Sarah Waters è nata nel Galles, ma vive in un appartamento vittoriano a Londra. Spesso viene archiviata come ‘scrittice lesbo’, ma in realtà è molto di più. Lo ha dimostrato con i suoi ultimi romanzi che escono completamente dal genere lesbo ed affrontano storie raccontate da un punto di vista maschile.
Ha scritto cinque romanzi, il primo dei quali è Tipping the Velvet del 1998, che ha avuto grande successo di critica e di pubblico. Tre di questi romanzi sono ambientati nell’epoca vittoriana (che ADORO!), mentre gli ultimi due negli anni ’40. Alcuni sono stati trasposti per la televisione inglese ad opera della BBC, altri sono già progetti filmici.
Sono andata a ‘curiosare’ nel suo sito, che è di quelli che piacciono a me: ordinato e dall’impostazione logica e visiva molto chiara, al tempo stesso semplice, ma ricco di materiali. La sezione ‘Extras’, in particolare, è davvero utile per avvicinare l’autrice virtualmente. C’è innanzi tutto una Gallery con immagini dai set dei film. C’è una sezione interviste, dove si riesce a cogliere lo spirito di Sarah. Infine, per un’impressione reale, c’è una sezione video in cui si può vedere l’autrice parlare dei propri libri: l’idea che mi sono fatta io fin dalla prima intervista è di sicurezza, innanzitutto. Discute di letteratura e di storia come se non avesse fatto altro per tutta la vita. Per quanto riguarda l’aspetto, con un termine inglese la definirei ‘pixie-like’, una sorta di folletto, probabilmente a causa della corporatura minuta... ma anche i capelli così corti e un po’ “sparati” e le strette fessure oculari hanno contribuito all’immagine.
Più volte, nelle varie interviste, le viene chiesto se scriverebbe un libro ambientato ai giorni nostri e Sarah tende a rispondere di no, perché ama le ambientazioni storiche e la parte che le piace di più dello scrivere è quella della ricerca storica iniziale. Pare che prima di scrivere un libro si prepari molto leggendo e facendo ricerca sullo scorcio di secolo in cui vuole ambientare la vicenda. Neanche a farlo apposta, si sofferma su un particolare che, dopo aver letto Marina Warner, trovo importantissimo, ovvero la percezione di artificialità durante la lettura. Sarah sostiene che non ci sia niente di peggio di leggere un romanzo storico e percepire che alcune informazioni sono state inserite dall’autore appositamente per compiacersi, per pavoneggiarsi. Lo stesso vale per i dettagli, continua l’autrice, che devono essere pertinenti… altrimenti la percezione di artificialità spezza l’incantesimo sul lettore (aggiungo io!).
Dalle interviste è chiaro il modo di procedere di Sarah Waters: l’idea che emerge è quella di una scrittrice che si lascia trascinare da ciò che scrive, senza aver già deciso tutto prima. Racconta anche la sua giornata-tipo come scrittrice… che ho trovato un po’ troppo disciplinata (me l’aspettavo diversa): siede alla sua scrivania tutti i giorni imponendosi un numero minimo di parole (1000) da scrivere prima di alzarsi.
L’informazione che ho trovato più interessante è il libro che l’ha ispirata a diventare una scrittrice: Wideacre di Philippa Gregory (che è anche l’autrice del libro da cui è stato tratto il film L’altra donna del re con Scarlett Johansson e Natalie Portman). L’influsso di questo romanzo pare essere stato enorme, è quello che l’ha spinta ad incuriorisi per il genere del romanzo storico, a seguire un dottorato sul romanzo lesbo-storico e, infine, ad iniziare a scrivere.
Carica di impressioni positive, mi armo e parto di gran carriera verso la libreria, dove conto di trovare diversi libri della Waters, visto che sono stati pubblicati dalla TEA e che hanno avuto un discreto successo. La fortuna mi sorride e torno a casa con Affinità, Turno di notte e L’ospite. Ho intenzione di leggerli proprio così, in quest’ordine, sia per una questione di correttezza cronologica che per una curiosità personale sulle tematiche lesbo di ambientazione vittoriana delle prime opere.
P.S.: Già che c’ero mi sono procurata anche il film ispirato al libro.
SARAH WATERS
Sarah Waters was born in Wales, but lives in a Victorian flat in London. She’s often ranked as “lesbo writer”, but she’s a lot more than that. She has proved it with her latest novels which are no longer lesbo and deal with stories told from a male point of view.
