The island of Elba, a “perfect set” of two novels by Joanna Scott

Interview with the American writer

Exploring news about Napoleon and island of Elba, I found a very interesting article about this connection. It was about the book “Tourmaline” (Hachette Book Group, New York, 2003 but first edition in 2002) by the American writer Joanna Scott. Reading this book it was immediately evident the influence of the Elba and then I wrote to the writer, asking more informations and an interview.

Joanna Scott is Roswell Smith Burrows Professor of English at University of Rochester. The Manikin, one of her novels, is one of the three finalists for the 1997 Pulitzer Prize in fiction.

Here you can read the original interview with Joanna Scott.

“Like all bodies of land Elba would continue to change. Everything on Elba would change, except the minerals.”

This words you wrote in “Tourmaline” are very strong, is this your real impression of Elba? Tourmaline gives an idea of complexity and spontaneity at the same time, like the island of Elba and the human “life”?

Elba is a beautiful island, with great variety and history, and tourmaline is a beautiful, varied mineral. As a writer trying to create a meaningful experience for readers, I welcomed the rich metaphorical implications of tourmaline. The mineral serves as an elusive lure for Murray Murdoch. Its complexity reflects the complexity of his own life. He gets lost and confused in his pursuit of tourmaline. At the same time, in his struggle to understand himself and his purpose on the island, he nearly loses his mind.

Can I ask you which is the reason or the case of your choice of Elba as set of your novel “Tourmaline” and then of “Liberation” ?

For “Tourmaline,” the first of the two novels I set on Elba, I was intrigued that an island with such dramatically beautiful scenery served historically as a place of exile. […]