In a post on Lit Hub, Adriana Trigiani says taking a class can help you dive deeper into the world of your novel. Trigiani’s novel, The Good Left Undone, follows a family of artisans who create fine jewelry for wealthy clients, including the Vatican.
To immerse herself in the world and profession of her characters, Trigiani took a class at legendary auction house Christie’s. “Christie’s Education is a department in the complex that offers classes taught by curators, historians, and experts in gemology,” Trigiani explains. “We attended lectures that analyzed particular pieces owned by patrons who had commissioned pieces for their private collections. We studied technique, cutting and design. We learned about the great jewelry houses and how they competed with one another for gemstones.”
In addition to learning the history of jewelry making, Trigiani benefited from the questions and expertise of her classmates, which she could not have gained from a book. “A gem seems like such a small thing, but like a carefully chosen word in a sentence, it can say everything,” she says. “The smallest fragment of a larger story often carries the pith. I learned that every stone matters, and so does every word.”
