Welcome to Novel PASTimes! We are pleased you stopped by today.
Tell us something about where you live.
I live and work in the beautiful St. Anne’s Well Gardens of Bristol. This pleasure garden, once a healing springs, is a small haven in the midst of a bustling seashore town that actually contains—hidden away—an entire film production outlay. The old pump house has become the workshop of a brilliant producer, where he tints and cuts and splices film strips to create an illusion grander than his magic shows. Then, ifhttps://amzn.to/3Qc8xPJ one is brave enough to venture through the woods and up the hill, he would happen upon the most unexpected house made entirely of glass. That is where the films are set, on a rotating foundation, so that he might capture natural light from any angle, any time of the day.
I spend my days in that glass house, which grows quite warm in summer, pretending to be a fairy or a fair maiden. Then I spend my spare time buried in that pump room, splicing and tinting films with Smith and his wife. It’s a beautiful place to create, and I love it here.
I shouldn’t be telling you this part, but I have a history in this place. When I was a girl, this place was my haven. I came here for the stories from an old rose gardener, and for escape. I did not like my real life in those days, so I lived in a fantasy one at St. Anne’s.
Is there anything special about your name?
I chose the name Lily simply because the flower reminded me of what I’d like to become. Elegant, pure, and lovely. It’s the simplest name I’ve chosen so far, and it has stuck with me the longest. The name I was given, which I cannot divulge, was bestowed in honor of my grandmother. I rather like that, and I hope I can use that name again one day.
Who are the special people in your life?
I haven’t had anyone special in my life since Gordon Makepiece told me stories as a child. I suppose Gypsy Lee has been a boon to me and Mr. Smith, the illusionist, but that’s mostly because he needs me. And there’s something lovely about being needed.
However—and you’ll have to keep this quiet—there’s a man. He appeared in the gardens one night for a show, and I all but kidnapped him. I pulled him into a waltz and had him spinning and twirling toward the woods, then running up an unseen path. And ever since then, I have felt as though he’s done the same to me. Twirling and spinning until I can’t see straight, then darting up a dark path to an unknown destination. And I’ve wondered ever since if it was I who roped him into a dance that first night… or if it was all his doing.
What are you most afraid of?
Leaking my real name. I’m terrified I’ll give it out without thinking, though it’s been years since I’ve used it. Or perhaps someone who knows it will happen upon me. That wouldn’t happen though, I don’t think. I’ve been ever so careful to cover my tracks.
Do you have a cherished possession?
There’s a large, inviting, leather-bound book of fairytales that I would pay handsomely to have back. The illustrations are mine, and the stories belong to the dearest person in the entire world. What I wouldn’t give to hear his voice again. Better yet, to hear the stories told in his voice, rather than on the page. Every time I turn those pages, I hear his voice in my memories and my heart absorbs everything he’d meant to tell me in those fairytales. But the guilt overwhelms me so much that I haven’t opened that book in years. Whatever became of the writer, I do not know.
What do you expect the future will hold for you?
I feel I could succeed in any position, with my history. I’m an actress now, but I’ve been a milkmaid, a governess, a boy in the army, and even a lady’s companion. Next, I could be a pirate—that does sound amusing. Perhaps an illusionist.
Thanks for allowing us to get know you a little better!
Joanna Davidson Politano is the award-winning author of Lady
Jayne Disappears, A Rumored Fortune, Finding Lady Enderly, The
Love Note, A Midnight Dance, and The Lost Melody. She loves tales
that capture the colorful, exquisite details in ordinary lives and is
eager to hear anyone’s story. She lives with her husband and their
children in a house in the woods near Lake Michigan.
Get Connected:
Joanna Davidson Politano
www.JDPStories.com
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