5 Minutes with Alissa York

Alissa York's novel Effigy was a 2007 Scotiabank Giller finalist. Her award-winning short fiction has appeared in literary journals and anthologies, and in the collection, Any Given Power. Meet Alissa at this Wednesday's Lit Lunch: History Re-Imagined event at the Toronto Reference Library. Bring your own lunch or buy one for $5.

Where did the idea for Effigy come from?

The initial inspiration for Effigy came from an article in the Globe and Mail about Bountiful, BC. Home to the Canadian branch of an offshoot Mormon sect, this community claims to remain faithful to the teachings of the original Mormon prophet, Joseph Smith—teachings which include the doctrine of Celestial Marriage, or, as it’s more commonly known, polygamy.

The article got me thinking seriously about polygamy for the first time, and I found there  was a real buzz around the topic for me—the kind of feeling I get when something might lead to a story or even a 
book.

I began reading about the history of the Mormon Church, and eventually came upon the story of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, a tragic event that took place in southwest Utah  on September 11th, 
1857. 120 men, women and children were murdered on that day; only the very youngest children were allowed to survive. Seventeen children lived. Time and again I read that statistic, until one source gave the number of survivors as eighteen. It was that discrepancy—that hole in history—that allowed space for my main character to come to life. Dorrie would be that possible eighteenth child, the one who was unaccounted for.

The attention to historical detail in your book is impressive. How did you research it?

I read countless books and web pages on the subjects of Mormon history and doctrine, taxidermy, horses, the pony express, circuses, the gold rush, and the West in general. I also spent a great deal of time staring at old photographs. The more I learned, the more the book took shape, scene by scene.

So we just have to ask: Do you have any mounted animals in your home?

Like every child of Australian parents, I have a toy koala bear made of kangaroo skin. There's a steer's jawbone on the mantle piece, but nothing more alarming than that.

Toronto Public Library is celebrating Keep Toronto Reading Month this February. What role does the library play in your life?

The research process essential to my work would be impossible without the library. What's more, I'm filled with joy every time I enter a building full of people reading.

Please list 5 books that are currently on your shelf.

Bringing Back the Dodo by Wayne Grady
Beyond This Point by Holley 
Rubinsky, My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk
The Ring of Bright Water Trilogy by Gavin Maxwell
The Ministry of Special Cases by Nathan Englander