> 36:00.800 align:start And there's other houses that are looked 36:00.800 --> 36:02.100 align:start at that were like that. 36:02.100 --> 36:04.660 align:start There was a German style house also in Mexico City that again, 36:04.660 --> 36:06.530 align:start looks like an alpine kind of retreat. 36:06.530 --> 36:09.100 align:start At the time, obviously it was a German magnate. 36:09.100 --> 36:11.120 align:start That kind of stuff. 36:11.120 --> 36:14.710 align:start So, the houses in Mineral del Monte have a very specific kind 36:14.710 --> 36:18.370 align:start of roof, the tile roof that doesn't quite look 36:18.370 --> 36:21.090 align:start like the local stuff, because again, it was a British town, 36:21.090 --> 36:23.210 align:start there were a lot of people from Cornwall. 36:23.210 --> 36:26.790 align:start And so that kind of stuff is something that I look at. 36:26.790 --> 36:32.460 align:start Interiors, fabrics, what people would have been using 36:32.460 --> 36:33.820 align:start in a turn of the century house. 36:33.820 --> 36:36.380 align:start And then the 1950s is a different era. 36:36.380 --> 36:37.680 align:start Of course. 36:37.680 --> 36:41.270 align:start So, that is more like what somebody 36:41.270 --> 36:45.210 align:start of a certain social class might have worn, 36:45.210 --> 36:47.700 align:start behaved like, and thought. 36:47.700 --> 36:50.200 align:start So Noemi is a socialite. 36:50.200 --> 36:53.130 align:start That obviously implies a certain amount of wealth and resources 36:53.130 --> 36:55.970 align:start that other characters might not have. 36:55.970 --> 36:57.270 align:start So she's very aloof. 36:57.270 --> 37:01.480 align:start She is a modern girl from the time period, for 1950. 37:01.480 --> 37:03.730 align:start And so women don't have the right to vote 37:03.730 --> 37:05.470 align:start in Mexico yet in 1950. 37:05.470 --> 37:07.050 align:start They won't be granted the right to vote 37:07.050 --> 37:09.180 align:start until a couple years later. 37:09.180 --> 37:11.380 align:start But she's definitely a representative of this type 37:11.380 --> 37:12.680 align:start of like modern womanhood. 37:12.680 --> 37:16.820 align:start She smokes and you know, drives a convertible 37:16.820 --> 37:19.290 align:start and wears really fancy dresses. 37:19.290 --> 37:22.550 align:start You look at the press at the time and how people are reacting 37:22.550 --> 37:25.520 align:start to womanhood and things like that, there are some people 37:25.520 --> 37:27.350 align:start who are very critical of that and they want, you know, 37:27.350 --> 37:29.200 align:start they're like why are our daughters now going 37:29.200 --> 37:32.230 align:start out dancing instead of getting married and having children. 37:32.230 --> 37:36.040 align:start So there's some of that also embedded in the narrative. 37:36.040 --> 37:43.320 align:start >> You know, one-- I want to ask you, Sarah, about this as well. 37:43.320 --> 37:48.440 align:start And then we're going to talk a little bit about a couple 37:48.440 --> 37:50.790 align:start of other bigger ideas. 37:50.790 --> 37:54.330 align:start So, I know, Sarah, that you lived in Crans Montana 37:54.330 --> 37:57.290 align:start in the Swiss Alps when you were in your 20s. 37:57.290 --> 37:59.280 align:start And that's where you set The Sanatorium. 37:59.280 --> 38:05.640 align:start So in a way, you had a lot of research, quote-on-quote, done. 38:05.640 --> 38:09.580 align:start But that doesn't mean that you didn't need to, oh let's say, 38:09.580 --> 38:11.180 align:start take another trip back. 38:11.180 --> 38:12.480 align:start How did it go for you? 38:12.480 --> 38:14.210 align:start >> Yeah, no, I think you're right. 38:14.210 --> 38:17.880 align:start I think very much the landscape, I lived by the coast. 