Q&A with Greg Fields

 

 

 

Greg Fields is the author of the new novel The Bright Freight of Memory. His other books include the novel Through the Waters and the Wild. He lives in Manassas, Virginia.

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Bright Freight of Memory, and how did you create your characters Matthew Cooney and Donal Mannion?

 

A: I’ve always focused my writing on what I think are the most essential questions that face us as individuals with hearts, minds and souls – Where shall I go now? What shall I do? 

 

The characters in my first two novels faced these questions from relatively comfortable and privileged places. But these are questions that we all need to address, the questions that keep us alive. What of those who are born in the sad and forgotten places? How do they face the challenges that define us? 

 

I wanted to pose these themes through a different lens. Cooney and Mannion gave me the chance to do so.

 

Q: How was the novel’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

 

A: I claimed the title from a line in Pat Conroy’s brilliant classic, The Prince of Tides: “There are no verdicts to childhood, only consequences, and the bright freight of memory.”

 

Both Matthew Cooney and Donal Mannion were born and raised in a shoddy neighborhood in Washington, D.C. Neither had any sense of stability. Both of their fathers were gone, and their mothers worked to keep things together, often with the help of a bottle. 

 

Their young years were punctuated with restlessness, no direction and a bit of violence. That defined them, and it set their separate courses through adulthoods that were little different. Both lived with the scars of their younger years and tried as best they could to incorporate the lessons of those years into who they became as men.

 

Q: The writer Alfredo Botello said of the book, “This is a searing ode to the flawed….Fields’ elegant prose shows us there is beauty and nobility to be found in unlikely places.” What do you think of that description?

 

I love Alfredo Botello’s writing, whose first novel 180 Days has won a number of major awards and who also tries to shine a light on his characters’ complexities, including their failures. We’re all flawed in our own ways, and, despite our efforts to cover those flaws, they help define us. 

 

I’ve never been terribly fascinated by heroes. It’s always been common characters that are more compelling, the ones that embody our shared humanity, both its glories and its failings.

 

And within those failings are the elements that create our essential character – resilience, perseverance, and the incredibly precious commodity of hope. I think these are common to all of us, but it’s in the things we don’t accomplish that they become most apparent.

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the novel?

 

A: As with everything I write, I want readers to come away asking themselves the same questions that these characters confront, the questions of identity and purpose and place. 

 

I want what I write to be quietly provocative, with that provocation wrapped in a narrative with which readers might identify and carried forward by characters that readers might come to know, and in the knowing, recognize parts of themselves.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Each Saturday I Zoom into a writers group at the Irish Writers Centre in Dublin. We banter for a bit, usually where they make fun of the token Yank, and then we write to a prompt provided by the leader. After an hour or so, we can read what we write for critique and comment.

 

I created the two main characters in The Bright Freight of Memory in part through these prompts. Each week I would place one of them in response to whatever prompt was given, and in so doing, I fleshed them out. I put them in different situations, in different places and reacting to the circumstances of these prompts. 

 

After a time I was able to build them into fully-formed characters, then devised a narrative that reflected who they were and what they were about.

 

The sessions continue, and each Saturday I find myself doing the same thing with a new set of characters. These weekly creative jolts provide the spikes that I can build around. They give my writing a focus, and I take it from there. 

 

I expect all this will coalesce into another novel, which seems to be gravitating toward a theme that addresses how we as individuals respond to the social evils we see around us.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I can’t begin to express both my wonder and my gratitude for where I am now. I never intended to write for publication. I was writing to explain my own life to myself, and offered that writing to those closest to me. 

 

I returned from my last trip to Ireland to learn that The Bright Freight of Memory has been nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award, along with a National Book Award. And while I know I have no chance of winning, or even being shortlisted, I’ll cherish those nominations as long as I draw breath. 

 

All this is unforeseen, unanticipated, and probably undeserved. But through it all I’ve developed even more of a passion for the power of good writing, the way language can soar like birds in fight and, in the soaring, bring readers to new places, new thoughts, and new realizations.

 

Writers are a strange lot – neurotic, vulnerable, but ultimately courageous in putting forth the most unvarnished, honest versions of themselves. I’ve come to love being around writers and being around readers. And, in the end, I hope I’m even a little bit worthy of being in their company.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Greg Fields.

