Today I spied on Instagram that my historical expert paid a visit to the League House – the Galveston mansion, currently on the market, that inspired the house in Storms of Malhado. I was befallen by Island nostalgia, and it stayed with me throughout the day. The League House did not so much inspire as haunt me, my visit there on a cold winter’s day memorable both through the majesty and beauty of the house as well as through its spookiness. It was cold inside, and large African sculptures decorated vast rooms where, for all the eclectic decor something vital seemed to be missing – a person, perhaps, who would lovingly restore the mansion to its former glory. Birds looked at me from frames in the walls. They scared me a little. I don’t know why. My friend and I went up to the third floor, the place where Josephine would have lived. I think some of the rooms were empty up there, but later, my friend Robert Kuhn, the talented singer-songwriter would stay there on occasion. He referred to the League House as “the mansion,” which I always liked.
