Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
‘Escapement’ is a lyrically poetic novel – writ in such a lovingly unique style, you dare not retreat outside its heart for very long! It calls to you to be read and to understand how the characters within the story are pulled towards each other & how they’ve become changed through their experiences. To give you a small preview of what I shall be revealling lateron today in my full ruminative review is the following excerpt from my thoughts as I read the novel:
I truly love discovering unique voices in fiction and Kristen Wolf is my latest novelist who has found a lovely way of lyrically writing a story during the Romantic era in history which is evocative of the musical artists in her story who breathed their soul into their music whereas her heart is seen in the poetic nature of her narrative prose. It has a rhythm of its own making – a uniqueness which allows you glimpses into a person’s personality with each short sentence she creates which in of itself says more than the length it was given on the page. She has found that curious way of imparting a heap of information within the shortness of text where similar to poetry, the words and the paragraphs their contained inside feel larger than their presence.
The somberness and the eloquence of an artist in transition of the final chapter of his life – where one door is closing, the next is already open for his acceptance – is one of the most humbling openings of a novel I’ve read in quite a long time. It bespoke of the quiet solitude of appreciation someone who is at a level above the rest of his field – creating not just for the sake of leaving behind the legacy of his work but for a higher purpose where even his own talent merged with something rather extraordinary throughout his lifetime. The dedication it takes to fuell your creativity for the longevity of a career which spans more decades than most artist are given – is such a crucial way of being introduced to the legacy and the admiration of the title character within Escapement – or rather, the one character who influenced the truer lead character, Henri.
For without Cristofer, there would not be a Henri as we know them. Entreating into Henri’s life at a point where Cristofer is exiting is is an interesting segue to retreat backwards into their hours together – to move backwards to understand the forward motion of where they are now. Interesting as I hadn’t expected this to flashback as much as I thought we were going to be inserted somewhere on their path where their lives were already in-progress, as that was the first impression I had when I read about the novel prior to opening its pages.
The ways in which you move through this story are set to a very unique rhythm of delivery and I for one, am thankful for the journey I am taking as it is giving me such a wondrously illuminating read! Not to mention the fact, there is a whole undercurrent of loveliness attached to this story which evocatively takes a look at the art of the creator and how one’s quest for creative ingenuity can overtake a person’s focus, lifestyle and soul.
Music is such a passionate expression of oneself – it also transcends itself to a heightened place past conscienceness and allows us to understand things on a deeper more keener layer of awareness. I personally love how this novel was writ with such a unique voice to not just insert us into a musically creative artist but to allow us to *feel!* what it was like to be self-possessed by one’s art and to give selflessly to the pursuit of creating it.
Escapement (Author Interview)
by Kristen Wolf
***WINNER of the 2018 IndieReader DISCOVERY AWARD***
Henri keeps many secrets. Some even from herself…
Prepare to be transported into a sensual world of possibility by this lush, heart-wrenching and gorgeously-written tale. Brimming with passion, intrigue, extraordinary characters and breathtaking surprises, ESCAPEMENT will arouse the senses and seduce readers of every persuasion.
Cristofer’s star is poised to rise. Everyone expects the dashing and gifted composer to soar to the heights of musical genius—an expectation that terrifies the young artist as much as it drives him.
Walking into the fire with Cristofer is his housekeeper, Henri, a passionate and handsome young woman who takes pleasure in dressing as a man. Tending to her employer’s domestic needs, Henri has crafted a carefree life of routine behind which she hides the truth of a tragic past. Possessed herself of an extraordinary talent, she covertly guides her employer through the trials of his artistic and romantic pursuits while carefully guarding his most closely-held secret.
But Henri’s deceptively simple life is ripped apart when a wealthy and ruthless patron grants Cristofer a spectacular commission, then unwittingly hires Henri—whom he believes to be male—to give piano lessons to his alluring wife.
The resulting entanglements rise to a dangerous pitch as Cristofer struggles to create music of epic proportions while Henri is ignited by a love more powerful than any she has ever known. But when the monstrously ambitious patron catches wind of a duplicity, he and his henchmen mobilize quickly to target the threat and soon the only hope for either friend’s survival depends on one publicly exposing the other’s hidden truth—an act that would defy the bonds of love and loyalty and bring all their lives crashing down.
Can Henri stop the oncoming tragedy and still hold onto her greatest love? Or must she lose everything?
