It's about political exiles. These Irish heroes have never appeared in fiction before, he says. They are little known in our history, uncelebrated in fiction. Two-volume novels are called diptychs these days. I'm very fond of the great Russian novelists.
Victorians are serious about things and care passionately about things.
And Victorian readers were happy to sink into the luxury of thousand-page novels. I don't think I have anything more to learn about writing prose. As you get older you eliminate. When you're young you use a lot of adjectives. You throw them around and you should.