January 17, 2014
Hello there! I’m Frankie, a new editorial intern at Beaufort Books, or as I shall be known here, Violet Beauregarde, not because I resemble a giant blueberry, but simply because Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was one of my favorite books as a child (and secretly still is). Despite the fact that I am, of course, also a fan of more mature works of literature, I have recently reread some of the books that captivated me as a child in order to ease up from some of the more serious works that I have been required to read, and to examine the elements which caused these books to leave such an impression. The fantastical descriptions of candy have obvious appeal to a child; however, I think the dark aspects of the story are what made it stand out from some of the more wholesome children’s classics. Some of my other favorite books as a child were James and the Giant Peach, also by Roald Dahl, and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll. Clearly, I have had a bit of an off-beat imagination from an early age. My mother passed on her love of books to me, as she reads at least one a week, never leaves the house without her Kindle, and has written a few books of her own. When I was first learning to read, we would read these books together, and only after finishing the books would I be allowed to watch the film versions. I now find myself a Comparative Literature major and a publishing intern, so upon reflection, I’m grateful for this ritual that my mother shared with me, as it has clearly had an influence. Not to mention, I still have a soft spot for English literature with somewhat macabre content (A Tale of Two Cities makes me cry hysterically every time). That being said, I’m eager to explore new books and learn more about the twists and turns of publishing as an intern. Hopefully my time at Beaufort will end more positively than the original Violet’s did at the Wonka Factory. We’ll see.
-Violet Beauregarde
(Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Paramount Pictures)