In the movie Crimson Peak, after the mysterious death of her father, our heroine Edith Cushing marries handsome baronet Thomas Sharpe and moves across the globe from New York to his family home in England. Edith’s new home, Allerdale Hall, is a massive gothic manor that’s literally rotting from the inside out and located in the middle of nowhere. Basically, the biggest of red flags.
Back home in New York, Edith was surrounded by family and friends. But now, Edith is completely isolated from the outside world, with only the company of Thomas and his sister Lucille. This change in Edith’s life and drastic move from safety and support to danger and isolation is so significant to the story that the movie literally changes the visual look of the film when Edith moves to Allerdale Hall.
Edith, left isolated with not much else to do, begins exploring the house. Strange occurrences start happening to the point where even our headstrong heroine becomes incredibly unsettled. Eventually Edith and Thomas visit the post office, and Edith learns that someone has sent her a letter. Well, not her exactly, but someone also named E. Sharpe. Edith discovers that this letter was meant for a woman named Enola, and this discovery helps Edith put together the clues where she uncovers a series of horrifying events that she never could have predicted.
All this brings me to the title of this newsletter: Letters to Enola. When I was brainstorming names, I was thinking about this particular plot point of Crimson Peak and how it feels meaningful to me in this moment. We never learn who was still sending Enola letters, but this was a person who had a connection to her at some point in her life and wanted to stay in contact. When Enola realizes she’s in danger, she documents her story so that the next woman Thomas and Lucille bring to Allerdale Hall can hopefully find Enola’s warnings and save herself before it’s too late. From the afterlife, Enola also reveals herself to Edith and leads her to the final horrifying truth about Thomas and Lucille. Although Enola’s story ended tragically, her actions saved Edith.
Ultimately, Enola’s story is about connection and using that connection to save others. Right now in this moment, the world feels dark and isolating. Connection with each other (especially in online spaces) feels scarce and laborious. Social media is absolutely not even close to what it used to be, which is such a shame because we need connection more than ever right now. We need connection so we can persist and do the work that needs to be done. Connection will save us.
At the end of the day, I hope this newsletter will serve as a small touchpoint of connection, both for myself and for you. I’ll be honest though, I don’t think I’ll be able to write long, philosophical posts like this regularly. In fact, my goal with this space is just to write short micro blogs sharing things I’m thinking about currently, stuff I’m loving, media that is inspiring me, art that makes my heart soar, or even just animal videos that make me laugh. I really just want this to be a channel where hopefully what I share leads you to new discoveries and sources of inspiration and connection. With as much darkness that is out there now, it’s important that we also find and share light. Transit umbra, lux permanet.
Anyway, thank you for being here and welcome.
Alyssa