I Died for Beauty by Amanda Flower is the last Emily Dickinson book of the series. Not They Who Soar is the second book of the Katharine Wright series.
I Died for Beautyhas Emily Dickinson and her maid Willa investigating a fire in
Amherst, 1857. As Amherst families attempt to keep their homes warm, fears of fire abound because of one of the worst winters in New England’s history. In the Irish community a young couple is killed in a fire, leaving behind their young daughter, Norah. Emily and Willa will leave no stone unturned in their quest to find out was the fire an accident or murder.
Not They Who Soar has Katharine Wright deciding to attend the World’s Fair in St. Louis. She will be staying with her best friend Maragret. Both are having a fun time until Katharine realizes that a woman is in distress and has been attacked. Closer inspection finds that the woman has been murdered. The women are giddy with excitement, despite warnings from Katharine’s old family friend, poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, to be careful of the fair’s less seemly side. Because she cannot get the woman’s face out of her mind Katharine is determined to find out what really happened, realizing that it is somehow connected to the first in flight competition.
Both books are equalizing tantalizing, with the ingenious ways Amanda Flower blends a mystery murder with the real-life characters of Emily and Katharine. A bonus is how the history, real events, and real people were scattered throughout the plot, adding to the story.
Elise Cooper: In I Died for Beauty, how did you get the idea for the story?
Amanda Flower: I wanted to continue the timeframe of the 1850s before the Civil War because that is when she was most active. In my research I found out about the cold storm. I also found that there was a big Irish community in Amherst.
EC: What was the role of the fire?
AF: People tried to stay warm and then a fire could easily start. The community lived very close together which was a hotbed for fires. The killer used the fire to cover up a murder and was hoping people would let it go because it was just an Irish family that died. Of course, Emily would not let it go. I also wanted to contrast the freezing weather and the fires, cold and hot.
EC: Are the Katharine Wright books more about women’s rights and the Emily books more about the different classes?
AF: Definitely. The Katharine books have a timeline fifty years later, but the world is very different, post-Civil War and major industrialization. The rights for the middle class are just starting. During Emily’s time people were either lower class or upper class. For example, in the book Willa, Emily’s servant, peer investigator, and friend, was always introduced after her dog, Carlo. To her, the dog was equal to a person. She saw Carlo as a member of her family and Willa as her maid. Willa was more aware of her status in society than Emily.
EC: How would you describe Norah?
AF: Terrified having lost her parents in the fire. Feels invisible to the wealthy. She grabbed Willa’s heart who wanted to protect and care for her. She is now angry and frustrated. Willa bonds with this little girl because she also knows what it is like to lose family.
EC: Why this quote about Emily, her words “are to be interpreted as how the receiver wished”?
AF: Her poetry can be interpreted in various ways. She had feelings about what it meant but never explained themselves. Today, a poet might explain why they wrote it. Many 19th Century poets never interpreted but just solicited a reader response to it.
EC: In the book Not They Who Soar, the Katharine Wright book, how did you get the idea?
AF: Katharine wrote letters to her father when she was at the St. Louis World’s Fair. I thought how this could be a perfect place for a murder. Also, there was an aeronautics competition and Alberto Santos-Dumont, a real person, planned to fly a balloon when Katharine was there.
EC: Balloons versus planes?
AF: The Wright Brothers did not go to this competition because they did not think it was a fair competition. Balloons take off completely different and use hot air. They did not want to fly in front a lot of people because the patent was not approved.
EC: Speaking of women’s issues, Katharine went to the World’s Fair alone?
AF: Katharine wanted to go and went by herself. She was spunky. This was unheard of for a single woman to travel across cross country alone. Once there she stayed with her friend Maragret who got a bacterial infection from something she ate there, eventually dying.
EC: What was the role of Camilla Ortiz?
AF: She and her twin sister were fictional. She was a woman in a man’s world who was knowledgeable about flying. There was a handful at the time of female mechanics who worked on autos and airplanes. In the story, she dealt with a lot of sexism.
EC: What about the Temple of Mirth?
AF: This fun house was real. The scary clown head at the top was also real. I thought since it was creepy it made a good scene for a mystery. I described what it was really like but added the Tunnel of Love.
EC: Next books?
AF: The Emily series is finished. Newlyweds Can Be Knocked Off is my next book and it is the sixth and final Amish matchmaker, but the Amish Candy shop will continue. It will come out in January and is titled Truffle of Trouble where Aiden and Bailey get married. Of course someone is killed. Millie and Lois will be in the Candy Shop books because I do not want to lose them.
I will be either writing a Katharine or start a new series of American 1880s historical mysteries.
THANK YOU!!
