The Essence of Imitation
Imitation shapes who we are, whether through respectful mimicry or bold appropriation. In Nell Stevens’ latest novel, she explores this concept through education and romance. Her main character, Grace, after becoming infatuated with another woman, adopts her scarf-wearing style, wearing it to the side. This small act makes Grace feel more intentional and more authentically herself. Stevens writes, “When we fall in love, we actually fall for the imperfect replica of that person we carry in our minds when they’re absent.”
Dual Themes of Duplication
The core of The Original revolves around two themes of duplication, set against the backdrop of the late Victorian period. Grace, orphaned and penniless at 10, moves to her uncle’s home after her parents are institutionalized. Despite the seeming madness of her new guardians, Grace finds solace in art. She begins by replicating her cousin Charles’s paintings so skillfully that he suspects her of being either a sorceress or a mechanical being. Eventually, Grace harnesses her talent to forge artworks and successfully replicates masterpieces like Van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait and Velázquez’s Rokeby Venus. Meanwhile, Charles, presumed lost at sea, returns 13 years later, possibly as an imposter. Despite minor discrepancies in his appearance, his flawless demeanor and voice convince his mother of his identity. All these narratives of imitation and authenticity are woven into a novel that itself mimics a Victorian sensation novel while being strikingly unique.
Reimagining Victorian Quirks
Nell Stevens stands among a contemporary group of authors who reinterpret Victorian eccentricities, particularly the era’s covert homosexual relationships. Her previous works include a memoir about her struggles to write a novel and another about her PhD thesis, both influenced by Victorian fiction. Additionally, she penned Briefly, a Delicious Life, a novel about a ghost who falls for George Sand during her time in Mallorca with Chopin. Unlike her earlier work, which plays with fantastical elements in a modernist style, Stevens’s latest novel is a flamboyant dive into Victorian storytelling, complete with murder, theft, and betrayal, all narrated by a protagonist who teeters between potential disaster and great fortune.
Stevens embraces extravagant plotting as a narrative risk. While her strength lies in realistic historical fiction, she deliberately crafts a plot that might seem over the top. Yet, she uses this to explore deeper themes of artifice in both art and life, suggesting that authenticity might indeed stem from the act of faking. In the storyline, Grace rejects Victorian constraints, stepping into the 20th century—a time when artists like Duchamp and poets like Auden challenged traditional notions of originality and authenticity.
The Power of the Copy
The novel intersperses its dramatic Victorian plot with reflective statements on copying. Stevens, through her character Grace, suggests that the true value of a copy lies in the copier’s ability to empathize. This act of copying, then, becomes a powerful gesture of preserving, recycling, and sharing cultural artifacts. In a household devoid of generosity and love, Grace and Charles find these qualities through their acceptance of imitation as a form of tribute. Stevens proposes that love might necessitate a blending of selves so profound that it calls into question the very idea of originality. Book by book, Stevens proves herself a thought-provoking writer, engaging readers with her imaginative narratives. The novel concludes by celebrating the complex interplay of imitation and invention, which Stevens masterfully presents as both a literary strategy and a deeper philosophical inquiry.
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Fatima Clarke is a seasoned health reporter who bridges medical science with human stories. She writes with compassion, precision, and a drive to inform.