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 9780999610305
Also by this author: Escapement
Published by Pixeltry
on 1st August, 2018
Published By: Pixeltry
Converse via: #Escapement, #LGBTQ & #HistFic or #HistNov
Available Formats: Paperback and Ebook
Hi Jorie and Readers of Jorie Loves a Story. Thank you for inviting me to do this interview! I’m so happy to be here and have to say right up front that the questions you’ve asked are among the most thought-provoking—and fun—I’ve ever received. So thank you for the chance to do some real soul-searching.
As a fellow appreciator of Theoretical Physics and has met more branches of Science she loves to be reading about than there are hours left in the hourglass – what pulled your heart into this branch of Physics initially and what has kept you happily enthralled?
Wolf responds: Well first off, how great to have found someone else as equally hooked on Science as on Literature! And I can strongly emphasize with the grave lack of hours you have to explore. I have to say that what draws me to the branch of Theoretical Physics is that so many of its discoveries first take root in the imagination—for example, general relativity, quantum physics, the Higgs particle, dark matter/energy and so forth. Since TP deals so heavily with the unknown and the unseen, it requires scientists to combine both their knowledge and the products of their imagination into a possibility, also known as a theory. It really would seem a genuine leap of faith (or an act of escapement) on their part. And it’s only after they take this first step and create a workable theory that the other branches of Science, such as Mathematics, arrive to prove (or disprove) their ideas.
For me, TP is a bit like storytelling in that it’s a purposeful combining of the known and the unknown or knowledge and imagination. And I guess it’s because my mind, for whatever reason, seems to love that process that I’m drawn to that particular branch of Science.
*waves!* Yes, I concur – it is a rare moment of joy to find someone whose mind is equally curious and attached with such a fierce hold across the thresholds of Science, Art & Literature! Throughout my blog, you’ll find joyful ruminative thoughts on behalf of some truly incredible topical exploits in Science – a lot of this is credited to being able to review for Prometheus Books, whose given me a wonderful chance to travel into the fields I am most keen on exploring. (this of course is when I am not smitten by their dramatic crime stories!)
Yes, yes, I am jumping for joy here – you’ve happily broached what I find wicked fascinating about Theoretical Physics, too! The entire field itself is a ‘working theory in-process of being discovered’ in a beautifully lovely continuum of creative intellectual thought! Before I wised to the goings on at Universities and realised after 12 years of pursuing whether or not I wanted to remain library educated vs University educated (I chose the former route rather than the latter; opting out of Uni) – there came a time where I considered dual-degrees. One of them was for Physics and I had some rather interestingly dynamic conversations therein – specifically how I defended the fact I am more akin to following in the footsteps of Einstein (on the Theoretical side) than I am of pursuing Applied Physics which to me, felt rather one-dimensional and a tad ‘boring’. The joy for me was the ‘vastness of the unknown(s)’ not the limited scope of what is already able to be proved by rock and salt explanations!
I hadn’t or rather I am not remembering at the moment if I mused about the cross-similarities between the craft of conjuring stories through our creativity of imagination was a poignant nod towards why we are drawn into the world of Quantum Physics (and the rest of those environs) – though, if I hadn’t, the shift in awareness towards its acceptance is quite elemental if you peer at it from the angle you’ve broached yourself! It also seems rather obvious now why I was equally as attracted to it as you!
Of all the Non-Fiction stories I’ve read, there are a few which drew to mind of being of interest for you – unless of course you’ve already found them? ‘Graphene‘, ‘Complexity‘, ‘The Patterning Instinct‘, ‘Einstein at Home‘, ‘Kepler and the Universe‘ and for a conscience vs altered state experience involving String Theory ‘Antiphony‘.
I love the concept behind your author’s blog – a collection of ‘wonders’ each of them something to chew on for further contemplation. Of all the subjects you’ve explored what has become your mainstay and favourite?
Wolf responds: That’s a tough question!! Actually, wait, no it’s not. I have to say that I can’t really have a favorite for the simple reason that what I enjoy more than anything is the process of combinatorial thinking—the joyride of allowing one’s mind and imagination to draw connections between seemingly unrelated phenomena. Therefore, if I were to choose a favorite, and focus more heavily on one arena than the others, I would have less to combine and therefore the “wonders” would probably be anemic. This is why I try really hard not to shut my mind down to certain areas even if, at the outset, they seem unappealing. I remember picking up a book on the worldwide phenomenon of video games, particularly role-playing games and thinking I’d be wasting my time. It proved exactly the opposite. It was fascinating. Beyond fascinating. And, in fact, it was this study of how the world and our attention and our labor and effort are being networked that gave rise to the idea for the novel I’m working on now.
