THE PASSION OF LAURA B.
Passion, and passion in its profoundest, is not a thing demanding a palatial stage whereon to play its part. Herman Melville, Billy Budd
I have wrestled with death, it is the most unexciting contest you can imagine. It takes place in an impalpable greyness, with nothing underfoot, with nothing around, without spectators, without clamour, without glory, without the great desire of victory, without the great fear of defeat, in a sickly atmosphere of tepid scepticism, without much belief in your own right, and still less than that of your adversary. If such is the form of ultimate wisdom, than life is a greater riddle than some of us think it to be. Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness
The Passion of Laura B is a little bit about roots and identity as in the plight of the displaced, a little bit about words and gatekeepers, as in writing historical fiction, a little bit about human relationships in their complexities, a little bit about burying and unburying, a little bit about dying and obsessive passion … but at its heart, it might just be a love story.