Another long-lost cousin for Jane?

Writer Margot Livesey openly confesses to "never having freed herself from the characteristics of the Victorian novel". Here's what also interests us about her:

Based mostly in Boston, Livesey, 52, also spends time in London and her native Scotland. She grew up reading novels such as Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights and Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, and they stuck with her. The Victorians seemed to her especially adept at writing vividly of both what happens and to whom it happens — those old standbys of plot and character.

“There are fictional characters I think of as cousins or friends,” she says, citing Jane Eyre, “which I probably first read when I was 10, and have re-read every decade since then. I remain full of admiration for how Bronte tells her story. As a young writer I became very interested in what plot can do for characters and readers. I realized the appeal, in best sellers and popular books, is what happens.”

Welcome to the club, Ms Livesey! :)

Categories: In_the_News, Jane_Eyre, Charlotte_Brontë