Ten Questions, with Sheila Dalton

Sheila Dalton is the author of The Girl in the Box (Dundurn), the harrowing story of Inez, a traumatized young Mayan woman.

Sheila talks to Open Book about Olympic-level research, the benefits of solitude and her experiences of Guatemala.

Open Book:

Tell us about your book, The Girl in the Box.

Sheila Dalton:

It’s the story of how a young Mayan woman, traumatized by violence during the bloody Civil War in Guatemala, is rescued by a Canadian doctor and eventually kills him. The big question is “Why?” Caitlin, the journalist who loved him, wants answers and sets out to find them.

OB:

What was the genesis of the story of Inez? How did the character first come to mind?

SD:

The story gelled over several decades. I visited Guatemala in the seventies, during the war there, for an extended period of time, around four months. It was an exploration rather than a vacation. My girlfriend and I traveled on second-class buses and stayed in no-star accommodations. It was all part of our rather naïve plan to get to know the “real” Central America. We saw and heard things which shocked us, including Mayan men taken away and shot.

Somehow, on returning to Canada, it didn’t seem right to turn any of this into fiction. Inez, as a character, popped into my mind many years later, unrelated to Guatemala at first, and developed into who she is now over time. There were many stories in the media about women kept in captivity and that may have triggered something. Plus elements of my past. I’d never met anyone like Inez, but I believe she could exist. When the story became hers, and another character, Caitlin’s, it became easier to write.

OB:

Did your process for this book require research, given the nature of Inez's condition?

SD:

This book took tremendous amounts of research, and not just about Inez. Her conditions is a mystery, and defies labels, but in order to understand what she could be suffering from, I had to make sure I knew my stuff about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Dissociative Identity Disorder and Autism. I also read up on women held against their will, and Stockholm Syndrome.

My sister is a therapist, I’ve studied some psychology, plus I was friends with a terrific psychoanalyst. This all helped, plus tonnes of reading.

I also asked a friend whose son suffers from autism to read the manuscript and tell me if I’d got the therapy options right, and some of the symptoms.

Then of course I had to research the war, Guatemala itself, the refugee situation in Canada, psychoanalysis in Canada in the eighties, psychiatric treatment for the criminally insane, laws as they relate to people like Inez, Labrador (which I’d only visited once) — the list went on and on. Luckily, I love research, plus I had wonderful helpers — for instance, a novelist in Guatemala read the manuscript to make sure I got the details right, to correct my Spanish, terminology, etc. I hadn’t been back in years when I finally completed my first draft, and though I had kept notebooks, they weren’t always detailed enough.

I also visited the treatment centre for the criminally insane at Penetanguishene, attended a Psychoanalytic Self-Psychology seminar, talked to lawyers and other experts. I was used to doing this kind of research from my days as a Contributing Editor for OWL Magazine. Back then, I interviewed a lot of scientists, doctors and veterinarians for clarification of information.

OB:

What recurring themes or obsessions do you notice turning up in your writing?

SD:

Violence, desperation, cruelty, injustice, morality and how we define it, secrets, love. And meditation.

OB:

Describe your ideal writing environment.

SD:

Being alone. And best of all, being alone in nature. I’ve taken writing vacations where I rented a cottage and isolated myself for weeks, and I’ve been on writing retreats attended by many writers at once. I much prefer the former, as I am easily distracted and made anxious by interpersonal stuff. It makes me think too much, about things unrelated to whatever project I’m into. If you meditate at all, you’ll understand how easily deep states of peace are disturbed if you have to go out shopping with friends, for instance. It’s hard to keep a concentrated mind, and that’s my ideal state to be in for writing.

OB:

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received as a writer?

SD:

I can’t think of a “best” to tell you the truth. Writing advice is tricky, because writing is such a quirky endeavour. You never know what style is going to work best, or what will capture the reader’s imagination, or what trends will start and stop. Nothing is cast in stone. I’ve benefitted a lot from critiques; not so much from advice.

OB:

Who are some people who have deeply influenced (fellow writers or not) your writing life?

SD:

That’s a tough one. A professor of English when I was at the University of Toronto, not because of anything directly writing-related but because he got under my skin and really made me think. Actually, he made thinking seem important, and he respected my mind, which rather amazed me. Some philosophers and psychoanalysts, such as William James and Karen Horney, again because they made me think deeply. The writer Anais Nin made a big impression in my teens; so did Sylvia Plath, and Elizabeth Smart, who wrote By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept. Their rich, evocative styles moved me then, and I was so in tune with them at that age, I believed I could also write books. My family life, as a child, was difficult, and helped create my obsession with understanding people and what life is all about. I’ve been influenced by animals I’ve known too, because I find the relationship between humans and animals mysterious.

OB:

If you had to choose three books as a “Welcome to Canada” gift, what would those books be?

SD:

Fall On Your Knees by Anne-Marie MacDonald, The Lizard Cage by Karen Connolly, and Cockroach by Rawi Hage. Just because I like them. If I were trying to be more “educational”, I’d include iconic authors I also love — Robertson Davies, Mordecai Richler, Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro.

OB:

What are you reading right now?

SD:

I’m re-reading That Summer in Franklin by my friend Linda Hutsell-Manning. I think it’s beautifully written, enough that I’m enjoying the language even though I already know the plot.

OB:

What are you working on now?

SD:

I’m working on an historical novel set in 18th century England, Morocco and Barbados. It’s about a young woman whose parents are kidnapped by Barbary Corsairs, pirates from Morocco, and sold in the slave markets there. It’s got all the obsessions mentioned in my answer to about recurring themes in my writing, except meditation. I can hardly wait to get back to it!