What begins with a well-meant deception spirals out of control in Diane Wald’s new book, “The Bayrose Files” (Regal House, May 27). The story follows ambitious journalist Violet Maris, who is determined to write a captivating exposé on a prestigious writers’ colony in 1980s Provincetown. She even fakes her application using her friend’s short stories. Violet's promising start at the colony takes a dark turn when her friend, the true author of the stories, dies while she’s in the middle of her residency.
In this interview, Diane talks about the inspiration behind the story, developing Violet’s character and how writing this novella compares to her work in poetry.
What went into crafting this story?
“The Bayrose Files” is the result of many years of pondering how I could write about my years in Provincetown (two in an artists’ colony, and one as a motel manager) without making it autobiographical or judgmental or quaint or hackneyed. After all, the place often evokes automatic reactions from people, especially if they’ve never been there. One day it finally came to me that a completely fictional story filled with interesting characters and a touch of suspense (will the main character be able to pull off her “terrible thing?”) was the way to go. Then the fun began!
The character of Violet Maris is really interesting. How did she come to be?
Oh, Violet, how I love her, that crazy girl! I’ve always been intrigued by people who have a hard time with life challenges that other easily manage. At 26, Violet somehow hadn’t yet learned how to imagine what her actions might mean in the future for herself and others. She was focused and energized, but not contemplative. Violet possesses the unusual ability to sense when something important is about to happen through the temperature of objects she touches, but she struggles to realize what those events might be. The lessons she learns are hard.
How does the loss of Violet’s friend affect her, especially as she’s using their stories to get into this writer’s colony?
Violet and Spencer shared a very deep friendship, and his well-meaning suggestion that she pass off his stories as her own allows her to rush forward without thinking things through. His death shocks her so profoundly that she instantly spills the secret she’s kept so diligently through several months of her fellowship. The loss of her dear confidant is crushing and, in a single instant, her world of illusion disintegrates, forcing her to face several significant situations that she’d rushed recklessly into before.
What inspired the story?
In addition to what I described in my first answer regarding Provincetown, I’ve always wanted to write about the conundrum of artistic ambition. Are there any “pure” artists, really, and, if so, what makes them that way? I also wanted to explore the idea of forgiveness. Who, if anyone, will forgive Violet’s deception, and will she forgive herself?
Do you find any parallels between poetry and novel-writing?
Absolutely. First of all, you have to be true to yourself and your own style. For me, that means putting things down plainly on the page, the way they naturally come out of me. I like Emily Dickinson and Henry James, but it would be folly for me to copy their styles. What brings any kind of writing alive for me is the marriage of imagery and emotion. And I try to bring the same appreciation for language into my fiction that I do with my poetry. A beautiful sentence can be poetic and still be easy to digest.
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