Eleanore of Avignon: A Novel
by Elizabeth DeLozier
(Dutton, 5 November 2024)
Interview by Anna Roins
Provence, 1347. Eleanore (Elea) Blanchet is a young midwife and herbalist with remarkable skills. But as she learned the day her mother died, the most dangerous
thing a woman can do is draw attention to herself. She attends patients in her home city of Avignon, spends time with her father and twin sister, gathers herbs in the
surrounding woods, and dreams of the freedom to pursue her calling without fear.
In a chance encounter, Elea meets Guigo de Chauliac, the enigmatic personal physician to the powerful Pope Clement, and strikes a deal with him to take her on
as his apprentice. Under Chauliac’s tutelage, she hones her skills as a healer, combining her knowledge of folk medicine with anatomy, astrology, and surgical
techniques.
Then, two pieces of earth-shattering news: the Black Death has made landfall in Europe, and the disgraced Queen Joanna is coming to Avignon to stand trial for her
husband’s murder. She is pregnant and in need of a midwife, a role only Elea can fill. The queen’s childbirth approaches as the plague spreads like wildfire, leaving half the city dead in its wake. The people of Avignon grow desperate for a scapegoat, and a group of religious heretics launch a witch hunt, one that could cost Elea—an intelligent, talented, unwed woman—everything.
Rich with unforgettable characters, gorgeously drawn, and full of captivating historical drama, ELEANORE OF AVIGNON by Elizabeth DeLozier is the story of a
healer who risks her life, her freedom, and everything she holds dear to protect her beloved city from the encroaching Black Death.
AUTHORLINK: Welcome to Authorlink, Elizabeth! We are delighted to have you here. Tell us what inspired you to put ‘pen to paper’ and write ELEANORE OF AVIGNON? We understand you wrote this novel during the pandemic. You are a full-time physical therapist, so you treated patients all day and then returned home to write and research this novel. How did it feel to be caught between two ‘plagues’?
Delozier: Thank you so much for having me, I’m delighted to be here! In 2019, I traveled to Avignon with my mother and aunt who, like Eleanore and her sister, are identical twins. Avignon is one of those medieval walled cities that completely transports you – it feels as though, at any minute, you might turn a corner and time-travel back to the 14th century, Midnight in Paris-style. I happened to be reading John Kelly’s The Great Mortality on our trip – a fantastic nonfiction narrative that examines the destruction of the Black Plague city by city. When I reached the chapter on Avignon, I could so clearly see the bonfires in the street, the piles of corpses waiting for the cart. It was spooky!
A year later I was on my honeymoon, in the bathtub, when the plot of the novel just fell into my head. I jumped out, dripping, and asked my husband to bring me a piece of paper and a pen. When we returned home, I spent months researching and plotting this novel. I was well into the first draft when COVID-19 hit.
As you mentioned, in my other life, I’m a physical therapist. It was surreal to put on my PPE, treat patients all day, then return home to the research and writing of this novel. I was grateful to have a project at a time when we all needed distractions, but it felt claustrophobic to be caught between two plagues. Sometimes it was too much, too much dread and death and sorrow. But I also think it gave me perspective on both pandemics. When all the COVID misinformation was spreading, I could so clearly point to parallels in the 14th century. And I hope the fear and loneliness I felt – that we all felt – while living through 2020 gave weight and realism to the novel.
AUTHORLINK: That is very interesting, as a health care professional thank you for your perspective on this! You studied Spanish literature, journalism, and biological anthropology and then settled on physical therapy. Amazing. When did you realize you wanted to become a writer, as well? Have you always loved writing? Tell us about your writing journey. Have you ever written anything before?
DeLOZIER: I know… my resumé is like, “she’s an eldest daughter with ADHD.”
I’ve always loved writing, but I never dreamed of pursuing it as a career until I finished the first draft of ELEANORE and wondered… could I get this published?
My mom homeschooled me for middle school – and by ‘homeschooled’, I mean we went to Jazzercise and took pottery classes together at the local community college, and I cheated on my math homework so I could get back to the thing I loved (and continue to love!) most – reading. One semester, we took a creative writing class. I had to wait in the hallway a lot because turns out, creative writing with 18-22 year olds gets really porny really fast. But I did write some short stories, mostly involving fairies. I loved tuning into my imagination and creating something from nothing. It felt, and continues to feel, like magic.
