There was an understandably big crowd at The Piano last night for A. N. Wilson in conversation with Christopher Moore. Part of the WORD Christchurch Autumn Season, we were treated to insights about the eminent novelist and biographer's new and upcoming works, as well as his distinguished career.
As you can see, I was quite a long way back!
Wilson - or Andrew as I think we're allowed to call him - was inspired to write biography after reading Lytton Strachey's Eminent Victorians and wanting to write as well as him. While he is generally commissioned to write biographies, he chose to write about the lives of Leo Tolstoy and Walter Scott. Scott was pretty much the father of historical fiction, with his tales of the Scottish Highlands allowing people to imagine what it was like to live in the past instead of simply regurgitating facts.
One of the things that fascinated Andrew about Tolstoy was the fact that while we know him as a great novelist, in Russia he was more known for his political beliefs - including his idea of passive anarchy which went to to inspire people like Gandhi. However, after digging into Tolstoy's domestic sphere he concludes that:
he would not like to be Mrs Tolstoy.
Andrew's latest novel is Resolution, about the German botanist Georg Forster who travelled with Captain Cook on his second voyage and later became a revolutionary in France. Interestingly, in Communist East Germany Forster was seen as a champion of class struggle and became a national hero. It's great to hear about different and interesting people and I'm looking forward to reading this book.
An obvious favourite of Andrew's is Queen Victoria who he describes as "taking being an embarrassing mother to new heights". However, he is now researching Prince Albert, who is quite a different kettle of fish. Indeed, Andrew describes him as being
deeply strange and complicated.
He also believes that although Victoria was madly in love with Albert, he never fell in love with her and controlled her to a great degree. Look out for this biography in 2019, as its going to be fascinating!
AN Wilson is possibly the best-dressed author we've ever had. So snappy. pic.twitter.com/2xTCPb58yY
— WORDChristchurch (@WORDChCh) May 15, 2017
Andrew obviously has a passion for the people he writes about and it was fabulous to have the opportunity to listen to his great storytelling here in Christchurch - which, he reminded us, is very much a Victorian city.
- More about A.N. Wilson: Bringing history to life: Monday 15 May
- Read Helen's post A.N. Wilson at the WORD Christchurch Autumn Season
- Find books by A. N. Wilson in our collection.
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