According to a PublishersWeekly article, author of the Morris Award-winning debut, Seraphina, Rachel Hartman
admits she’s a slow writer. Hartman
says, “It’s a feature, not a defect.”
And thank goodness for that feature.
One of the delicious results is the intense attraction between
protagonist, Seraphina, and Prince Lucian.
The attraction was, and a year later still is, so palpable, I took a
close look at Chapter Two where Lucian makes his appearance on the bridge,
Chapter Seven a formal court scene, and Chapter Eleven a second intimate
conversation scene, to see how Hartman achieved the magnetism between the two. The result: seven ways Hartman developed the
pull between these two.
RECOGNITION
First, Seraphina and Lucian
seem to recognize each other immediately.
In Seraphina’s first glimpse of Lucian, she recognizes the emotions on
his face, “sorrow replaced by a spectacular annoyance.” She is able to discern what is a mask of calm on him, while with ease he
answers her unasked question.
REPUTATION
Hartman also intersperses
bits of Lucian’s reputation. He is a
shrewd and dogged investigator who works all the time. He is not as outgoing or as handsome as his
late uncle, which somehow makes us like the bastard prince very much. Though he has no beard, to Seraphina’s
dismay, “the intelligence of his gaze more than made up for that.” Having a secret to hide, she also sees Lucian
is “too sharp for her comfort”. For his
part, though Lucian has only seen Seraphina across the court, he knows her
name, and he has concluded she must be “astonishing”.
OTHERS’ REACTIONS
Seraphina is acutely aware
of other’s reactions to Lucian. She
observes they part like waves for him, and she sees his soldiers respond
swiftly to his signals. These
observations create feelings of attraction in the reader because we are looking
through Seraphina’s eyes, because she notices so much about Lucian, and because
we admire the respect Lucian commands.
HER REACTIONS TO HIM
When Lucian approaches on
the bridge, Seraphina’s first instinct is to tug Orma’s sleeve and say, “Let’s
go.” Somehow her desire to flee makes us
keenly aware of the pull she feels in the opposite direction. This hunch is fulfilled when, toward the end
of Chapter Two, Seraphina permits herself, “one small pang for the
inevitability of his disdain”. Like a
perfectly set gemstone, this one permission reveals the strength of her true
feelings.
WHAT SHE NOTICES ABOUT HIM PHYSICALLY
Seraphina notices choice
details about Lucian. She notices his unconscious
tics like the rapid tapping of his left boot during at uncomfortable
conversation at court or the way he rubs a hand down his face while trying to
deescalate a situation on the bridge.
She also notices the poeticism of the man’s grander gestures from a
distance: “The last rays of the setting sun turned his mourning clothes almost
golden. He commandeered a horse from one
of his sergeants, leaped up with balletic grace, and directed the corps back
into formation.” Sigh.
HIS SENSE OF INTIMACY
Lucian assumes a great deal
of intimacy with Seraphina. He leans in
to talk to her. He compliments her. He creates the sense of a close, private, and
special conversation with her. In small
comments like, “Here we go,” though he exhibits frustration his “we” signals
his sense they are in this together. He
flashes Seraphina a “grateful glance” when she interjects a blessing on his
mother into his argument with Eskar. After
the argument as Seraphina troubleshoots her headache, Lucian speaks to her,
“his voice so close and sudden” that she startled.
HIS COMPLEXITY
Perhaps most alluring of all
to the intelligent Seraphina and her readers, Lucian is always presented with a
mix of emotions. He is shocked and stricken. He displays spectacular annoyance but draws his brows in concern. He expresses both pity and disgust. His snapping is followed up with a more
gentle tone. He wears a calm mask, but also we see his clenched teeth, his windblown hair, and his mad
ferocity peer out. He even smiles grimly.
What is perhaps most amazing
is not that Hartman coaxes out all this attraction, but that she weaves it all
intricately throughout an action packed chapter with other, larger
purposes. As a reader, even a year
later, I still swoon when I think of the attraction between Seraphina and
Lucian. Considering only three scenes,
one in which they’ve just met, one formal occasion which does not allow them
much contact, and a second more intimate conversation, I am tangled up in
them. Overall, their intimacy seems to
come from their recognition of each other despite the societal roles, and
secrets, that must keep them apart. So
their attraction is bound in tension.
The contrast between the two conversation scenes and the more public
court scene only serves to heighten that tension. So, thank you, Rachel Hartman! May your sequel revisions unfold un-rushed. May you allow yourself all the time you need
to work these beautiful subtleties into the seams of your story!
No comments:
Post a Comment