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| Sandra A. Miller, photo by Miranda Loud |
Sandra A. Miller is the author of the new book Trove: A Woman's Search for Truth and Buried Treasure. Her work has appeared in a variety of publications, including The Christian Science Monitor, and she teaches English at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. She lives near Boston.
Q: You've said that your book's inspiration began with an
experience you had at five years old. How did that experience lead to your
writing this memoir?
A: My first vivid memory is of seeing a crow land on my
front lawn and picking up a white stone in her beak. Even at that young age, I
was attracted to the idea of finding treasure, and always searched the ground
for coins, broken jewels and small objects that people had dropped. When the
crow flew off that day, I felt as though she took with her a piece of my heart.
I never forgot that moment, and it opened me to a lifelong
search for treasure of all kinds and a chance to find the missing piece of my
heart. This memoir is the story of me traveling the world trying to fill that
hole in my heart. Everything goes back to that crow.
Q: How was the book's title chosen, and what does it signify
for you?
A: I've always collected found things, but it wasn't until I
was 10 that I started to gather all my treasures together in a box that I
called my trove. Throughout my life, I've kept an active trove, and I still
pick up small found treasures everywhere I go. I'm a bit like a crow in that
way.
There was nothing else I could have named this memoir
because treasure hunting defines me, and my trove has been central and
essential to life. In addition to searching for actual treasure, this book is
about looking for symbolic treasure, too. It's about following our longing and filling
the trove that is inside.
Q: What do your family members think of the book?
A: My mother, now deceased and one of my main characters,
would not have approved of me publishing this story. She was a devout Catholic
and quite private about what went on in our home, and that's the problem. I was
expected to keep up the pretense of a happy family life, when in fact my
parents were both emotionally and physically abusive.
When memoir writers struggle with hurting people by telling
their hard truths, I am very sympathetic. I only really started to write this
book after my mother died. (My father passed away 34 years ago.) My sister,
however, who is also a character in Trove, is my biggest fan and the one person
who can verify that these experiences did happen. She loves the book and is
even having her book club read it.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from Trove?
A: I want my readers to become more sympathetic and alert to
their own journeys of searching for treasure, within and without. I want them
to consider asking themselves the same difficult questions that I ask myself in
the book: What am I looking for? And what do I need to do to feel whole? And
why when I'm almost 50 haven't I found it yet?
I'm not suggesting that my readers aren't already happy and
satisfied with their lives, but I feel like many people--particularly
women--hit a place where they start to do serious some soul searching. Maybe
they are stagnating in their careers and want a change, or maybe they are
eyeing a creative path. Perhaps they are empty nesters looking at how to live
their third act.
Ultimately, I want readers to connect with my story and then
say, "Hmm. Maybe there's some treasure out there for me, too. Perhaps I'll
have a look."
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I am putting together a type of self-help book with the
working title, "Dig Here." It's a playful guidebook for people who
want to find that aforementioned treasure in their lives. I'm hoping it will
inspire the treasure hunter in everyone and encourage those who are rudderless
to strike out and look for their own gold. It's a fun project while I put most
of my energy into launching Trove.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Treasure means something different to everyone, and it is
available to all of us if we take the time to prioritize the search. When I say
treasure, I mean anything from a pile of gold coins to becoming a parent to
fighting global warming to living in your truth.
I think there is an epidemic of longing and uncertainty in
this world, especially in these turbulent times when there is so much pain and
destruction around us. For that reason, I think there is no better time to
pursue that thing that you've always felt drawn to. In my case, I went on a
treasure hunt, and it not only changed my life, but it led to this book.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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