Launch: Ange Anderson’s The Cosmic Caretaker

INTERVIEW BY J. K. KNAUSS

Ange Anderson is an educational consultant with a master’s degree, NPQH, and expertise in various therapies. She has revolutionised therapeutic and technological support for the neuro-divergent community. A former headteacher of a leading specialist school, she continues to support schools, parents, and the neurodivergent population through writing, conferences, and advisory roles. She is the author of multiple books, including one on virtual reality for neurodivergent individuals, and serves as an advisor to a global virtual reality company.

How would you describe this book and its themes?

The Cosmic Caretaker offers a blend of historical and modern intrigue and adventure. Through the lens of virtual reality (VR), the characters explore seventeenth-century catastrophes whilst living amidst twenty-first-century ones, mixing an engaging narrative with emotional depth. A book for seventeenth-century enthusiasts and contemporary audiences alike.

What attracted you to the historical periods you write about?

I began writing the book during the plague of the twenty-first century and sections of the book take place during COVID. I compared it with the darkness of the plague of 1665. The ever-present threat of death and the haunting uncertainty born from rudimentary medical knowledge etched the spectre of mortality into the collective consciousness that is still talked of today. In the book we lose several of the characters to the plague.

Unbelievably, the following year, 1666, the Great Fire of London blazed through the city, leaving a trail of destruction for the family portrayed in the book. It was as terrifying as it was transformative. The inferno not only razed entire districts but allowed for the reconstruction of the city’s very soul and architecture.

The seventeenth century, however, was also a time when art reached extraordinary heights. The Dutch Golden Age witnessed an explosion of cultural and artistic brilliance. Visionaries like Torrentius and Vermeer embraced new techniques that revolutionised still life and portrait painting, sparking a creative renaissance fuelled by the Netherlands’ booming economy. Wealth flowed through the nation, commissioning portraits, still life, and fashionable constcamer paintings, that captured every delicate detail, offering a window into a world of the opulent and the humble as the book shows.

The political stage was equally mesmerising. The book tells of the turbulent English Civil War, which reached its grisly climax in 1649 with the beheading of King Charles I, a shocking act that signalled the collapse of a centuries-old monarchy and the rise of radical republican ideals.

This century also marked a critical pivot from medieval traditions toward the modern world. Revolutionary scientific discoveries and bold philosophical advances began to challenge the established order. Figures, such as Kepler, Galileo, and Descartes, played crucial roles in this intellectual revolution.

Isaac Newton, towards the century’s end, would tie these groundbreaking discoveries together with his laws of motion and universal gravitation, laying the foundation for modern physics and pushing humanity into a new era of scientific inquiry. Newton’s genius captured the spirit of a time that was both fracturing old paradigms and embracing new ways of thinking, pushing humanity forward into an age of scientific revolution. However, Newton knew he was a genius, and his ego plagued him in life, as shown at the start of the book. Death doesn’t rid him of his ego when he is rebirthed and returns to Earth in the twenty-first-century sections of this book.

Amid the sweeping changes of the seventeenth-century, religious and social tensions flared. The fierce struggle between Protestantism and Catholicism sparked brutal wars, persecution, and ideological battles that affected the seventeenth-century family in the book and mystified the twenty-first-century characters in the book.

Finally, the spirit of exploration burned brightly as European powers, led by the daring Dutch, expanded global trade networks and forged vast colonial empires. The meteoric rise of the Dutch East India Company symbolised the era’s restless ambition, marking the pinnacle of the Age of Exploration, forever altering the fabric of world history.

In every brushstroke, every clash of swords, every flicker of flame, and every surge of trade, the seventeenth century unfolds as a mesmerising saga of transformation—a time when the old and the new collided to shape the complexities of our modern world.

Was it challenging to get into your characters’ point of view?

Diving into my characters’ point of view is a thrilling exploration for me. Once I understand their backstory, motivations, and emotions, stepping into their shoes becomes second nature every day, and I have to admit, I miss them in my head when the story is finished. I let the character’s personality guide me, and it becomes easier to think, feel, and react as they would.

Which character was the most challenging?

The most challenging character was Helena, the stepmother. She was originally the mother, but my editor told me she came across as a bit of a ‘cold fish’. It made me realise she was better portrayed as the stepmother. The story became better for the change, and I could further develop the character.

I notice there are several important neurodivergent characters in The Cosmic Caretaker. Do you have a connection to neurodivergence?

I was head of a specialist school for ten years and am now an advisor, speak at conferences, support schools, etc. Then families of young toddlers contacted me, and I supported them for free, because if we can put in the support when they are young, then we may not have such big issues as they grow. My school catered for those classed as having severe or profound and multiple learning difficulties and autism or ADHD. I would label all of those as neurodivergent—children who learn differently.

Many people speculate as to the percentage of people who are neurodivergent as opposed to those who are neurotypical, and they claim anything from 8 to 20% of the population, but I believe that is wrong. I would claim that at least 60% of people in the world are neurodivergent.

What is the best writing advice you have to share?

The best advice as a writer would be to ensure you have a place you use regularly to write and to write every day. The best advice as a human who writes would be (and I hope this becomes clear in the book) that this life is not the end, and what we do during this life counts—as Torrentius, the great seventeenth-century artist, says in the book, ‘Consciousness goes on forever. Earthly bodies do not. They get damaged or wear out, and we discard them as if they were rags. Rags and bones’.

What is the last great book you read?

I am an advisor for therapeutic and technological interventions, supporting families, schools, etc. In that field, I have read an amazing book where the author has changed the lives of children through her methods. The book is called Kids Beyond Limits by Anat Baniel. It is the kind of book you just have to read again. Oh, to write a book that readers want to read again!