The Twelve Rooms of the Nile
by Enid Shomer
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A Meeting of Souls

An Exclusive Authorlink Interview with Enid Shomer,
Author of The Twelve Rooms of the Nile

By Diane Slocum
September, 2012

Prim Englishwoman Florence Nightingale voyaged on the Nile in 1849. So did the would-be French writer Gustave Flaubert. Florence, unhappy with the stilted life of a gentlewoman, hadn’t yet found that she would be fulfilled through nursing. Flaubert’s first novel had been derided as a total failure. Though very different personalities, both were rebels in their own way. In her debut novel, Enid Shomer proposes what might have happened if the two had become acquainted on the Nile.

AUTHORLINK: Where did you get the idea to link Florence Nightingale and Gustave Flaubert

SHOMER: Early on, doing routine research, I discovered that Nightingale and Flaubert journeyed on the Nile at the same time and that their itineraries were similar. Further digging uncovered the fact that they were actually towed to the navigable portion of the Nile on the same day and on the same boat. The coincidence was too powerful and too provocative to ignore. They seemed fated to be together in the novel.

AUTHORLINK: You needed to know not only about the main characters and their timeframe in the mid-1800s, but also about ancient Egypt. How did you do your research?

SHOMER: I’d always been interested in ancient Egypt, in a layperson sort of way. The novel was a wonderful opportunity to expand that interest. (After all, research is just focused reading and travel). I read books, went to museum exhibits, watched documentaries and dramas set in Egypt. As a young person, I had visited the British Museum, lingering often in the Egyptology exhibits. I returned there in 2006 for further immersion. There is also an Egyptian temple at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and though I had visited it many times, I went again. But most of the research materials were books.

AUTHORLINK: How much of the story is based on fact? Is there evidence that Florence and Flaubert both struggled with their emotions and their uncertain destinies?

SHOMER: Yes, both of them struggled tremendously with their emotions and to find their place in the world. It’s hard, I imagine, to be a genius and a rebel, and to be even slightly ahead of your time. Nightingale makes no secret of her depression. She talks about it in her diaries at length and even in some of her letters. At times, she sounded suicidal. Flaubert was, I am convinced, one of the great sensitives of the world despite his bluster and his fondness for obscenity. I think he was very soft-hearted and vulnerable to criticism.

AUTHORLINK: Many of your characters would be speaking French. How did you decide how to handle that?

SHOMER: The languages in the book—I think there are five in all, not counting hieroglyphics—were a challenge. Flaubert could read a little English, but could not speak it. Nightingale was fluent in French (and German as well as Italian). I didn’t want the reader to lose track completely of the fact that whenever they spoke to each other, they were speaking French, so I retained small bits of French in their conversation and longer passages in some of their letters to each other and to friends. The language on the Nile in reality must have been a chaotic mashup of Arabic, German, Italian, French and English. My job was to convey the flavor of all the accented voices, but in fiction a little bit of a foreign language goes a long way.

AUTHORLINK: Did you always plan for the maid to have a big part in the story, or was she one of those characters who seem to develop on their own?

SHOMER: I had always wanted her to have a significant role, but for a long time I wasn’t sure how that would play out. To me, Trout is an especially endearing and important character. First of all, she is amusing as well as wise in her own way. We get to read parts of her journal and thus get another view of things, one that is often at odds with Nightingale’s. The class differences between them provide insights into Nightingale’s limitations as a would-be humanitarian and social thinker. Trout forces Nightingale to grow—by example and also by challenging her assumptions. In real life, according to Nightingale’s diaries, they didn’t get on well together. The real Trout also suffered from a toothache during the trip and, as in the novel, she was not Nightingale’s usual maid. But it wasn’t until I discovered the real journal of a Victorian servant that Trout developed her unusual love life.

AUTHORLINK: You’ve published short stories, poems and a novel. What is different for you in writing in each of these forms? How does getting them published differ?

SHOMER: I began my writing career as a poet, but soon turned to writing short stories, and eventually, the novel. I believe that except for epic or book-length poems, poetry is not well-suited to exploring character, especially as it evolves over time. For me, poetry is primarily about language and metaphor, while fiction, which also requires powerful language and metaphor, is essentially about time.

In terms of publication, they are quite different. With poetry, you send out individual poems as well as whole books, usually without an agent. For the last ten years I have edited the poetry series of my former publisher, the University of Arkansas Press, and I am now beginning to see poetry represented by agents, but it’s still rare since so little money is involved. Because fiction has a bigger readership, it is more lucrative for all concerned.

AUTHORLINK: What are you working on next?

SHOMER: I’m a bit superstitious about talking about what I am working on, so I’ll just say that I’m researching a 16th century scandal that interests me. Maybe someone will buy the movie rights to The Twelve Rooms of the Nile and hire me as a consultant. I’d love to take the trip down the Nile that my characters took.

Shomer is the author of two award-winning short story collections and four books of poetry. Her work has appeared in publications from The Atlantic to The Paris Review. She has taught at several universities and lives in Tampa, Florida.

Diane Slocum has been a newspaper reporter and editor and authored an historical book. As a freelance writer, she contributes regularly to magazines and newspapers. She writes features on authors and a column for writers and readers in Lifestyle magazine. She is assigned to write interviews of first-time novelists and bestselling authors for Authorlink.