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Id been visited by the mysterious figure that haunts the dark corners of her third novel,Melmoth.
Ive heard a lot of that, she says.
And people have been really shit up!
And now I feel bad.
Lots of people cant sleep.
One woman said shed keep the book in the freezer overnight.
In Perrys version, Melmoth is a woman, and not a very nice one.
Mothers warn their children about her: if youre bad, they say, shell take you away.
Perry occupies an unusual place in the literary world.
Despite (or perhaps because of) her gloomy antiquarian impulses, she has found a dedicated contemporary audience.
I meet up with Perry at St Pauls Chapel, the oldest church in Manhattan.
I dont think Ive ever seen crystal chandeliers in a church before, she says.
Perry is 38 years old, though she says she often tells people she was born in 1860.
She grew up in Essex, in a household without television or any other whisper of the modern world.
Her family belonged to a Baptist church that was so strict they didnt celebrate Christmas.
(Too pagan.)
Everything had to be completely plain, completely bare, she says, still eyeing the chandeliers.
Theres a little bit of me that, however beautiful it is, Im like, This ishighlyinappropriate.
This is not apt for worship of our Son of man who had nowhere to lay down his head.
Perry has cast off that baggage in more ways than one.
Shes still close with her parents, and she doesnt lament her upbringing.
Because there was no television, I have loads of accomplishments.
I can do dressmaking.
Im a good cook.
I play the piano.
Im basically Mary Bennet.
Her gothic sensibility is just a byproduct of her childhood.
Theres a whole bunch of other stuff, including Hell.
We leave the brightly lit chapel in search of shadows.
Oh wow, I love a graveyard, she exclaims, as we step out the back door.
Down the street, we find ourselves outside Trinity Church, with its looming spire and dark stone.
NowthatsGothic, she says, feeling at home.
Dont you feel different looking at it?
The Gothic churches make you think, Oh, what have I done?
And then you start to think, I can hide here.
When you desire, but also want to shut your eyes thats the gothic, she says.
Im completely in love with that feeling.
Before long, Helen dreads and longs for Melmoth, too.
Shes incredibly seductive, Perry says.
She knows everything youve ever done.
If anyone else knew, theyd hate you, but she wont.
Shedratheryou had done a bunch of bad shit because then, youd really want her, wouldnt you?
Youd feel like there was no other choice.
When she began writing the book, in 2016, Perry was in a bleak place.
She gave her a new backstory, as well.
The reason she lied was because the women at the tomb werent believed, Perry says.
We stop for lunch at a nearby pub.
Over Pinot gris and burgers, Perry wonders aloud what Melmoth would make of the men of #MeToo.
To brutally and savagely show them exactly what theyve done.
However frightening Melmoth is, Perry ultimately finds her a comfort.
Wouldnt you rather she be watching?
That right now, Weinstein cant relax, because he feels something on the back of his neck?
I wish that was the case.
In other words, Perry hopes to create a modern legend.