As I grew up, like so many of us, I felt like I had to choose between creativity and paying the bills. As you can see from my smorgasbord of education, I really love learning, and I have a lot of different interests. After studying subjects I adored in college – biological anthropology and Spanish literature – I ultimately chose the very practical path of going to graduate school for physical therapy. Don’t get me wrong: I love my career. I love helping people. But by choosing a stable career in healthcare, my creative side was not being fed. When I opened that first word document that would become Eleanore and started typing, it felt like the world opened up. It felt like I opened up. My brain was thrilled at the opportunity to create again.
AUTHORLINK: That is wonderful. We loved how Eleanore, ‘Elea’ was a midwife and herbalist in 14th-century Avignon, France. Her voice was so characteristic and easily recognizable. It’s almost as if you are ‘Method’ acting. How did you manage to create this consistency in your writing? It came across in Audible, too.
DeLOZIER: That’s so kind! All the credit for audiobook goes to the incredible narrator, Saskia Maarlevald. She’s so good.
Every writer has such a different relationship with the creative process. But for me, the more time I spent in Elea’s world, the clearer her voice became. I loved how smart she was, how she saw the world around her and her place in it. As the story took shape so, too, did Eleanore’s narration of it. It was one of those truly magical creative moments where I, as the writer, didn’t feel like the words were coming from me. They were coming from her.
AUTHORLINK: To inform you of this period, we understand you read as much as possible about the Black Death, medieval medicine, food, clothing, religious beliefs, etc. Did you enjoy all the research into 14th-century Provence? Can you share an interesting fact or story you encountered in your reading (that did not make it into the book?).
DeLOZIER: OMG I’m such a nerd. I loved researching this period. I spent so many hours in the most esoteric corners of the internet, reading PhD dissertations on medieval medicine and watching very sweet historical reenactors dance 14th century jigs. So much of what I learned did not make it into the final draft – you’re welcome – but I think all that time spent seeping in the details of medieval Europe informed my world-building.
The last quarter of the novel is stuffed with plot, and there was no space left for one of my favorite bits of 14th century drama. Here it is!
As I describe in the book, Queen Joanna of Naples (and countess of Provence) came to Avignon in 1348 to stand trial for the murder of her first husband while pregnant with her second husband’s child. Pope Clement exonerated her, and she was able to return to Naples after delivering her baby. HOWEVER. A few months after the trial, Pope Clement purchased the city of Avignon from her. (She was also the Countess of Provence because the European royal families were just a mess of in-breeding). Many historians believe that no money ever exchanged hands – that the city of Avignon was the price Joanna paid for her innocence.
AUTHORLINK: How fascinating! It is broadly accepted that the Black Plague killed up to two-thirds of Europe’s population. In the aftermath of the disease, social hierarchy changed drastically for the better. Despite the devastation that wreaked across Europe, some historians believe that the Black Plague paved the way for the Reformation and Renaissance. Are there any similarities with Covid, in your opinion? In any crisis, like a pandemic, some people look for scapegoats to blame or opportunities to take advantage of the situation. Sometimes, conspiracy theorists appear (as we have seen). Do you agree?
DeLOZIER: Of course! Human nature is, sadly, unchanging across epochs. We pride ourselves, as a species, on our intelligence. But when we are afraid, we lose our ability to think clearly. A simple answer – it’s their fault! – is so tempting, so actionable. It is much harder to live in the grey area. It is much harder to say to ourselves, “Something terrible has happened, and it is so sad, and it doesn’t make sense. But this is just how life is.” We want explanations. We want our sadness and terror and loss to make sense. And so human beings, across history, look around for someone to blame. We are always searching for a story that explains our experience.
One of the books that helped me write Eleanore was A Distant Mirror: the Calamitous Fourteenth Century. Barbara Tuchman so clearly describes all the factors – environmental, economic, pandemic, religious and intellectual – that made the Middle Ages an inflection point in human history.
