Karen’s answer to “Why did you feel it necessary to glorify immorality and seduction in your book: Liar, Soldier, Temp…” > Likes and Comments
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I realize that on the Bible. But you didn’t condemn it, you glorified it. But I still enjoyed the book.
It seems we have different definitions of both “glorify” and "immorality." To me, glorifying means celebrating, not reporting events from the historical record. And the only truly immoral thing happening in LIAR TEMPTRESS SOLDIER SPY is the enslavement of Black Americans.
That said, I’ve always been keen to examine how women operated in the world throughout history (as evidenced by all of my books). Obviously, during the mid-19th century, women were not considered to be full citizens. They could not vote, they could not enlist in the military, they could not hold positions of power, and—with very few exceptions—they were not included in public discourse at all. I am interested in all of the ways women fought against these restrictive mores. I’m interested in how they harnessed whatever power they had to make their voices be heard. I’m interested in how they were often able to outwit the very men who excluded them from public life. Most of all, I’m interested in the perspectives of people who are unrepresented/underrepresented in historical accounts because their experiences were deemed unimportant. I never read about Elizabeth Van Lew or Mary Bowser in my assigned history books—did you? The fact that those two are not household names like Grant or Lee is a travesty, and it’s what inspired me to write the book in the first place.
Whew! I didn’t mean to turn this response into a book of its own. I’m very glad that you enjoyed LIAR, and I truly appreciate engaging with you.
Thanks again, very much.
Abbott
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ClaraBelle
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Aug 21, 2020 02:27AM
I realize that on the Bible. But you didn’t condemn it, you glorified it. But I still enjoyed the book.
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It seems we have different definitions of both “glorify” and "immorality." To me, glorifying means celebrating, not reporting events from the historical record. And the only truly immoral thing happening in LIAR TEMPTRESS SOLDIER SPY is the enslavement of Black Americans. That said, I’ve always been keen to examine how women operated in the world throughout history (as evidenced by all of my books). Obviously, during the mid-19th century, women were not considered to be full citizens. They could not vote, they could not enlist in the military, they could not hold positions of power, and—with very few exceptions—they were not included in public discourse at all. I am interested in all of the ways women fought against these restrictive mores. I’m interested in how they harnessed whatever power they had to make their voices be heard. I’m interested in how they were often able to outwit the very men who excluded them from public life. Most of all, I’m interested in the perspectives of people who are unrepresented/underrepresented in historical accounts because their experiences were deemed unimportant. I never read about Elizabeth Van Lew or Mary Bowser in my assigned history books—did you? The fact that those two are not household names like Grant or Lee is a travesty, and it’s what inspired me to write the book in the first place.
Whew! I didn’t mean to turn this response into a book of its own. I’m very glad that you enjoyed LIAR, and I truly appreciate engaging with you.
Thanks again, very much.
Abbott
