Bestselling author Tess Gerritsen is known for her gruesome medical thrillers and the tense series of Jane Rizzoli novels. A former pathologist, she is well versed in the scientific aspect of her work and is renowned for her accuracy in such matters. Her latest novel, The Bone Garden, has just been released in hardback by Bantam. Tess was kind enough to spare some time from writing the new Rizzoli book to talk about the new release and her other work.
Your new novel is set in a very different time frame to your other work. What prompted this? Was it the setting that inspired the book or was it more a case of the setting being appropriate for the story?
The book was inspired by a certain aspect of medical history that fascinated me, the era of childbed fever. Before the age of antibiotics and microbial theory, epidemics of this illness would sweep through obstetrical wards, killing up to 25% of new mothers. Their deaths were wretched and painful, and made all the more tragic because these were young women who left behind orphaned newborns. I had learned about childbed fever while I was in medical school, but as a doctor, I had never seen a case of it myself. The more I read about it, the more horrified — and fascinated — I was by the disease. I was also fascinated by Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, who was the first in America to recognize the link between these deaths and the unclean hands of doctors. I wondered where Holmes got his insights. Was there a particular incident, a particular case, that opened his eyes? That was what launched THE BONE GARDEN. I wanted to write about this gruesome era in medicine, and I felt that the best way to show the horrors of those times was to use a murder mystery as the centrepiece.
What sort of research regime did you put yourself through when writing The Bone Garden, to ensure the setting was historically sound?
I started by reading everything I could get my hands on about Oliver Wendell Holmes and the history of childbed fever. I read biographies of Holmes and Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis (his Hungarian counterpart). I also read books about the era’s medical schools and the state of anatomical study, about the history of corpse dissection in America, and about the body snatching trade, which supplied medical schools with cadavers. I read contemporary newspapers of the times, as well as stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne, to get the feel of the language. Then of course there were the general history books about dress, customs, the Irish, the history of Boston police, and about Boston during the Transcendentalist era. Finally, I was able to acquire through an antiquarian bookseller a copy of Dr. Samuel Cooper’s 1809 book "The First Lines of the Practice of Surgery", which was a how-to surgical textbook explaining how to perform various procedures, in a time without anaesthesia and without sterile technique. It was an eye-opening and rather frightening look at what it meant to be a patient.
Are there any other eras you would like to explore in future stories?
I’m interested in so many historical eras, particularly the ancient world. But I have no plans at the moment to write any other historical novels. Still… I never say never.
Do you have a firm idea of how things will develop further in forthcoming Rizzoli/isles tales? Indeed will there be more of these books or would you say your previous novel The Mephisto Club seemed like a natural end?
I’m working on my next Rizzoli/Isles book (the title is still being discussed.) I have no idea how the books will turn out when I sit down to start them, and often I’m surprised by what develops. The Mephisto Club, far from being an end, felt in many ways like the beginning of something new, with a new set of characters (the Mephisto Society) and a new direction towards metaphysical themes. I’ll continue with Jane and Maura, but I’m playing with ways to incorporate Anthony Sansone (from Mephisto Club) into the series as well.
You’re known best for gritty thrillers, but there is a great variety to your work that touches on many other genres. ‘Gravity’ for example had elements of science fiction in it pages (albeit its premise was based in science fact). Are there any other genres you would like to tackle?
I have so many interests and so many ideas, and I just wish I had the time to turn each and every one into a book! My philosophy has always been to write about what fascinates me, whether I know anything about the subject or not. GRAVITY, for instance, was about the space program, a topic which required me to do a lot of extra research, but I felt I had to write that book. It was the same with THE BONE GARDEN — despite the extra work, despite the risk I was taking, I felt compelled to write that book. I suppose it would be easier and safer to coast on the success of the Rizzoli/Isles series and just keep writing those books. When a writer chooses to take risks and try something unexpected, she’ll often get punished for it by the critics and by the readers, who don’t understand that a writer is more than just a story factory. A writer is also an artist who needs to be challenged every so often. So I keep trying to challenge myself.
How has The Bone Garden been received in the US? How has the feedback been from those more familiar with the Rizzoli books?
I’ve gotten amazing fan mail from readers who’d never picked up my books before, in particular librarians and history buffs and literary readers. Those who love the Rizzoli/Isles series took a little more convincing to stray from the series and try something different. There are simply some readers who hate history in any way, shape, or form, and they will not be happy with a historical. But so many others wrote to tell me, "I was hesitant but ended up loving this book the most."
Would you say the events in The Bone Garden will set up events in any future books or is it a standalone?
It’s a standalone.
You’ve stated in the past that Maura Isles in the series that began with The Surgeon is essentially you in many character traits. Would you say there is a particular character in The Bone Garden that carries some of your personality?
If there’s anyone I identify with, it’s Norris Marshall, the penniless medical student. He believes in science, he wants so desperately to better himself, and he feels like an outsider. All those things I understand completely!
I’ve noticed you do seem to enjoy making your characters suffer, which is very interesting for the reader. Is this an exercise to see how far you can push those characters until they reach breaking point?
Well, I don’t ENJOY making them suffer, but I think characters in crisis help drive the plot. A happy character is a boring character. It’s crisis that makes a story interesting, and the best crises are those that affect your characters in very personal ways. We don’t just want to read about a madman running around killing people — we want to read about how the killings personally affect or threaten our heroine.
{Image3}Your earlier books, such as the recently reprinted Stolen, seem a little different in approach as opposed to your other recent output. Is there ever the urge to go back and revise those books at all?
Unfortunately, I have no control over the re-release of my earlier romance novels such as "Stolen." No matter how they’re marketed, they are in every way romance novels, although they also have a big dash of suspense in them. I loved writing romance, and I love reading it, but I know that thriller readers often turn up their noses at the genre. Which may be why so many of them are upset when they purchase a book that looks like a thriller but turns out to be romantic suspense. As for whether I’d like to revise those books — actually, no. I wrote them as romances, and I’m proud of what they are!
What sort of self-editing do you do when working on a book? How many drafts do you work through until you are satisfied?
I do tons of self-editing. I’ll go through five drafts before a book feels done. Part of the reason is that I don’t outline ahead of time, I just plunge in and start writing, which results in a lot of blind alleys and mid-story changes. By the time I finish the first draft, I finally know what the story’s about. So my later drafts are all about making the different pieces fit together.
I know you’ve had books optioned to be made into movies, and you yourself have tried your hand at screenwriting. Any plans for more screen work?
I have no plans to do any screenwriting. I like having complete control of the universe I create, and in Hollywood, there’s no such thing as complete control.
How would you feel about Rizzoli turning up on TV instead of film? There is definitely a rich world to be explored there.
I’ve just signed a contract with a TV producer, to turn the characters Rizzoli and Isles into a continuing TV series. I do hope it gets made!
That’s fantastic news. What lies ahead for you?
I just need to finish the next Rizzoli novel. I can’t see anything beyond that yet!
Thanks for your time Tess, and best of luck for the future.