She has written five novels, the first one is Tipping the Velvet -1998- which was a great success. Three of her novels are set during the Victorian Age (which I ADORE!), while the latest in the 40’s. Some of them have been made into films from BBC, others have already turned into film projects.
I visited her official website, which is exactly of the kind I like: simple and with a rationale, very clear but also full of information and materials. The ‘Extras’ section, in particular, è really useful to get virtually close to the author. There’s a Gallery with pictures from the sets of the films. There's a section with interviews, where you can really get Sarah Waters’s spirit. And then there’s a video section where you can watch the author as she talks about her books: watching the first interview I got the idea of a confident person. She talks about literature and history as if she hadn’t done anything else in her life. Physically, I would say she’s ‘pixie-like’, probably because she’s got a little build but also for her short hair -and a little bit spiky- and sharp eyes.
She is often asked, during the interviews, whether she would write a book set today and she usually says no, because she loves historical settings and the accurate research before starting a book is probably what she likes the most about being a writer. She also talks about the feeling of artificiality, which I can fully grasp after reading Marina Warner. Ms Waters says that there’s nothing worse than reading a historical novel and have the sensation that some information have been put down by the author only for complacency. She thinks the same for details, which must be relevant… otherwise… if the reader feels artificiality the spell is broken.
It is very clear from the interviews how Sarah Waters proceeds when she starts a novel: I had the idea of a writer who lets herself be guided by what she’s writing. She also tells about her routine as a writer… which is really governed by discipline (I didn’t think so): every day she sits at her desk with a minimum amount of words in mind -1000- before leaving the desk.
She also talks about the book that inspired her to become a writer: Wideacre by Philippa Gregory. This book had a great impact on her, as it made her take a great interest for historical novels and then follow a Ph.D. course on the lesbo-historical novel… which finally led her to writing.
Armed with positive impressions, I left for the bookshop where I expected to find some books by Ms Waters, since they have had a great success… and I’ve come back home with Affinity, The Night Watch and The Little Stranger. That’s exactly the order in which I’ll read them, both because it’s their chronological order and because I’m looking forward to soak up the Victorian atmosphere of her first books.
Sarah Waters was born in Wales, but lives in a Victorian flat in London. She’s often ranked as “lesbo writer”, but she’s a lot more than that. She has proved it with her latest novels which are no longer lesbo and deal with stories told from a male point of view.
She has written five novels, the first one is Tipping the Velvet -1998- which was a great success. Three of her novels are set during the Victorian Age (which I ADORE!), while the latest in the 40’s. Some of them have been made into films from BBC, others have already turned into film projects.
I visited her official website, which is exactly of the kind I like: simple and with a rationale, very clear but also full of information and materials. The ‘Extras’ section, in particular, è really useful to get virtually close to the author. There’s a Gallery with pictures from the sets of the films. There's a section with interviews, where you can really get Sarah Waters’s spirit. And then there’s a video section where you can watch the author as she talks about her books: watching the first interview I got the idea of a confident person. She talks about literature and history as if she hadn’t done anything else in her life. Physically, I would say she’s ‘pixie-like’, probably because she’s got a little build but also for her short hair -and a little bit spiky- and sharp eyes.
She is often asked, during the interviews, whether she would write a book set today and she usually says no, because she loves historical settings and the accurate research before starting a book is probably what she likes the most about being a writer. She also talks about the feeling of artificiality, which I can fully grasp after reading Marina Warner. Ms Waters says that there’s nothing worse than reading a historical novel and have the sensation that some information have been put down by the author only for complacency. She thinks the same for details, which must be relevant… otherwise… if the reader feels artificiality the spell is broken.
It is very clear from the interviews how Sarah Waters proceeds when she starts a novel: I had the idea of a writer who lets herself be guided by what she’s writing. She also tells about her routine as a writer… which is really governed by discipline (I didn’t think so): every day she sits at her desk with a minimum amount of words in mind -1000- before leaving the desk.
She also talks about the book that inspired her to become a writer: Wideacre by Philippa Gregory. This book had a great impact on her, as it made her take a great interest for historical novels and then follow a Ph.D. course on the lesbo-historical novel… which finally led her to writing.
Armed with positive impressions, I left for the bookshop where I expected to find some books by Ms Waters, since they have had a great success… and I’ve come back home with Affinity, The Night Watch and The Little Stranger. That’s exactly the order in which I’ll read them, both because it’s their chronological order and because I’m looking forward to soak up the Victorian atmosphere of her first books.
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