38:17.880 --> 38:21.110 align:start So, going and living in the kind of alpine region was yeah, 38:21.110 --> 38:24.680 align:start a hugely different experience for me. 38:24.680 --> 38:28.140 align:start And I think probably, from the get-go, I always knew I kind 38:28.140 --> 38:29.440 align:start of wanted a set, somewhat there. 38:29.440 --> 38:32.970 align:start And I kind of had worked on several pieces of short fiction. 38:32.970 --> 38:34.860 align:start But yeah, very much the landscape was embedded 38:34.860 --> 38:37.790 align:start and I knew I wanted to sort of bring that in. 38:37.790 --> 38:39.320 align:start It was actually only when we were visiting as a family 38:39.320 --> 38:41.090 align:start that yeah, I kind of stumbled upon the idea of the sanatorium. 38:41.090 --> 38:46.610 align:start And it was very much a kind of local magazine had an article 38:46.610 --> 38:49.550 align:start about the history of sanatoria on the town. 38:49.550 --> 38:52.830 align:start And it was something I wasn't aware of. 38:52.830 --> 38:54.620 align:start Essentially, sanatoria opened up the very sort of modern idea 38:54.620 --> 38:56.280 align:start of the alpine town as we knew it, for Crans Montana. 38:56.280 --> 38:58.230 align:start So, the idea of the clinic, 38:58.230 --> 39:00.760 align:start essentially there was only a kind of very much a dirt track 39:00.760 --> 39:03.840 align:start that people would come up by horse or donkey. 39:03.840 --> 39:07.750 align:start And it was really only the sanatoria buildings that kind 39:07.750 --> 39:09.220 align:start of opened up the towns to what would become kind 39:09.220 --> 39:10.520 align:start of modern day winter tourism. 39:10.520 --> 39:13.300 align:start So yeah, I read that kind of article and it really sort 39:13.300 --> 39:16.630 align:start of sparked that initial idea. 39:16.630 --> 39:18.650 align:start And then one of the lines within the text, 39:18.650 --> 39:22.730 align:start they called Dr. Theodore Stephani, who sort of set 39:22.730 --> 39:25.010 align:start up the initial sanatoria, had described it 39:25.010 --> 39:27.120 align:start as the architecture of sublime isolation. 39:27.120 --> 39:30.210 align:start And that really kind of, yeah, that really appealed to me. 39:30.210 --> 39:32.050 align:start And I sort of went down a very much sort 39:32.050 --> 39:34.910 align:start of physical rabbit hole in terms of driving around town 39:34.910 --> 39:36.210 align:start and seeing these buildings. 39:36.210 --> 39:37.510 align:start A few of them are still clinics. 39:37.510 --> 39:41.400 align:start So the sort of rough idea of the architecture of a building, 39:41.400 --> 39:43.860 align:start which is a [inaudible] clinic today, which is fascinating 39:43.860 --> 39:45.860 align:start to kind of drive around. 39:45.860 --> 39:48.650 align:start I didn't go inside, but I sort of found 39:48.650 --> 39:52.090 align:start through a local photo story, and a lot of images. 39:52.090 --> 39:53.790 align:start Yeah, so amazing images of children. 39:53.790 --> 39:55.660 align:start They very much believed the UV rays were healing, 39:55.660 --> 39:56.960 align:start even in winter. 39:56.960 --> 39:59.220 align:start So you had images of children outside just 39:59.220 --> 40:01.130 align:start in their underwear kind of taking in the rays. 40:01.130 --> 40:03.230 align:start People wrapped up outside. 40:03.230 --> 40:04.580 align:start Yeah, just fascinating. 40:04.580 --> 40:06.590 align:start And one of the doctors, Dr. Stephani, who opened up, 40:06.590 --> 40:11.090 align:start actually kept a huge archive of materials. 40:11.090 --> 40:13.930 align:start And the local photo historian is actually published 40:13.930 --> 40:15.230 align:start that within a book. 40:15.230 --> 40:17.850 align:start So I had a wealth of material of the kind 40:17.850 --> 40:20.530 align:start of past of the sanatorium. 