海角大神

The National Gallery of Art in Washington houses an unlikely attraction: the once-obscure 17th-century 鈥淧ortrait of an Elderly Lady鈥� by Frans Hals. Before the COVID-19 shutdown (the museum has since reopened some of its galleries but not apparently the one in which the painting appears), eager fans flocked to take selfies in front of the portrait, which depicts an unnamed woman with an impressive ruff around her neck. Her half-smile hints at a chuckle ready to burst into the open, as if she knows that in about four centuries her image will appear on mugs and bookmarks.聽

If you鈥檙e a fan of literature and you鈥檙e active online, you might know this twinkly woman in another guise. She鈥檚 the Twitter avatar of the thoroughly modern 鈥淒uchess Goldblatt,鈥� a beguiling (if fictional) 81-year-old internet personality 鈥渕ade of spun sugar and justice.鈥� She adores authors, has a kind word for just about everyone, and lives in the imaginary hamlet of Crooked Path, not far from the Home for Aged and Unpleasant Ex-Husbands.聽

As we learn in the curiously captivating new memoir 鈥淏ecoming Duchess Goldblatt,鈥� this character鈥檚 creator isn鈥檛 a famous author moonlighting as a Dutch matriarch or a blogger in disguise. In fact, the mighty Duchess Goldblatt 鈥� great beauty, lover of animals, ringleader of the Solid Goldblatt Dancers 鈥� was born of despair.聽

The memoir鈥檚 author, we learn, is an anonymous middle-aged writer and editor from New York state. She created the character in 2012 as she struggled with depression, isolation, and suicidal thoughts following a divorce and custody battle over her young son.

On Twitter, the Duchess is anything but isolated. She鈥檚 attracted a remarkable online community of 鈥渓oons,鈥� as she affectionately calls them. (Among them are several famous authors, including Elizabeth McCracken and Alexander Chee.) Her subjects address her as 鈥淵our Grace,鈥� eagerly respond to her calls for pet and pie photos, and summon her for comforting words during tough times. And they devour her wry wit and wisdom, which live in the gray zone between astute and quirky: 鈥淲riting isn鈥檛 hard. Worming my way into your heart one step at a time is hard. But it鈥檚 holy work, and I bought a boat with the overtime.鈥�

But the most compelling parts of 鈥淏ecoming Duchess Goldblatt鈥� come when the author explores her family鈥檚 past. She creates wrenchingly intimate portraits of her father, who is generous to a fault, and her brother, who struggles with mental illness.

Back on the Internet, the author鈥檚 saucy creation keeps on soothing and inspiring and befriending, so much so that her spirit begins to rub off on her creator. In one agonizingly tough moment, the memoir鈥檚 author hears 鈥渟ounds passing through sudden rightnesses鈥� 鈥� to borrow words from a Wallace Stevens poem 鈥� comforting her. 鈥淵ou will bear it,鈥� she hears her fictional creation say. 鈥淵ou have to. You will.鈥�

The author鈥檚 spirits lift over time as her creation becomes more popular, pulling her out of her isolation. She develops real-life relationships with a select few of the Duchess鈥� fans, including a close friendship with country star Lyle Lovett. And she realizes that the Duchess鈥� advice via Twitter deeply comforts her followers. 鈥淭hings may not be okay, but you鈥檙e okay, and you will be. I promise,鈥� she tells one reader. 鈥淵ou are a wonderfully kind soul, even if you are fictional,鈥� he responds.

Not all readers will appreciate the Duchess鈥� humor or understand why anyone would bother to follow her online. The woman in the painting doesn鈥檛 strike everyone as kind. And some will wonder whether the unnamed author is herself a construction of some kind.

It鈥檚 true that the author could be leading us astray. But her story, a kind of reverse 鈥淔rankenstein,鈥� rings true: When her life was in tatters, she created a character out of spare parts of herself and used it to create the community she craved. That lesson can never be heard too often. Like objects in a rearview mirror, the inspiration we seek may be closer than we think.