Did you ever see the film “The Wizard”? (1989) It starred Fred Savage? (showing my age) The reason I’m bringing this up is because it sort of had this interdisciplinary sub-focus on how communication with a child who had challenges could be in theory utilised through their love of video games and how by playing video games could ‘unlock’ a part of themselves they weren’t sure how to communicate otherwise due to emotional trauma? I also think I received more out of this film than my peers as at the time, they hadn’t a clue what I was talking about… a frequent event in childhood and adolescence! (smiles)
When I first took a cursory look at your blog, I had noticed the eclecticism of your choices – I wasn’t sure if that in effect was your ‘mainstay’ of focus to be a seeker of knowledge in all facets which draw your curious eye (such as myself) OR if perhaps one or a handful of subjects/topics/fields had stood out from the rest. I love how you’ve described your adventures and journey of researching everything and anything which leads itself into a particular niche of ‘curious contemplation’… it felt like seeing through a mirror a reflection of my own pursuits.
Especially as I never realised when I first started Jorie Loves A Story I’d be a writer moonlighting as a book blogger (til my own season to publish arrives) who would have the chance to re-explore and dimensionally expand my own wanderings into Science right alongside my healthy pursuit of fictional worlds of wonder. Dimensionally my blog has grown far outside my own humbled goals for where I could take it and it enriches me on a heart and soul level each time I pick up a book, contemplate my ruminative thoughts and set those thoughts to journalled notes of which my readers have come to know rather well.
In other words, I look forward to digging through your own blog and seeing what I settle into reading about,… it is wicked lovely finding another seeker who is also an explorer of intellectual intrigues,…
As Henri holds within her a tragic secret whilst she projects herself as a man what was the hardest to balance as you presented Henri to readers? How did you find her rhythm and voice whilst giving her a fluidity of self-identity she carved out for herself? In other words, how did you approach her character in a way which would feel larger than the pages she was written against?
Wolf responds: Another great question. Can I say that I really don’t know? Henri came to me when I was 18 when I’d just gotten to college and was taking a class on musical appreciation that started with classical music. I’d never really listened much to classical music before, nor read about the composers’ lives, and all of it struck me as so fascinating and seductive. Especially the music of the Romantic era. That’s the music that gave rise to Henri. And afterward, she rode along with me for years and years.
Maybe Henri has so much depth because she’d “lived” for so long in the back of my mind. And because of this, became a true amalgamation of many people and spirits and experiences — both the ones I’d studied and then those of myself and of people I’ve known. She really is such a flagrant combination of voices and times and maybe that’s why she was able to become larger than life despite being rendered on the page.
Ahh, your a *think writer!* Something else we share in common and something I nearly picked up on myself but I’ve been spending time in and out of your novel (due to a variety of reasons out of my control) I hadn’t quited closed the connective dots round what I was sensing and noticing til I read this response! Yes, I believe Henri grew into one of those beautiful characters whose life is greater than what is confined on page. It is fascinating reading the story from that singular angle – a glimpse of which I quoted on my top anchour of this interview as I wanted to share a bit ahead of my fuller review going live.
I love how you’ve phrased it – the experience of writing over nearly a generation of thoughts, musings, contemplations and life experiences – ‘a true amalgamation of many people and spirits and experiences’ – no truer words were ever said!
What was the most challenging aspect of entangling the lives of Cristofer, Ana and Henri? As each of them are not being completely honest with themselves and yet, they aren’t entirely hiding either – how did you hone in on their complexities and vulnerabilities?
Wolf responds: To be honest, it was a little heart-breaking. I just couldn’t help but feel for their predicaments, especially the ones of their own (unconscious) making! I think a good part of the challenge was ensuring that they had agency in other parts of their lives. That they took bold and certain actions in other arenas. That added, I think, to their complexity. And in addition, to then showing their moments of honest self-awareness, where they (even if hesitantly) understood their own responsibility for the state of their lives. This, I think, added to their vulnerability. Together these elements helped to cast them as real people—bearing the contradictions, mistakes and gifts that we all simultaneously possess.
It is through this artful complexity and the imbalances vs co-balances of their lives which intersected to tell such a compellingly poetic story.
The title Escapement feels multi-layered and intuitively insightful in regards to both the story and the characters therein – what did you want this title to evoke in readers as they read your story?
