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I came to write The Saint’s Mistress via a trail of books.
At the library one April night in 2006, a book called The Well-Educated Mind caught my eye. The Well-Educated Mind recommended Saint Augustine’s Confessions as the first example of a modern autobiography. I was intrigued by that, but a little daunted by the prospect of a book written in the 5th century by an early Father of the Church.
A few months later, again at the library, I happened to notice a short biography of Augustine by Garry Wills. I remembered my interest in the Confessions and thought this short, modern book might be a way to ease myself into Augustine. It was in the Wills book that I discovered Leona – or, more accurately, the faint, ancient scent of her.
Wills wrote a little of Augustine’s beloved, whom he mentions briefly, but never names, in his Confessions. I learned that this unnamed woman had been Augustine’s mistress of many years, and that they had had a child together who died as a young man. Wow, I thought, what must her life have been like? Then: Hmmmm, what WOULD it have been like? And so a flame was lit.
As I did my historical research for the book, I found many surprising similarities between life in the late-Roman/early-Christian era, and our own time. But one big difference was the literacy rate. A working-class girl like the character I ultimately named Leona would almost certainly have been illiterate. And yet she was the mistress of one of the most brilliant men of the early Christian era – and not just a fling, but a long-term companion of more than a decade. I felt that the great Augustine deserved an intelligent, strong, interesting partner, and once I created that partner, I felt that she deserved to be capable of two of the activities that have meant the most to me all my life: reading and writing. So I made her desire for literacy one of the things that brought her together with Aurelius Augustine.
I’ve been a passionate reader from the time I could hold a book in my hands and “read” to myself the words I’d memorized from my mother’s reading to me, and a passionate writer almost since I could hold a pencil in my hand. At the age of 2, I earned the nickname Suitcase Simpson, for the little suitcase of books that I carried with me everywhere. Today, our house and yard are pretty much designed around reading. The most prominent furnishings in our living room are the set of bookshelves on either side of the made-for-reading window seat. The front porch features a made-for-reading swing, and the back yard features a made-for-reading hammock.
Until the past few years, my writing was confined to a daily journal that I’ve kept faithfully since I was 11. But with children raised and retirement approaching, my desire to write for publication was re-awakened just about the time I discovered Leona on that trail of books. I have several short stories currently in the works, as well as two more novel ideas that I’m exploring. Whatever I do next, the world of books will always be an important part of my identity. Reading and writing are far from trivial pursuits or mere hobbies. I can’t help thinking that we readers are fuller human beings that non-readers, that as a result of our reading we have a deeper intuitive understanding of ourselves and a stronger ability to put ourselves in someone else’s place. I can’t think of many qualities the world needs more than those right now.
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