DEAR READER: The inspiration behind the book
The real Edith Bond (left) and her twin sister Violet Bond (right) at sixteen years old.
When my publisher asked me if I’d like to include a Galley Letter for early readers in the Advanced Reading Copies of The Second Death of Edie and Violet Bond, I jumped at the opportunity.
The final copy of the book will include a more detailed author’s note about the real-life historical inspirations behind this book (hint: there are many, and they are fascinating!) but I’m excited to share this letter for now, which talks a little about the real-life Edie and Violet Bond as well as the many clever young mediums vital to the Spiritualist movement of the nineteenth century.
Galley Letter
Dear Reader,
This book was inspired by my great-grandmother Edie Bond and her twin sister, Violet.
My fascination with these sisters began with a photograph—a posed studio portrait of them as teenagers—that lived on a book- shelf in my childhood home. I found it strangely haunting. Every time I passed the photo, I paused to make eye contact with the sisters, convinced there was something they wanted me to know.
Later, I discovered that Edie and Violet were avid Spiritualists who regularly conducted séances. When my research into the Spiritualist movement of the nineteenth century revealed the fascinating fact that the ideal spirit medium at the time was an uneducated adolescent girl with very few thoughts of her own (more room for spirits to move around in those empty female heads!), I knew at once this was the story Edie and Violet wanted me to write. Because a curious thing happened when these spirit mediums traveled the country and gave trance lectures: The spirits they channeled began to express increasingly radical views.
I set out to write a story filled with clever young women who are navigating a world that places little stock on the female mind. A story filled with mystery, chilling otherworldly forces, human monsters, and a handsome, sharp-eyed reporter with objectively great hair. Most of all, it’s a story about two sisters who share a bond that is tested, and who must fight to find their place in the world.
When the real-life Edie and Violet were grown and had families of their own, they built a passageway connecting their homes. To me, that passageway says everything about the enduring love they shared. I think Edie and Violet would have enjoyed the adventure I wrote for them, and I’m thrilled to be sharing it with you.
Sincerely,
Amanda Glaze