"DTRSTARS" - читать интересную книгу автора (Whitney Phyllis A)

From John Brown's Raid, based on National Park Service reports by
William C. Everhart and Arthur L. Sullivan

Foreword:

BEFORE I FINISH work on a current novel, I am alert- for the
setting and opening situation for my next book. However, with my novel
Star Flight winding toward its climactic scene, I had no idea where to
turn next. These days I limit myself to settings that are not too far
away from where I live, so I don't have the whole country to choose
from. By chance, Madeline Delgado, a friend of my daughter, suggested
Harpers Ferry, which is only a two-hour drive away. I wasn't especially
interested. To me. Harpers Ferry was only a dot on a map made famous
by John Brown, and his story had already been told many times. But
Madeline's enthusiasm for the beauty of the place (apparently shared by
Thomas Jefferson) caught my attention. So we set up the trip and my
daughter drove me north through the Shenandoah Valley.

The red buds and dogwood were in bright bloom, though they had already
had their day in Charlottesville. The anticipation of a new "adventure"
was strong, and I wasn't disappointed. Before I had spent an hour in
Harpers Ferry, I knew how much I had to learn about John Brown, and how
exciting the details of his story are in the place where it all
happened. I explored the small area--unlike any setting I had written
about--and came home with armloads of books, maps, and pictures. I
still had no idea where any of this was going to take me, but then
something happened that has never happened to me before.

I dreamed the opening for Daughter of the Stars. The details were vivid
and the dream stayed with me. I had no idea what the strange scene in
the dream meant, but I knew it would be central to my story.

I've written this into my opening paragraphs under the heading of
"History." The novel takes place more than a hundred years later.

As always, strangers who became friends helped me find my way. Linda
Rago was in charge of the Historical Society's bookstore on the day when
we walked in from Shenandoah Street. She filled a shopping bag for me
with books and pamphlets, maps and pictures; she invited us to visit her
beautiful house, which had survived the fighting and still stands as it
has since before the Civil War. Linda's delightful book, Dooryard
Herbs, gave me the inspiration for the herb garden in the story.

It was Linda who arranged for us to visit Philip Stryker and Pierre
Dostert in their remarkable, early-twentieth-century house.

Thank you, Phil and Pierre, for your hospitality and interest, and for
not minding when I gave away your house to a character in my novel.

Nancy Manuel, Director of the Bolivar-Harpers Ferry Public Library,