40:20.530 --> 40:22.040 align:start And then yeah, then in terms of the sort of police aspect, 40:22.040 --> 40:23.920 align:start which very much played upon my mind, 40:23.920 --> 40:25.960 align:start because obviously I took liberties with that 40:25.960 --> 40:27.260 align:start with Elin being on her own. 40:27.260 --> 40:29.350 align:start But I kind of very much wanted to base that on fact. 40:29.350 --> 40:32.090 align:start I went and met with a local Swiss policeman, 40:32.090 --> 40:33.960 align:start who I spent four or five hours with. 40:33.960 --> 40:35.650 align:start And then lots of email to and fro 40:35.650 --> 40:37.180 align:start about what would happen in that scenario. 40:37.180 --> 40:40.050 align:start So at kind of-- yeah, I learned a little bit more. 40:40.050 --> 40:43.280 align:start They're very, very strict on procedure in Switzerland, 40:43.280 --> 40:46.040 align:start which presented me with a few challenges while I was writing. 40:46.040 --> 40:49.770 align:start And then yeah, there was another book actually, when I came-- 40:49.770 --> 40:55.930 align:start without giving away too much if people haven't read the book, 40:55.930 --> 40:58.340 align:start but one of the aspects of the book I bring up is the idea 40:58.340 --> 40:59.840 align:start of these sanatoria, which were used for women who were kind 40:59.840 --> 41:01.340 align:start of what they would describe as sort of hysterical or ill 41:01.340 --> 41:02.640 align:start in their nerves at the time. 41:02.640 --> 41:06.480 align:start And I found some fascinating actual documents and letters 41:06.480 --> 41:08.970 align:start within a book, which is kind of a bit of a critique 41:08.970 --> 41:12.210 align:start of the modern day-- of modern day psychotherapy and Freud. 41:12.210 --> 41:14.900 align:start And I found some amazing original letters written 41:14.900 --> 41:17.050 align:start from a Swiss sanatorium from one of the women 41:17.050 --> 41:19.670 align:start who was basically duped into staying there. 41:19.670 --> 41:21.110 align:start Her father kind of said you're going on a holiday. 41:21.110 --> 41:24.780 align:start They arrived at the train station, were met by a doctor. 41:24.780 --> 41:27.650 align:start This is something that happened not just in the Alps but kind 41:27.650 --> 41:29.210 align:start of in the UK as well, as we know. 41:29.210 --> 41:32.160 align:start But yeah, it was interesting to get that kind of perspective 41:32.160 --> 41:34.710 align:start from a Swiss point of view, from a Swiss woman. 41:34.710 --> 41:36.040 align:start So yeah, there was lots and lots of research. 41:36.040 --> 41:38.040 align:start I did about six months 41:38.040 --> 41:40.290 align:start of research while initially starting to write. 41:40.290 --> 41:43.060 align:start Which felt like, yeah, a real treat. 41:43.060 --> 41:46.470 align:start As with the second book, haven't had quite as long. 41:46.470 --> 41:50.410 align:start >> Hopefully you'll get a little more time. 41:50.410 --> 41:53.820 align:start I want to ask, I hope that I might have time 41:53.820 --> 41:55.300 align:start for one more question after this. 41:55.300 --> 42:00.300 align:start But the theme of this year's National Book Festival is Open a 42:00.300 --> 42:02.550 align:start Book, Open the World. 42:02.550 --> 42:07.090 align:start And so I want to ask each of you, either what that means 42:07.090 --> 42:10.590 align:start to you personally or how that might be addressed in your work. 42:10.590 --> 42:14.290 align:start However you want to speak about that. 42:14.290 --> 42:16.080 align:start So open a book, open the world. 42:16.080 --> 42:19.260 align:start Silvia? 42:19.260 --> 42:22.630 align:start >> Yeah, I think there's many places that I met 42:22.630 --> 42:24.780 align:start for the very first time through a book. 42:24.780 --> 42:27.580 align:start And not just places, but time periods and situations 42:27.580 --> 42:30.470 align:start that I might not have known about that I read 42:30.470 --> 42:36.310 align:start and that was a way I began to understand the world. 