Maud Casey: The Art of Sensibility (July 2010)

In order to make a character compelling, the author must capture a specific human consciousness on the page. But how can writers make palpable that aspect of a person that often eludes description—his or her sensibility? Maud Casey offers three methods for depicting sensibility in fiction, looking to Barbara Comyns’ The Vet’s Daughter, Jean Rhys’ Voyage in the Dark, and Muriel Spark’s Loitering with Intent as examples.