Threading the Gothic Throughout: The Shadow Key by Susan Stokes-Chapman
BY LISA REDMOND
Susan Stokes-Chapman’s second novel The Shadow Key (Harper, September 2024) is the story of Henry Talbot, a young doctor dismissed from his post and forced to take a job in the Welsh countryside. Here the people seem strange and unfriendly, and myth and magic seem to be part of everyday life. His guide in this strange and wild-seeming place is his employer’s niece. Linette Tresilian is a woman who seems to straddle two worlds, at ease as the mistress of Plas Helyg and as a friend to the local people, his translator both for the Welsh language and the local customs and beliefs.
I asked the author about her inspiration and research for the book, in particular the mythology and occult which is threaded through the story. ‘I don’t know quite what it is that draws me to mythology, except to say this is something I have always been drawn to since I was a child, whether that was through reading books with some kind of fantastical element, or watching a movie with the same theme. I remember as a little girl being enraptured by films such as The Last Unicorn (1982), The Never Ending Story (1984), Legend (1985) and The Worst Witch (1986) – by the age of ten I was dreaming up story ideas and by thirteen writing them down on scraps of paper which ranged from magical elves to dastardly vampires.
‘Ultimately it was fantastical worlds which captured my imagination from the very first, and though I am not a fantasy writer (preferring the grounding realism of historical fiction), my fascination of the ‘unknown’ and ‘otherworld’ has always stayed with me, hence why you see mythology play such an important role in my novels…
‘I think the history of the occult is incredibly fascinating, although I wouldn’t say it was an area of passionate interest! I am quite superstitious, and to get heavily involved would, I think, be a risk; during my research I listened to a summoning chant to understand how best to incorporate one into the novel, but I soon turned it off as I had no desire to inadvertently conjure something! Still, it gave me an interesting insight into how others perceived the occult, and I was led down some really compelling routes of research.’
Place plays a significant role in the novel: the big house, the village and the woods are all major players in the story and the echoes of the 18th-century gothic novel can be felt throughout. ‘Throwing as many gothic tropes as I could into The Shadow Key was a deliberate decision, and in many ways I was attempting to replicate the gothic novels of the period such as Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Ontranto (1764), Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) and Matthew Lewis’ The Monk (1796), a masterpiece of gothic fiction and the first horror novel in English literature. Of course, it would be remiss of me not to mention Jane Eyre, and during the early drafts where I was still writing one particular mythical Welsh beast into the narrative (it later got cut), I watched the BBC’s 2002 adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles on repeat! I suspect I shall always employ ‘the gothic’ in all my novels in some form or other as it’s simply a mode of storytelling I genuinely enjoy!’
author Susan Stokes-Chapman
On the subject of writing plans and research Susan Stokes-Chapman says, ‘I feel I need to have an arsenal of research at my feet before I am ready to even put the first word to page. Typically, I will spend about three months researching. This often means reading up on secondary sources (e.g. non-fiction books on Welsh history and medicine), as well as looking through primary texts which could be found in the period in which I’m writing (in this case, Thomas Pennant’s A Tour in Wales, originally published in two volumes; 1778 and 1781). I also like to visit venues wherever possible to get a true sense of place. For The Shadow Key I visited a copper and a slate mine, as some scenes are set in a mine, which really helped me imagine what it would have been like down one – water dripping from the low ceilings, the sharp cold, the claustrophobic dark … I think, when writing fiction, imagination can only take you so far.’
And as for what comes next for this author, she told me, ‘I am currently working on a third novel and a short story collection. The novel will be set in 1765 Prague and is a story of fate and reckoning and love and ambition, all revolving around the ancient city’s astronomical clock Orloj, which I first saw on a trip to Prague in 2013. I do intend there to be elements of the gothic and to feature some Czech folklore, but how far I will lean into these I cannot yet say as I’m still in the very early days of the writing process. The short story collection is something a little different for me – titled The Twelve Days of Christmas, it is a collection of seasonally linked vignettes inspired by the Christmas carol of the same name (the lyrics were originally written in 1780), and a nod to my admiration for Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer, with whom my love of the Georgians first started. It’s not Gothic at all – this is a lighthearted Regency romp of a book meant to bring people some nostalgic festive cheer, and I’m really excited to be working on it.’
About the contributor: Lisa Redmond blogs at The Madwoman in the Attic about women writers and historical fiction. She is currently working on a novel based on the 17th-century Scottish witch trials.
