Many reviews of the Gas-Lit Empire mention Elizabeth Barnabus. Opinions of her are overwhelmingly positive. But in those few negative assessments, it often turns out that the reviewer just couldn’t relate to her. Somehow her emotions didn’t feel genuine to them.

Regular readers of this page will know that I’m always grateful to reviewers. They’ve taken the time to read the book and express their opinions. Even negative comments are valuable. The mixed views on Elizabeth’s believability as a character remind me that each reader takes their own unique mix of meaning and experience from a text. There are as many versions of Elizabeth Barnabus as there are readers of the novels.

She is diffident when it comes to sharing her intimate feelings. Some things she wants to keep to herself. There are also times - particularly in her interactions with a certain Patent Office Agent - where we might understand more of her feelings than she does.

It is a style of narrative which invites the reader to do some detective work, to try to figure out her feelings from the things she chooses to tell us. I know it’s not a style that suits everyone. But that’s OK. My aim has always been

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