Where the Light Enters
Page 73
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Let’s start where I usually end, with my best beloved:
Bill and Elisabeth, the center of my universe.
My puppers. While writing this novel I lost two dogs to old age. Tuck was right next to me while I wrote all or part of eleven novels over almost sixteen years, and Bunny was somewhere nearby, too. I miss them terribly, every day. Now it’s Jimmy Dean who sits next to me as I write.
And the rest of my universe:
I am deeply indebted to Jill Grinberg, who has been my agent since the start. Don’t know what I would do without her.
Cheryl Pientka handled audiobook and foreign rights for my novels, and did so with aplomb. Her career has taken her elsewhere, and I will miss her.
The rest of Jill’s staff, including Denise St. Pierre, Sophia Seidner, and Katelyn Detweiler, do their best to keep me out of trouble and answer my dopey questions.
I’ve had two editors for this novel: first Jackie Cantor, who was fantastic until she was whisked away to another publisher, and now Kate Seaver, who is the personification of calm in a storm. A good editor makes all the difference, and I’m thankful to both of them for their help.
I am especially thankful to Jason Schmidt for his support along the way. He dug around in the Library of Congress for me, answered my questions about matters of law, and has proved himself to be an insightful, sharp-eyed, plain-spoken, but empathetic beta reader.
Kristina Gruell has been making herself indispensable for a very long time. For this novel she provided feedback at crucial junctures. That is, when I was ready to dump it all and find something else—anything else—to do, she reminded me why I tell stories.
Penny Chambers, who is always listening.
My readers. The ones who hang out on Facebook, others who reach out through the website or by email, all of you have provided perspective and encouragement when those things were most needed. I appreciate every one of you.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
TO THE BEST of my ability I have worked to bring New York City as it existed in 1884 back to life, with a number of exceptions. The most noteworthy:
Hamilton Fish (1808–1893), once governor of New York and secretary of state in the Grant administration, had a mansion that stood at the corner of Second Avenue and Seventeenth Street. In 1894 John Pierpont Morgan purchased the mansion and donated the property to the Society of the Lying-In Hospital for their use. This is the same mansion mentioned in the novel, purchased by Sophie to be used as a hospital for indigent children in 1884, nine years too early.
The two houses built by Cap’s father that stood to the west of the Fish mansion are, of course, fictional. That is also the case with Mrs. Griffin’s town house and the households on Waverly Place.
While there are alleys in Manhattan, there were not quite so many in 1884 as this novel would have you believe. The alleys in Oscar’s map of the Jefferson Market neighborhood are fictional. You can find that map and others at thegildedhour.com.
The newspaper articles tucked into various corners are all composites of actual accounts, altered so as not to be associated with any persons who once lived. You may wonder what those women have to do with the Savards, Quinlans, Verhoevens, and Mezzanottes; eventually you will find out.
In the notes written for the previous novel in this series I went into great detail about references and historical research. Rather than reproduce those pages here, they are now available on the website thegildedhour.com, where you are welcome to search my bibliography and post any questions.
I like big books and I cannot lie, but it takes me a long time to write one. Thank you for your patience.
Readers Guide
Where the Light Enters
Sara Donati
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. The title of the book comes from a quote attributed to Rumi: “The wound is the place where the light enters.” In the story, who is wounded, and what light are those people finding or failing to find?
2. The shipwreck survivors—Catherine Bellegarde in particular—awaken the sleeping physician inside Sophie. Would this have happened on its own, in time? Or did she need something to jolt her from that slumber?
3. Elise plays many parts in the story. She’s finding her way in a new life and profession, and experiencing many things for the first time. How does she change from the beginning of the book to the end? What do you think of her chosen path in medical science?
4. Rosa and Lia name houses for things that are apparent to the eye: Roses, Weeds, Larks, Doves, and, hilariously, Fish. But is there a deeper significance in the connections between the names of the houses and their inhabitants?
5. Rosa and Lia struggle with the choices that have been made for them, most often against their will. Rosa has a growing resentment and contempt for the Catholic Church. How has it changed Lia?
6. Are the adults in Rosa’s life doing the right thing for her? How does the fact that Anna and Sophie both lost their parents inform the way they treat her?
7. Anna struggles with the idea of being pregnant. Why?
8. What do you imagine was going on in the Griffin household that would make Sam Reason prefer not to board there?
9. Anna and Jack seem to have settled into a comfortable routine. How is it that these two, who are very different in so many ways, should be on such good terms? Is it as simple as opposites attracting?
10. Anthony Comstock expended great time and energy on arresting and prosecuting physicians, midwives, and pharmacists, and at one point had an eye on Sophie and Anna. What are his real motivations? What drives him?
11. Discuss the role of the Catholic Church in addressing the needs of the many thousands of orphaned children who were homeless in Manhattan in the 1880s. Where did the church succeed and where did it fail, and how?
12. Newspaper extracts are used throughout the book. How do those stories contribute to the various plotlines and the setting?
13. Men are drawn to Sophie, but she is in mourning and has no interest in a new relationship. Which of the men currently in her life might she be interested in when enough time has passed? Why?
14. The book ends with a gathering of women, almost a council, with Lily Quinlan as the clan mother of them all. How do you feel that reflects the overall theme of Where the Light Enters specifically and the greater Wilderness world in general?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sara Donati is the international bestselling author of the Wilderness series, which includes Into the Wilderness, Dawn on a Distant Shore, Lake in the Clouds, Fire Along the Sky, Queen of Swords, and The Endless Forest.
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