ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Had you read the novel before?
EMMA THOMPSON:Oh, yes!
I did my first dissertation at university on Henry James.
It was all about Henry James and the workings of evil, actually, in works likeWhat Maisie Knew.
There are connections [between that novel and this one] in many ways.
Its all about what children see, what they know, and what they dont know.
Its not actual molestation, but its an invasion of the childish mind that is both inappropriate and destructive.
So I totally understand James horror.
There are so many different critical interpretations ofThe Turn of the Screw.
Some people believe the nanny is insane; others think the ghosts are meant to represent child molesters.
What do you think?
I dont think the Victorians would have thought that for a minute.
Child psychology hadnt been invented; it was not understood how complex children were.
But James wrote very well about the insight that children haveprobably because of his own difficult childhood.
Youve talked about your love of ghost stories before.
I love thefrissonyou get reading them, you know, after dark.
My favorite is M.R.
James I dont know whether you know his work.
Henry James was writing around the same time as M.R.
James and [Arthur] Conan Doyle and Wilkie Collins and all of those people.
They were really interested in the beyond, and Victoriana is full of it.
When youre going to record an audiobook, do you read the story multiple times?
Sometimes you could get into a situation where youre doing people whove got different accents.
What do you mean by marking?
How do you use your voice to evoke a books atmosphere?
I think the writing does that for you.
It gives you so many clues as to how it should be read.
Well, it does when youre talking about a brilliant author.
I dont know what you do if youre reading Dan Brown aloud.
Whats the best part about recording audiobooks?
Just telling a story, darling!
It takes years to make a film.
But with an audio, you’re able to tell a whole story in a single day.
Its what humans have done for millennia.
