Hey,
In addition to Thanksgiving, November is also known for NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month. Here’s a non-consequential spoiler; I suck at NaNoWriMo. The goal is to write at least 50,000 words in thirty days. Many people do it, I’m just not one of them. But that’s ok, just so long as the work gets done in the end. I’m making small (but consistent) progress toward the next book. The characters are taking shape and I’m getting deeper into the weeds.
Spoilers Ahead!
You’ve been so warned…
Let’s start here:
If the Thurman’s each represent a specific deadly sin, the Manor represents the bigger picture. The house looks ok on the surface, but it’s not right on the inside. The halls curve imperceptibly and “lead you where you don’t intend to go”. It’s all bent at impossible angles. At a glance the house looks one way, but it changes and shifts. Nothing is square or straight.
One day I was having an early morning breakfast meeting with my editor, talking about ways to add layers to the story. I don’t recall how the hallways came up - doesn’t really matter. The point we were discussing was how Nathan found the halls confusing. Elisabeth seemed to navigate with ease. She knows all the turns to make, never seems to second guess herself. My editor just threw it out there. “What if Elisabeth gets lost in the halls at the end?”
The scene hadn’t been there before. That draft had a quick transition from the attempted murder of Nathan to the final confrontation in the house. I think it’s better the way it ended up. Elisabeth was stripped of her confidence, brought to the edge of sanity, seemingly unaware of the gun barrel pointed toward her head. Her finger is resting on the trigger. Elisabeth has no idea how close to death she really is. She’s not just lost in the house now - she’s being toyed with.
“...the hallways themselves had a strange quality to them, as if they led you where you did not intend to go.”
This section always stood out to me. Not necessarily because it’s so artistic or beautifully constructed. It has nothing to do with grammar. I like it because it sums up the theme. We can go about our day to day lives thinking we’re going a certain direction only to find ourselves somewhere unexpected. Maybe even somewhere dangerous.
Pride was her ultimate downfall. Pride in her ability, her intelligence. Elisabeth believed herself to be better than everyone in every way. It cost her everything. Like the Proverbs say, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”
In Elisabeth’s case, this ended up being quite literally true.
Hiram