42:36.310 --> 42:40.300 align:start So it's a passport into a lot of different realities, 42:40.300 --> 42:42.980 align:start both imaginary and real. 42:42.980 --> 42:45.540 align:start And it's a fun way, I think, to go on vacation 42:45.540 --> 42:48.670 align:start without leaving your living room. 42:48.670 --> 42:49.970 align:start >> Excellent. 42:49.970 --> 42:51.270 align:start Sarah? 42:51.270 --> 42:52.570 align:start >> Yeah, I think, very much echoed 42:52.570 --> 42:53.870 align:start in terms of sense of place. 42:53.870 --> 42:55.620 align:start But also I think in terms of people. 42:55.620 --> 42:59.560 align:start I think, well, I personally think seeing my daughter develop 42:59.560 --> 43:01.810 align:start and start to read, where we learn a lot of our empathy 43:01.810 --> 43:03.110 align:start and kind of understanding 43:03.110 --> 43:05.130 align:start of other people is through narrative. 43:05.130 --> 43:07.080 align:start And being inside someone else's head. 43:07.080 --> 43:09.280 align:start And I think that kind of fictional world 43:09.280 --> 43:11.610 align:start and how we see characters express their thoughts 43:11.610 --> 43:14.040 align:start and feelings that, for me, is opening up the world. 43:14.040 --> 43:16.650 align:start I think you learn to see how other people think, 43:16.650 --> 43:19.950 align:start how other people feel, how other people experience things. 43:19.950 --> 43:24.330 align:start So yeah, I think for me, it's very much place and person. 43:24.330 --> 43:26.960 align:start >> Thank you both so much. 43:26.960 --> 43:31.840 align:start I want to thank the National Book Festival for planning 43:31.840 --> 43:35.030 align:start and organizing and sponsoring this panel 43:35.030 --> 43:38.920 align:start with Silvia Garcia-Moreno, Mexican Gothic 43:38.920 --> 43:41.710 align:start and Velvet Was the Night, and with Sarah Pearse, 43:41.710 --> 43:43.550 align:start author of The Sanatorium. 43:43.550 --> 43:47.500 align:start Thank you both, thank you both for being here, 43:47.500 --> 43:52.330 align:start and I hope to see you again. 43:52.330 --> 43:54.940 align:start >> We hope you've enjoyed this conversation and now, 43:54.940 --> 43:56.320 align:start we'd like you to hear more 43:56.320 --> 44:03.040 align:start from the Library's own experts on this topic. 44:03.040 --> 44:04.800 align:start >> Welcome to the Library of Congress. 44:04.800 --> 44:07.180 align:start My name is Suzanne Schadl, and I'm privileged to serve 44:07.180 --> 44:09.580 align:start as acting chief of the Latin American, Caribbean, 44:09.580 --> 44:10.880 align:start and European division. 44:10.880 --> 44:14.450 align:start I work with a wonderful team of librarians and editors who work 44:14.450 --> 44:16.690 align:start in community with researchers, writers, 44:16.690 --> 44:20.310 align:start and artists to foster discovery, collaboration, 44:20.310 --> 44:23.720 align:start and access to knowledge and creativity from 44:23.720 --> 44:27.370 align:start and about the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, 44:27.370 --> 44:30.260 align:start and related heritage populations elsewhere. 44:30.260 --> 44:33.040 align:start Including Canada and the United States. 44:33.040 --> 44:36.680 align:start I'm excited to share a couple of items from the general 44:36.680 --> 44:39.270 align:start and international collection in anticipation 44:39.270 --> 44:43.010 align:start of Silvia Moreno-Garcia's latest Velvet Was the Night, 44:43.010 --> 44:49.490 align:start a historical noir novel set in Mexico City during the 1970s. 44:49.490 --> 44:53.170 align:start When I see noir and Mexico together, I think of film. 44:53.170 --> 44:58.490 align:start The Mexican director Roberto Gavaldon, a native of Juarez. 