Evy Journey writes. Stories and blog posts. Novels that tend to cross genres. She’s also a wannabe artist, and a flâneuse. Evy studied psychology (M.A., University of Hawaii; Ph.D. University of Illinois). So her fiction spins tales about nuanced characters dealing with contemporary life issues and problems. She believes in love and its many faces. Her one ungranted wish: To live in Paris where art is everywhere and people have honed aimless roaming to an art form. She has visited and stayed a few months at a time.
Author Links
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads
🏰How did you even find out these medieval manuscript illuminations that were stolen? During research? Why were they even stolen?
I learned about manuscript illumination in an art history class, and it fascinated me because it lies at the intersection of my interests in both visual arts and the written word. To me, the genre is the medieval precursor of picture books and comic strips—stories told in part through images. And yes, I learned about the manuscripts stolen in WWII while doing some fairly extensive research on the topic. It was almost a eureka moment that gave me an impetus, an angle, and the way to begin weaving a story.
Looting art treasures by invaders during wartime is a well-documented fact. It was part of Hitler’s agenda. His looted treasures were supposed to fill an unrealized museum that would have served as a paean to him. What’s not as well-known is that individual Allied soldiers were tempted as well, just as the soldier was in my novel. In the chaos of war, many treasures became easy pickings. Soldiers took things they considered spoils of war—those left by dead or fleeing enemies and civilian victims.
🏰So this story is based on the actual theft by an American soldier of illuminated manuscripts during World War II. What’s his story?
Little is publicly known about the real-life soldier who stole the manuscripts, plus a few other treasures. He was an art major (like the novel’s art thief) so he might have valued these manuscripts more than someone not into art. He didn’t survive as long as the fictitious art thief in the novel, dying of some disease in his early sixties before his theft became known. That is, before these manuscripts resurfaced for sale.
He was reputed to be solitary and maybe secretive because of his sexual preference. He also grew orchids. I can’t tell from the little that’s available in the media why he stole and why he kept these rare treasures all his life. The motivation I attributed to him in the novel comes from my opinions of what may attract people to art.
🏰Can you tell us a little about the main character, Clarissa?
True to the themes of the second set of the standalone novels in my series, Between Two Worlds, Clarissa is of mixed parentage, an exotic beauty who’s unaware of it. She has lived in seven different countries by her young adulthood, and her fitting-in problems may be worse than most. She’s also naïve and awkward, but it helps that she’s curious, inquisitive, smart and, in some ways, worldly because of her exposure to many cultures.
🏰And who is Nathan?
Clarissa and her brother met Nathan at a café in Paris. An only son thrust into medicine by parents who’re both doctors, he discovers a passion for art. But he doesn’t make art, he writes about them. He supports himself by working part-time as a doctor and eventually unites his interests in the new field of neuroaesthetics.
🏰So what part in the book would have us on pins and needles?
This novel is mostly in the literary genre with strong mystery, historical, and romantic elements thrown in. As such, it assumes that, realistically, searching for truth is painstaking work. There aren’t scenes like thrilling car chases or running from someone intent on killing the protagonist. But there are several instances just before some facts are uncovered, when Clarissa gets an adrenaline rush. Finding out who the actual owners of the stolen manuscripts are, for instance. Or learning who the art thief is. Or realizing she’s in love.
🏰What was the most difficult part about writing this book?
I amassed a lot of material for this novel. I read books and journal articles, watched movies and documentaries. So, the most difficult part was deciding what to include in the story and what to leave out.
🏰Why do you think people ought to read your book?
The underlying theme of the novel is a rootless young woman’s self-discovery and growth, and how she discovers that a home is not so much a place as an enduring sense of who she is. It’s a universal conundrum that would interest readers on the same journey.
The book should also interest readers curious and/or enthusiastic about art and the machinations of an art world not immune to fraud, deception, and even violence . Finally, this story is dedicated to everyone fascinated by all forms of picture books, and how they originated from illuminated manuscripts as far back as the middle ages.
About The Golden Manuscripts
Buy Links:
