The secret of writing, I came to think, was that there is no secret: only a life’s long, patient process of exploration. from Dust and Light by Andrea Barrett

I first read Andrea Barrett when Ship Fever was published. I have been reading her ever since. I find her subjects fascinating, enjoy her use of science and natural history, and love her storytelling. Her new book reveals her process of using history in her work, how she finds the ah-ha moment of entry. She includes examples, sharing in detail the history behind her fiction and the story it inspired.

“A good novel or story or poem tries to convey a different kind of knowledge,” Barrett explains; “and to operate on the reader in a different way, through the emotions and the senses.” It is something that fact and research alone can’t achieve. “Without the transforming force of the imagination, the result is only information.”

In the long lists of writers she mentions working in biographical and historical fiction are many I have read and consider favorites. It is a genre I discovered in more recent decades.

Barrett shares that her writing career began in failure as she “tried to figure out who I was and what I might be good and might want to do.” And she stresses the importance of revision: she advises, “…put everything in; then take most of it out”.

I found my Sunday Sentence in this book: “…reading and writing are two of the ways we make sense of our mysterious, sometimes terrible world.” One of her students commented that Barrett was was “one of the best and most honest writing teachers.”

This book offers much to writers, but as a reader, I also found it fascinating.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley.

This book opened my eyes to the concept of historical fiction. As a contemporary fiction writer, historical fiction has always seemed daunting and for people who know much more than I do. It was interesting to read Barrett's approach and her examples of other historical fiction writers. It was quite the education, and seems a lot more relatable. People and emotions are the same no matter what century you're living in. Wise book.
Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and offer my honest review.

I enjoyed the galley so much, I have pre-ordered the book when it publishes. I can pay no higher compliment,