44:58.490 --> 44:59.790 align:start He worked as an extra 44:59.790 --> 45:02.810 align:start in California before establishing himself securely 45:02.810 --> 45:06.390 align:start within Mexico's golden age of cinema as a master 45:06.390 --> 45:10.520 align:start of urban melodrama infused with Mexican noire. 45:10.520 --> 45:15.330 align:start His film, Macario, was the first Mexican film to be nominated 45:15.330 --> 45:18.600 align:start for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. 45:18.600 --> 45:22.800 align:start It draws inspiration from a story of the same name 45:22.800 --> 45:27.440 align:start by the mysterious B. Traven, who wrote in German typically 45:27.440 --> 45:30.250 align:start about Mexico where he lived. 45:30.250 --> 45:34.500 align:start Traven's work spoke to Galvadon, and others in the film industry. 45:34.500 --> 45:38.790 align:start This book, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, 45:38.790 --> 45:42.480 align:start delves into human greed and corruption against the backdrop 45:42.480 --> 45:45.510 align:start of a Mexican landscape and its colonial history. 45:45.510 --> 45:47.520 align:start So you can see the noire connection. 45:47.520 --> 45:52.120 align:start Some of you may also link this book with a western 45:52.120 --> 45:55.050 align:start of the same name starring Humphrey Bogart. 45:55.050 --> 45:57.870 align:start Writers and film makers share their crafts 45:57.870 --> 46:00.080 align:start and experiences with one another. 46:00.080 --> 46:03.710 align:start Together they cross borders, genres, and eras. 46:03.710 --> 46:06.150 align:start It is an exciting journey to follow. 46:06.150 --> 46:08.150 align:start I cannot wait to meet the characters 46:08.150 --> 46:10.980 align:start of Velvet Was the Night and follow their paths 46:10.980 --> 46:13.920 align:start in this historical noire novel. 46:13.920 --> 46:18.080 align:start My second item is also visual, and it engages with noire 46:18.080 --> 46:21.120 align:start in a different dirty war, blinding visual storytelling 46:21.120 --> 46:22.950 align:start with investigative journalism. 46:22.950 --> 46:27.220 align:start Vida la Vida, Los Suenos de Ciudad Juarez by Edmond Baudoin 46:27.220 --> 46:30.950 align:start and Jean-Marc Troubet, engages in a written, spoken, 46:30.950 --> 46:34.270 align:start and visual conversation around the physical, social, 46:34.270 --> 46:36.760 align:start and political landscape of Juarez. 46:36.760 --> 46:40.160 align:start Telling some of the stories this city holds. 46:40.160 --> 46:42.640 align:start In his introduction to this graphic novel, 46:42.640 --> 46:44.940 align:start Paco Ignacio Taibo Segundo, 46:44.940 --> 46:47.400 align:start who recently edited a wonderful collection 46:47.400 --> 46:51.580 align:start of short stories called Mexico City Noire, writes "Here 46:51.580 --> 46:54.110 align:start in Ciudad Juarez, the [inaudible] 46:54.110 --> 46:55.740 align:start and its epic were invented. 46:55.740 --> 46:59.860 align:start It was the city of the absurd and terrible femicide. 46:59.860 --> 47:03.270 align:start Still unsolved, incomprehensible, 47:03.270 --> 47:05.140 align:start and barbarous, terrifying." 47:05.140 --> 47:09.540 align:start This page is particularly interesting for its reference 47:09.540 --> 47:12.860 align:start to many names, pairs of eyes, and many perspectives. 47:12.860 --> 47:15.370 align:start Say nothing of different forms of media. 47:15.370 --> 47:18.550 align:start I invite you to explore this item and others 47:18.550 --> 47:20.340 align:start at the Library of Congress. 47:20.340 --> 47:22.220 align:start You're always welcome in the Hispanic 47:22.220 --> 47:24.020 align:start and European reading rooms. 47:24.020 --> 47:25.890 align:start If you prefer to visit electronically, 47:25.890 --> 47:27.190 align:start head to Blogs.LOC.gov. 47:27.190 --> 47:30.040 align:start International collections. 47:30.040 --> 47:32.510 align:start Thank you. 47:32.510 --> 47:54.580 align:start [ Music ]