Q&A: Kathleen Kaufman, Author of ‘The Entirely True Story of the Fantastical Mesmerist Nora Grey’

We chat with author Kathleen Kaufman about The Entirely True Story of the Fantastical Mesmerist Nora Grey, which follows a Scottish girl who crosses the veil to unlock a powerful connection within an infamous asylum, perfect for readers of Sarah Penner, Alice Hoffman, and Hester Fox.

Hi, Kathleen! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?

When I was little, I wanted to grow up to be a cat. I still think that’s a pretty good goal, though not entirely practical. I hitchhiked across Iceland, not because I was particularly adventurous, rather I kept missing my bus connections. I fished (badly) in the Amazon river and hiked through the rain forest. I’m pretty hard to scare but I will never not be terrified by the opening sequence of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. I love gothic, horror and Broadway musicals in equal measure. I teach high school and college English and have been accused of being overly enthusiastic about Macbeth, Octavia Butler, and The Twilight Zone. When I was twenty, I got a fake ID for the sole purpose of getting a library card and not paying the late fines.

When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?

I started writing stories in elementary school that starred all my classmates. For the record I went to a very small elementary school, so that kept the cast list relatively small. My fourth-grade teacher read every single one of them and let me read them to the class. I’ve been writing ever since. I was also an avid reader from a very early age, the school book fair was the best day of the year, and I spent most of high school holed up in the city library. Writing and reading was an escape for me, it still is. Consuming stories, and creating new ones is the only way I know to understand the world around me.

Quick lightning round! Tell us:

• The first book you ever remember reading: The Neverending Story by Michael Ende and I read it 1000x over and over and over and over.
• The one that made you want to become an author: same answer – for a kid who wanted to disappear into a book, this is a story about a kid who actually disappeared into a book and fought their way through a fantasy realm. It was a call to my sense as a writer that the stories in my head needed to come out.
• The one that you can’t stop thinking about: The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike lives rent free in my head. A couple trapped in a decaying apartment building surrounded by ghosts and demons. Single scariest book I have ever read.

Your latest novel, The Entirely True Story of the Fantastical Mesmerist Nora Grey, is out July 29^th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?

Historical, Magical, Illuminating, Heart-Wrenching, Triumphant

What can readers expect?

The Entirely True Story of the Fantastical Mesmerist Nora Grey is the story of a young woman in 1900, who becomes the greatest Spiritualist of her time told alongside the story of her grandmother, Lottie, who is imprisoned in an 1860’s Welsh mental asylum. Readers can expect a story of the rich tapestry of spiritualism, the politics of the movement, the tricks of the trade, and the significance it held for women in an age when their voices were silenced politically and socially. Lottie’s story highlights the abuses reaped against women in a system which was geared as a punitive and controlling mechanism for women who were outspoken and did not fit the social mould of the day. Early readers have used the term ‘feminine rage’ in reviews and commentary. I agree. Nora Grey is the voice of silenced women and it is a call to women then and now that it’s time to allow ourselves to be as angry as we feel.

Where did the inspiration for The Entirely True Story of the Fantastical Mesmerist Nora Grey  come from?

I recently became the caretaker of my family history – old photographs from the 1800’s, hand-scrawled family trees, logs of births and deaths. In all of this, I found the 1900 equivalent of my great-grandfather’s business card advertising his talents as a mesmerist and spiritual healer. Diving down the rabbit hole, I found out that this man I had grown up hearing stories about is the reason that I grew up in the United States and not Scotland. Great-Grandpa J.H. evidently touted his skills as a water diviner to one too many farmers in the lowlands back in the day and found himself run out of Scotland in the nick of time. Once in America, he kept up his work as a mesmerist, and spiritual healer. Lesson not learned, J.H. is reported as dying in a coal mine accident, however – pops up a few years later as a psychic medium.

Having grown up with stories about J.H., and how he was the most handsome, charming man you could ever lay eyes on, I was doubly intrigued to research all the twists and turns of his colourful life. I found the story of Nora Grey growing in my mind. All good speculative literature starts with a solid ‘What If’ – in this case, what if J.H. had been the real deal? What if he had actual talent in an age where the spiritualism movement created superstars and celebrity that makes our current obsession with fame pale in comparison? What if?

Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?

I love all the characters in Nora Grey, but I particularly loved writing Dorothy Kellings. Dorothy is the superstar of the Spiritualism Movement, modelled after many of the famous spiritualists of the day including the Fox Sisters and Madame Blavatsky. Dorothy forged her own path from a very young age and does not suffer a foul. She is outspoken, outrageous, and has few figs to give about what society thinks she should or should not be doing. I love her.

Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?

There are always challenges. In this case I found myself writing Nora Grey without any assurance that it would ever find a home. I had been working under contract for previous novels and Nora Grey was my step toward a wider audience, greater visibility. It was a bit like stepping off a cliff and hoping I’d grow wings on the way down. It was terrifying at times, but I had the constant support of my agent, Katelyn Dougherty, and then later the team at Kensington. It’s easy to get discouraged as a writer, to believe that the imposter police are going to knock at your door any moment and demand that you stop this foolishness and go do some laundry or something practical. The challenge is to keep doing it despite what all the little nagging monsters in your ear tell you at times. You can’t write with expectations, with a mind for what others will think of it or expect from your work. You have to write because the story has to be told, whether or not anyone reads it.

What’s next for you?

I am working on edits for my second book with Kensington – this is a Bell Island story, not connected to Nora Grey but in the same universe. It centers around a young Marine Biologist who is sent to Bell Island to study a mysterious and elusive breed of octopus in the North Atlantic. It is a story about magic, grief, and finding strength and love in a chosen family.

Lastly, what books have you enjoyed reading this year? Are there any you’re looking forward to picking up?

So many!

I just finished The Orphan Collector by Ellen Marie Wiseman, who has a new book: The Lies They Told, coming out on July 29^th. I had the honour of meeting her at the American Library Association conference and was mesmerized by The Orphan Collector – historical fiction about the Spanish Plague in Philadelphia. Heart-breaking, and brilliantly executed.  I absolutely cannot wait for her upcoming!

I also just finished Good Neighbours and A Better World by Sarah Langan. Langan channels that Shirley Jackson tenet of ‘the horror of everyday living’ so perfectly that you will never look at your friends and neighbours the same again.

I am just starting Riley Sager’s newest: With A Vengeance and love a good murder mystery, especially when it takes place on a train.

And I cannot wait to read Ruth Ware’s The Woman in Suite 11. I am such a Ruth Ware fan, her blend of mystery, character study, and tension are divine.

Will you be picking up The Entirely True Story of the Fantastical Mesmerist Nora Grey? Tell us in the comments below!