Like Professor Tuchman, I believe that we now find ourselves at another inflection point. It’s too soon to see the full effects of the COVID pandemic, but I hope that the repercussions – which we are certainly still feeling, from inflation to isolationism to the mental health crisis – will ultimately land us in a better place. I hope, as a species, we learn from this time. I hope we turn towards community. I hope we try harder to understand complicated issues. I hope we take steps to safeguard the natural world.
AUTHORLINKS: What astute observations. Yes, we do too. How long did it take you to write your first draft of ‘Eleanore’? How many times did you edit it? Who was your first reader? Your first editor?
DeLOZIER: It took about a year to finish the first draft of Eleanore. I was working full-time, writing in the evenings and on the weekends. I didn’t have a succinct plot at all – I have gotten much better at plotting! – so the edits were extensive. I sent an early draft to Amy Wallen, a friend, writer, and editor (any aspiring authors must check out her book How to Write a Novel in 20 pies!), who gave me excellent feedback on the manuscript. To riff off your earlier question, the biggest advice she gave me was: let the reader inside Eleanore’s head. I kept that in mind as I continued editing, and I’m so pleased that Elea’s voice comes through.
AUTHORLINK: We will check it out, thank you. Who helped you along the way of your publishing journey? How long did it take you to find your agent? Did you have any challenges along the way?
DeLOZIER: It took about a year of querying before I signed with my agent. As anyone who has been in the querying trenches will tell you, it is an arduous process, and fielding one rejection email after another would have the most confident writer second-guessing the quality of their work. Several agents requested the full manuscript of Eleanore, then turned it down months later. But they were all kind enough to give me some feedback on why the story wasn’t working for them. I used their recommendations to edit and re-edit, and by the time I finally signed with Stacy Testa, I had a much stronger book on my hands. I could have quit so many times in that year – I thought about it, I really did – but ultimately, I knew I had to do everything I could to get this story into the world. So I kept re-writing, re-working. If you’re in that boat now, reading this, don’t quit!
AUTHORLINK: We love the book’s cover. Did you have a say in its design? How do you feel it was relevant to the theme?
DeLOZIER: Oh, I love the cover so much! The amazingly talented PRH design team sent me three options of finished covers, and the team liked this one the best. The creeping black edges, the blossoming gold flower, the sepia-soaked view of the city walls… perfection!
I am definitely NOT a visual artist, so I didn’t have a super strong idea for the cover. My editor was adamant that she didn’t want it to look like ‘traditional’ historical fiction, i.e. a woman with her back to the reader. She asked if I had any mood board inspo, and I sent her a photo I had taken on that trip with my mother and aunt. It’s the same image of Avignon as seen from the abbey on the other side of the Rhone (it’s on my Instagram if you’re curious).
In the very first scene – the very first paragraph – of the novel, Eleanore looks back and describes that view as she climbs the path to the woods. I love that it’s the face of the book.
AUTHORLINK: That’s brilliant. Bravo design team! What are you working on now? Please tell us a bit about it.
DeLOZIER: I’m nearly done with the first draft of my next novel, The Whitechapel Full Moon Society, which takes place in Victorian England during the reign of Jack the Ripper. A young woman in search of her estranged brother arrives at a boarding house in London’s notorious East End, and realizes her hosts are hiding a dangerous secret. It’s slated for publication Fall of 2026. I’m super excited for you all to read it – it’s been very fun to write.
AUTHORLINK: Oh, that’s wonderful. Good for you! Thank you so much for your time today, Elizabeth! We really enjoyed ELEANORE OF AVIGNON and wish you every success!
DeLOZIER: Thank you so much for having me! It’s been an absolute pleasure.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Elizabeth DeLozier holds a BA in Spanish literature, a BS in biological anthropology, and a doctorate in physical therapy. An avid traveler, animal lover, and history nerd, she lives in Southern California with her husband, twin sons, and rescue dogs. Eleanore of Avignon is her debut novel. You can find out more about Elizabeth Delozier on https://www.elizabethdelozier.com/, on Instagram at @elizabethdelozierwrites.
