Envelope of a Letter
'Envelope of a Letter', Laura Dawn's first published novel, is now available from all good bookshops and online at Amazon, retailing at £9.99. Read on to discover more about the book and gain a direct insight from the author herself.
The Story - Laura's Thoughts
Laura's Thoughts
Can you truly fall in love with someone entirely through correspondence?
I'm not ashamed to admit I've never tried it! Depending on how susceptible to emotional attachment and how imaginative you are, I believe it is possible. I know that text messages and emails from people can build my affection for them in ways that only written words can - it is a lot easy to be frank, open and honest. I think if I was stuck in a room like Annette, with nothing else, I definitely could!
Is Rookery Castle a real location or a product of the imagination? What about your other locations?
If only Rookery Castle WERE real. I'd move there! I made all my locations up - they're probably a mixture of places I've seen, adapted and blended! Some of the architecture of the Royal Holloway University really rubbed off on me when I visited there. But I've yet to find the real Treeton, Rookery Castle or Eggly Hall.
Who is the true hero of your book? Indeed, is there a hero...?
I think I took a bit of a leaf out of Thackeray's book and went for a 'novel without a hero'. I'm not sure there are a hero and a heroine, and if there are, their relationship is very unconventional! If you see it as a tragic novel, Alex and Annette are the tragic hero and heroine; but then it's Alex and Anna who are the people who hide things. But as far as main protagonists go, Clemence is supposedly the hero; it all depends really, I guess, on who the audience cares the most for. The men will probably choose Elliott!
Your characterisation is extremely complex and ambivalent; no character can be unequivocally regarded as 'dark' or 'light'. Is there a deeper authorial intention behind creating characters (such as Anna) that are sometimes difficult to sympathise with?
Yes, I'm strongly of the opinion we all have our good and bad sides. Writing should really be a reflection of life, and so far I've never met an entirely pure or demonic person! I think it's important to realise that we all have our weaknesses.
The Story - Laura's Thoughts
