Campaign for the American Reader: Pg. 69: "The Vanishing Point"

Mary Sharratt is an American writer currently living in England.

Her latest book, The Vanishing Point, is a literary novel of dark suspense set in the Colonial Chesapeake.

She generously put her book to the "page 69 test" and reported the following:

Page 69 of The Vanishing Point shows the central character, Hannah Powers, in transit. The year is 1692. She has left her native England, crossed the water to Maryland, and traveled slowly up the Chesapeake, en route to join her sister who lives on a backwater homestead. In this scene, Hannah has been invited to spend the night at the home of a prosperous tobacco planter. After her long and difficult journey, entering this wealthy household feels like stepping inside some magical otherworld:

They brought out platters of pheasant, oysters, roast pork and beef, and sweetmeats. The smell of the food alone nearly undid Hannah. This feast on the remote plantation seemed fabulous, like Joan’s tale of the weary traveler who stumbled into the faery palace. If she blundered, the illusion would shatter. The fine victuals would turn into a pile of dry leaves and empty acorn cups.

Hannah’s sense of being out of her depth does not end here.

Hannah slept in a narrow chamber with the wet nurse and the little boy.

In the pitch-dark she awoke to the sound of foot-steps on creaking floorboards, strange noises, dove-like cooing. The wet nurse muttered in her sleep and rolled over while Hannah froze, rigid on her pallet. Her skin burned as she listened to muffled laughter. There was a voice she distinctly recognized as Mr. Banham’s, then Mr. Gardiner’s. A woman sighed like a pigeon. Hannah thought of Mrs. Gardiner’s breasts, trussed up and on display for the men. Her pregnant belly. A whimpering voice murmured unintelligible words.

A strand of her own hair caught in Hannah’s mouth like a bit. She thought of [her sister] May and her lovers, then of her own maidenhood, her ignorance.

Is this scene typical of the rest of the book? Not really, although it does capture the loneliness, longing, and bewilderment that inform Hannah’s character and the choices she will soon be driven to make.

Readers might be taken aback by the glimpse into 17th century life presented here. Too often we base our image of early Americans on the New England Puritan model, but Maryland and Virginia were a world apart; the licentiousness described in this scene was not atypical. My inspiration for this passage came from the diaries of William Byrd II (1674-1744), a Virginian who left a graphic record of his libertine excesses.

Many thanks to Mary for the input.

Read an excerpt from The Vanishing Point.

Among the praise for the novel:

Wow. Just wow. This is exactly what historical fiction should be: full of vivid, vibrant characters who make you feel what they feel, hope what they hope and suffer what they suffer. This tale of two very different sisters who make their fortunes in the New World pulled me right in and made me lose all sense of time and place. Sensitively written and beautifully rendered, Sharratt has produced a true keeper.
--Sarah Weinman

Mary Sharratt's new novel, The Vanishing Point, is a page-turner, a mystery, a quietly feminist tale, and a richly researched historical novel with ever-unfolding plot twists. An author's note indicates that Sharratt, who also wrote Summit Avenue and The Real Minerva, spent 10 years researching the medicine and mores of the 17th century, and her expertise is evident. Her hand is sure as she guides us through the story, sprinkling confident and casual references to birth control (did you know that honey kills sperm?), and healing herbs, and the Diggers and Levelers, English rebel groups who sought an end to feudal ways.
--Laurie Hertzel, Minnesota Magazine

The Vanishing Point has the hallmarks of a successful historical novel -- it's engaging, authentic in its period details, sexy when it needs to be, and is populated with characters the reader cares about.
--David Abrams, January Magazine

[The Vanishing Point] is an intelligent and gripping book that takes us to the New World of outcasts --- indentured servants, mail-order brides, failed tobacco planters, slaves --- rather than the more prosperous early Americans we know from conventional historical accounts. Mary Sharratt has a passion for her story, and it shows.
--Kathy Weissman, Bookreporter.com

Read a profile of Mary on NakedAuthors.com, an interview with Mary at Literary Mama, and a conversation with Mary.

Her acclaimed first novel, Summit Avenue, is now in its third printing. Her second novel, The Real Minerva, explores the theme of female outlaws in a 1920s Minnesota town.