Character Interviews: Kinsey Gilbert from Shared: The Search for the Origins of a Soul

BB: Tell us your name and a little bit about yourself.

KG: My name is Kinsey. Well, Kinsey Gilbert. I’m newly married.

BB: What role do you play in your book?

KG: I’m Nanny and teacher t’ Rachel Ellingswood. I’ve been with her since she was a wee babe.

BB: How did you meet your author?

KG: I don’t know what you mean...do you mean my employer, Master Thornton Ellingswood, and his missus, Selia? They found me, actually. I was just released from my last year at Briarglen School for Young Ladies, in Brixham, South Devon. They were soon to have a child.

BB: Do you get along with your author?

KG: Oh, I love them, Sir. They are the kindest of people! And Rachel is surely a joy to have. We’ve had no more of that trouble since we returned from New Zealand....but, I’m speakin’ out of turn.

BB: Is this your first role in a publication?

KG: T’is my first employment, Sir. I never hoped to have such a grand home as the Manor. And now I live with my sweetest Liam, just a short walk from the hospital. In Barnstaple. Master Thornton and his dear wife have assured me, they will continue my employment. Little Thomas will be needin’ schoolin’ in just another year.

BB: Do you plan on returning in other books?

KG: These are odd questions, Sir. I don’ understand.

BB: Do you like how you were written?

KG: Oh! Bless me. You mean my husbands books! Mercy I’d forgotten. That’s how it is, you know. When you live such adventures as we’ve had, you hardly care they get written down. Ha! You had me worried you were daft! Liam could have left off all the notes about my tattooin’s. He might be sportin enough to parade his on the beach. But I’m a proper Maori with mine. They are personal if you please. Ha! Lord, you had me goin.

BB: What is the most interesting thing that happened to you in this book?

KG: You’ve not read of Rachel? Tha’ suprises me, it does. Only – she was in the national papers for the whole year. If you have my husband’s book, you would know. Rachel is very special. Just being with her, in Devon – then Opotiki. I’ll never forget that magic.

BB: Who is your favorite character in your book, besides yourself? Why?

KG: I love the way Liam puts down Reverend Dunston and his wife. It makes me giggle. The man would wear the most oppressive clothing, in the hottest weather! I don’t know how he kept alive from heat stroke. His wife hated the natives in the house. Did you read that part? She wouldn’t let them in. Must have worn him out complainin about them bein naked. Poor Dunny never removed his coat and vest! Ha!

BB: Is there anything we should know about you that we haven't been told in your book?

KG: Well, Liam was very careful...only to tell as much as people would need. You know, to choose. He always argued that Rachel should be left in peace, that her story only come from her lips...but, the world is a needy place. Isn’t it? He had to mark the truth in his books, even if he was able to hide it a bit.

BB: How do you feel about the way your story ended?

KG: End? Lord, there is no end. Master Thornton has been home barely a year from that last voyage, and he’s urgin Liam to join him and go back. Rachel just laughs at them, tellin’ them that New Zealand will be just fine without them rushing down. I would go with them again. You know I would. I want to hear her voice again, on that beach.

BB: Well, Kinsey. That certainly was an interesting interview. Thank you. If you would like to learn more about Kinsey Gilbert, check out Shared: The Search for the Origins of a Soul by Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick.

Book Description: Seeking help from colleagues around the globe, Victorian physician, Dr. Liam Gilbert, is desperate to discover what is wrong with little Rachel Ellingswood. The child has faints that bring her near to death without warning. Only child; heiress to a huge fortune in Devon, England, four year old Rachel will not survive without some miracle of discovery. Yet, Gilbert does not believe in miracles. When a single clue sends him on a harrowing voyage across the globe in search of answers, his discovery, about the impossible child, will alter his life forever. Rachel Ellingswood is not a simple child who is ill; when she is ill – she is not truly there.