Anne Fleming’s novel Curiosities transports readers to the plagues, witch hunts and love stories of the 1600s [Video]

In Curiosities, Anne Fleming inserts herself into her fiction as a “goofily overenthusiastic” amateur historian to piece together the story of two 17th century girls as they navigate their way to adulthood. 

Weaving together different fictional accounts, the novel recounts the lives of Joan and Thomasina, who goes by Tom, the only two survivors of a village ravaged by the plague, and how they eventually find each other again — in a tale of witchcraft, forbidden love and the very nature of truth itself.

“I loved reading Curiosities,” said Mattea Roach during their conversation with Fleming on Bookends. “It was like a fun little treasure for me to unwrap.”

Fleming is an author based in Victoria. Her books include Pool-Hopping and Other Stories, which was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction and the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. She has also written a middle-grade novel, The Goat, which …