For a long time, Anne Fleming did not know how her novel, Curiosities (Knopf), would end, or if it would ever end.
Spoiler alert: it did end, and its author will give a reading from its pages in the next Valley Voices reading series, set for Wednesday, May 7, at the Vernon branch of the Okanagan Regional Library at 7 p.m.
Fleming's novel — recently shortlisted for the Giller Prize and longlisted for the Carol Shields Prize — begins with a fictional Anne and a “blue moon” moment of discovering five 17th-century manuscripts that tell the same strange story from vastly different viewpoints.
What follows is a tale of two small village children — Thomasina and Joan — surviving the plague alongside the lone adult, Old Nut, only to find their troubles mounting: accusations of witchcraft and dramatic sea voyages among them. While Joan becomes a maid and then companion to Lady Margaret, Thomasina takes the clothing of a boy on a ship and begins navigating life as a man named Tom.
Anne the amateur historian and Anne the writer discover how precarious a time it was to be a woman outlier at the time — as well as the incredible will and strength of these ‘misfits.’
“I wanted to show the characters stubbornly going on being themselves,” says Anne, a (newly) former UBC-Okanagan creative writing professor who brought some of her own experiences to her characters’ eyes, reactions and longings, such as:
“…an eagerness to learn to read, a desire to understand things I don’t currently understand, a love for the power of sail, a desire to be free of sex-based constraints of dress and activity and endeavour, the experience of having a female body and a masculine gender expression.”
But how would Tom and Joan fare in the face of all that — in 1600s England?
“For a long time I didn’t know where or how the story ended, or rather, I’d write towards a certain ending and be unhappy with it. There were small spates of thinking, ‘Maybe this is the novel I never finish.’”
But Anne the writer did finish Curiosities, and to wide acclaim, earning spots on the Globe and Mail and CBC Best Books of the Year lists. Fleming, who also writes short stories, poems and children’s books, will give a reading of Curiosities on May 7 at the Vernon branch of the Okanagan Regional Library — and members of the audience will also have a chance to read.
“A big part of what Valley Voices does is nurture our community of writers at all sorts of stages and genres, so we’re really looking forward to hosting our first open mic at this special event,” says Michelle Doege, a Valley Voices Reading Series volunteer.
Valley Voices Okanagan is a reading series that celebrates local writing and writers at all ages and stages of their craft. The series began in 2023 with readings in Vernon, Kelowna and Summerland that are filled with creative energy, joy and community (more information can be found at www.valleyvoicesokanagan.com).
Writers who would like to participate in the open mic portion of the evening should arrive 15 minutes early to sign up and be among eight readers total. Each of the eight readers can plan to read for three minutes.
Admission is by donation.
