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An interview with author Joanna Scott<br />
<strong>POST</strong>: This novel weaves together many elements: travel, cultural and<br />
family history, mystery, and a detective-like search for truth. Was there<br />
a genesis for this creative work?<br />
JS: You’ve identified the central set of concerns in the book. In 1905,<br />
my great-grandfather disappeared at sea off the coast of Greece. Since<br />
then, the mystery of his disappearance has been a source of wonder<br />
and rumor in my family. I didn’t think I’d ever figure out what really<br />
happened to Armand de Potter. Then, about five years ago, I opened<br />
an old steamer trunk that my mother had in her basement and<br />
discovered a collection of materials that included travel brochures and<br />
handwritten journals, old photograph albums and magic lantern slides<br />
showing street scenes and monuments from around the world, legal<br />
documents, and a set of diaries that my great-grandmother had kept<br />
throughout her life. Suddenly I had at least a partial answer to the<br />
mystery of Armand de Potter. Important questions remained, though.<br />
To answer these, I created a fictional counterpart to historical truth. I<br />
found myself thinking like a detective as I set out to bring all the pieces<br />
of this puzzle together.<br />
<strong>POST</strong>: The details the narrator provides are so precise and concrete.<br />
What was the research process like to accomplish this?<br />
JS: I treat myself to different modes of research to complement the<br />
creative work of writing. In this case, I read historical sources for<br />
information about the period, and I traveled to some of the actual<br />
places where the fiction is set. I even sailed on a small Greek cruise ship<br />
from Marseille to Istanbul in an effort to see what Armand de Potter<br />
saw on his final voyage.<br />
—Brian Wood