Affinities—that nagging sense of familiarity which we get at particular moments in works of art—offer a key to the ways in which poets and artists work. In nine chapters, this book approaches important aspects of the topic and shows how affinity, intentional or otherwise, can be a signpost to an influence the artist wishes to hide, a route into creativity, a shared feature of a genre at a particular stage of development, or a joyful sharing of a common heritage. It can also be the first step in a lawsuit, when it is confused with plagiarism. The chapters range in topic from Wagner and Meyerbeer, Tchaikovsky to the Hymnal, Thomas Mann and Colm Tóibín, and Agatha Christie and George Eliot to American Naïve Painting.