Wolf responds: Even after all this time I still find the mechanism and art of escapement fascinating. And an incredible metaphor for so many elements of human life and experience and creativity. I chose the mechanism firstly because of its relevance to the music itself—none of it would have existed without the pianoforte, the piano that could play soft or loud or anything in between, eliciting the full range of human emotion. And then of course, there is the risk and the almost reckless leap of faith that is required. I think I wanted readers to come to the story with the very real sense of needing to break out, to break free, to escape from a whole litany of things: the constriction of gender, of art forms, of convention, of love and also of its very important role in the acts of self-determination, innovation and creativity itself.
It was certainly a lot to ask of a relatively “simple” mechanism, but for some reason I felt like it was up to the challenge—and that readers would relate to it strongly, almost viscerally.
To put it simply, the world and society (therein) has been delusionally in love with labelling everything to death. Ourselves included, to the brink they have erased the beauty of simply ‘being’ as they cannot whole-heartedly simply accept most of us are not limited to a particular ‘box’ or description of their choosing but rather, live our authentic selves in a way which should not be classified by a particular observational rule as how many of us break the (supposed) rules in order to be a freer artist, wordsmith or creator?
I was always in awe of the pianoforte for how much depth was contained within its range – the emotionalism of its evocations and the ways in which the sound emitting out of it was universally able to be felt. An achievement in its own right and yet, it has become a timeless reminder of how powerfully stirring music can be because of the emotional and soulfulness of how music ‘connects and interconnects’ to us on a different level of understanding. Music breaks through where words and language cannot.
It is also a credit to how you approach the story – how you endeavoured to breathe life into your characters and also, how the story was actually writ against the ink and the page. All of it combined into something luxuriously brilliant to read!
At the heart of Escapement is a love story told through different lens of focus and different angles of approach. How did you find the ready balance between showing the trials of friendship, love and where the lines blur into something wholly new and unexpected therein?
Wolf responds: Another great question! I went over this part many, many times. Feeling it out. Fleshing it in. Making sure the relationship rang true to human experience. I did experiment a bit with shaping the perspective and adjusted the pacing on several counts. It was fun, actually, to watch it come together and gel. You know, there really is an element of just sitting back and letting the characters take control. Of letting their lives spill onto the page. And I often feel that the creative work of writing their tale is far more to their credit than mine!
Ah, where the writer bemuses the curiously curious evolution of going from wordsmith to historian and how the stories themselves can knit out of stitches of thought we had not fully realised were a part of us until they alighted on the page in which they were delivered? Yes, I know this feeling quite well – both as a writer and as a poet. Being still and being receptive to the process of writing is a cardinal rule of writing – but not all writers take stock and notice of this as it means ‘letting go’ of scheduled writing(s) and of being more lenient on deadlines – either known or personally set against a clock of their choosing. So much of writing becomes organic – intrinsically authenticated through the art of the craft and through the fusion of mind, imagination and thoughtful curiosity – yet you have to give yourself to that journey and be wholly comfortable for the results.
Music plays a centralised role in the novel – how did you want to convey the passionate obsession music can overrule its creator against the larger scope of where the other characters have their lives moving towards a crossroads?
Wolf responds: In most stories, music serves as a background. However, in this case, I was really seeking to have music become a full-blooded character in its own right. In that regard, I plotted and wrote the music as if it were any of the other significant protagonists. And just as those characters could be shown overruling or overcoming another, they could also be shown to affect and drive others in different ways. Toward particular realizations and, ultimately, actions.
Yes, exactly this – in other narratives – the musical elements are background fodder or they are elemental inclusions to where they are not entirely their ‘own’ character but rather inserted to add layers to the characters being established. A tool of expression or of understanding for the artist who uses music as their palette but to have music feel alive and transparently immersed into the contextual flow of the narrative itself as it ebbs and flows through the lives of the characters – that is a beauty of its own kind.
Which character in Escapement do you think will resonate the most with readers and why?
Wolf responds: I would have to say Henri. First, because she is a genuinely unique and compelling character. I’m not sure, in fact, if I’ve ever read another character quite like her. She’s so full of tenderness and earnestness and deep creativity while also being haunted by self-doubt and existential bewilderment. Yet at the same time, she’s wholly unapologetic and self-assured. She is, in short, a complete paradox full of beautiful longings, passions and contradictions and I think there are a lot of us who can relate to the emotions of being like that!
You approached introducing Henri in such a lovely way of innocence – of how she was tucked inside her own heart and mindfulness of what she was seeing, sensing and experiencing but with an innocence still attached. She was at first as you say ‘bewildered’ by her thoughts and her reactions but she came to understand herself and it is through taking the journey within the novel we not only see Henri as she sees herself and of how she wants others to see her from the outside looking in but we see the fuller scope of why the story was told. You have lovely layers inside this novel and I love layered stories for this particular reason – the more you glimpse inside those portions of a story, the more you see the soul of the writer and a reflection of humanity.
