
Dust and Light
On the Art of Fact in Fiction
Andrea Barrett(Author)
WW Norton & Co (Publisher)
Published on 25. February 2025
Book
Hardback
208 pages
978-1-324-03650-0 (ISBN)
Description
In this thoughtful collection of essays, Andrea Barrett draws from her experiences writing some of the most acclaimed historical fiction of our time to explore the mysteries and delights of the genre. Inspiration found in the past, she argues, can illuminate fiction, just as dust scatters light and makes the unseen visible. Delving into some of the largest questions in the genre-How does a writer find meaningful subject matter beyond the confines of their life? How are scraps of history transformed into a fully formed narrative?-Barrett explores how she came to create some of her beloved works and explores lessons gleaned from the work of such masters of historical fiction as including Toni Morrison, Leo Tolstoy, Hilary Mantel and Colm Toibin. Candid and elegant, Dust and Light is the perfect book for anyone who loves reading fiction set in the past, as well as for anyone aspiring to write it.
Reviews / Votes
"Barrett's book is an ode to fiction's unique ability to illuminate history-not as fact but as felt experience." -- The New Yorker "I was therefore overjoyed to learn of her new book, Dust and Light: On the Art of Fact in Fiction. Here at last, I thought, was a meditation from one of its leading practitioners on this peculiar species of fiction set in the past that has never sat very comfortably under the label 'historical fiction.'... In Dust and Light, she teases apart her own idiosyncratic process for the benefit of readers and writers alike" -- Los Angeles Book ReviewMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 189 mm
Width: 117 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
240 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-324-03650-0 (9781324036500)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
02/2025
W. W. Norton & Company
€16.49
Available for download
Person
Andrea Barrett is the author of the National Book Award-winning Ship Fever and the Pulitzer Prize finalist Servants of the Map, among other works of fiction. The recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and a Guggenheim Award, she lives in the Adirondacks.