What are you excited about in having Escapement release as an audiobook? Did you have input on how the narrator should approach certain characters or certain sequences of scene? What was your initial reactions to the narrator who lent their voice to bring Escapement to life through their narration?
Wolf responds: Ha! Well, yes, I had a lot of input actually. I, myself, am the narrator, along with a full cast of characters all portrayed by truly talented actors. We also recorded a concert pianist performing the major piano solos on a historic piano—an 1895 Érard—just like in the book!— which was incredible!!
What makes me most excited about the audiobook version is that it truly allows the music to come to life. And the audience gets to experience it as the full and rich and complex character that it is. Having the music actually heard and woven into the story creates this truly emotional 3-D experience that we felt the book was crying out for because of the music’s central role. We had an amazing cast and crew working on the project and I’m very pleased with what we created. And I truly hope that others will enjoy listening!
How did I miss this?! I tried to find out more about the audiobook version before I submitted the questions for you, but I couldn’t sort out the cast listing – as whenever I tried to pull it up it would only say ‘full cast’ or ‘ensemble cast’ but without the actual details relating to ‘whom’ had narrated the story! Dear me,.. forgive me for not realising a rather important detail of disclosure!
OOh you’ve tempted me even more to hold fast to the day I can hear the audiobook! You’ll find music played a strong role in how I listened to the tones between the words and how having music involved whilst I was reading ‘Escapement’ truly gave a peripheral side entrance into how the novel was breathing as I devoured its pages.
Without realising it – I achieved what you sought out to give us with the audiobook! Now, when I go back through the novel, I shall make sure to get the audiobook and re-trace what was felt, seen and observed through the narration guiding me backwards into the story – hearing it and experiencing it as you conceptionalised it.
When your not researching or writing your stories what renews your spirit the most?
Wolf responds: Ahhh, that’s easy. I enjoy the silence I can find hiking in Nature—the kind of “silence” that’s full of music — birdsong, cricket chirring, the wind. I also cherish every moment I can spend with my family, both the two-legged and the four-legged members. Then, to come full circle, I absolutely refuel by getting lost in my ever-growing stack of Science books and journals. Whenever I can sneak some time to work my way down the pile, I just binge eat them like popcorn! If there were ever a day I could find time for all three of those activities, well, that would be heaven.
I do as well! Being in the natural world is an uplift of its own making – the stillness of being, the musical score of wildlife and the alternating seasons which shift what we see and when – is something which continuously blesses our lives. It is very grounding being in nature – of fusing the cycle of the natural world within our own timestamp of breath we knit out a newness of being centred in the mindfulness we were always ought to have developed in regards to the cycles of life and the beauty of biodiversity.
Family and the companions in fur I have had walk beside me are cherished companions whilst we’re all on the same path to walk and share – parting is the hardest to reconcile but I’ve leant on faith and solace of their peace until we’re meant to be reunited.
Reading is a curious thing – it challenges us to embetter ourselves and our understanding of the world but it can also grow exponentially the dimensional joy of re-seeing the world through a lens of Science which may or may not have been previously explored. I get rather giddy whenever I read a book on Science which makes me re-contemplate what I’ve already known vs what I have now expounded upon to be more inclusive of truths which were for such a bank of hours elusively unknown. Though in all truth – the fiction I read is just as enlightening as the topical Non-Fiction! Especially when I stumble across certain works of literature where you get hung over the concepts of the story and truly lay your hat on the musings it has stirred. (herein I am actually thinking about ‘The Kinship of Clover’ to name one in particular)
May we both never fully expire our TBRs – as our curiosities continue to grow, so will our musings and thoughtful musings of those fields carry us forward until the hours and the texts have taken our horizons to a dearly beloved sphere of truthfulness.
And thank you again, Jorie and audience,
for the chance to answer such interesting questions!
I truly loved it.
With equal admiration, my heart is full of gratitude for our conversation & for the sharing of mind and curiosities we happily are in equal pursuit! May we each continuously find wonder and joyfulness in everything we pursue!
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Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2018.
I’m a social reader | I tweet my reading life
With equal admiration and a joyfulness of conversation #bookblogger & novelist share meeting of the minds in stirring #Interview Jorie shares w/ @Author_KWolf! Exploring topical Qs on her #writinglife #amwriting Escapement & their beloved field of #Science https://t.co/HextJMitgv
— Jorie, the Joyful Tweeter ?? (@joriestory) September 12, 2018
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