Q&A with Jan Gangsei

 

Photo by Jennifer K. Wall Smetek

 

 

Jan Gangsei is the author of the new young adult novel Dead Below Deck. Her other books include the YA novel Zero Day. She lives in Northern Virginia.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Dead Below Deck, and how did you create your cast of characters?

 

A: Just before the pandemic hit, my family and I went on an incredible cruise—one that wound up being a dividing line between before and after Covid changed our world.

 

During those early days of lockdown, I found myself wishing I could rewind the days and be back at sea—enjoying the sun, shows, and fabulous meals—blissfully unaware of what awaited us back on shore.

 

I then started thinking about what would happen if a group of privileged teens took a yacht trip that ended in murder, and the story evolved from there!

 

Giselle and Maggie were the first characters that came to me, and it’s their relationship that really drives the story. I then asked myself: who is important to them? Who made them the people they are? Who would they die (or kill) for?

 

That helped me round out the supporting cast: Vivian, Emi, Maggie’s family, Giselle’s mom, dad, stepmother, Wyatt, etc. Then, of course, I needed to staff the yacht—which was a prime opportunity to add more suspects! ;)

 

Q: The novel is told along several timelines—Maggie’s narration, Giselle’s diary, and police interviews. Did you write the book in the order in which it appears, or did you focus more on one timeline before moving to the others?

 

A: I wrote Maggie’s narration and Giselle’s journal entries pretty much in the order in which they appear. The police interviews, anonymous messages, and news clips were added later, after I’d sorted out Maggie and Giselle’s narratives.

 

(Fun fact: I actually toyed with including snippets of Emi’s film school sample, but ended up scrapping that idea because I felt it slowed the pacing a bit too much.)

Q: The writer April Henry said of the book, “It's also so much more than just a mystery--an examination of wealth and privilege, a critique of our social-media obsessed culture, and even a look at the aftermath of combat.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I love this description! While on the surface, Dead Below Deck is very much a fast-paced, “beach read” thriller, it does hit on themes of privilege, identity, and the effects of war (something that’s particularly important to me as a military spouse).

 

I was so happy that April saw those layers in the story—and also that she took the time to blurb my book, as I am a huge fan of her work!

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the story?

 

A: If they ponder some deeper themes (as mentioned above) along the way, then yay! But mostly, I hope they have fun and enjoy the ride (and are surprised by the ending—in a satisfying way, of course!).

 

I’ve always enjoyed entertaining people (just ask the neighborhood kids my best friend and I used to corral to watch our self-produced backyard shows!).

 

I’m incredibly grateful to the readers who are willing to spend time with me and my words, and I hope that my book provides them with an entertaining “escape,” so to speak!

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am working on another YA mystery set in an exclusive boarding school that has a bit more romance than Dead Below Deck—a romystery, if you will!

 

I also have an idea for an adult psychological/domestic thriller that I’d love to have a go at one of these days.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I’ll be holding a launch event on December 4 for Dead Below Deck at Judy Blume’s bookstore in Key West, Florida, which is a dream come true on so many levels! Judy’s books were a huge part of my childhood—and played a not-so-minor role in my love of reading and writing.

 

Key West is also a setting in Dead Below Deck and holds a special place in my heart as I used to live there (it’s where I met my husband!). In fact, there’s a brick on Mallory Square with my name on it and the inscription, “she got there from here” – a wedding gift from a dear friend.

 

Returning to my former island home to launch my latest book (some 20+ years later!) is truly like coming full circle.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Q&A with Phyllis Gobbell

 

 

 

Phyllis Gobbell is the author of the new novel Prodigal. Her other novels include Notorious in Nashville. She taught at Nashville State Community College, and she lives in Nashville.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Prodigal, and how did you create your cast of characters?

 

A: I began thinking about Prodigal after I read William Kent Krueger’s Ordinary Grace and heard him speak at a conference. He was widely known for his mysteries, but he said he was compelled to write another kind of book.

 

His setting was a small town in the Midwest, and I grew up in a small town in the South, but his story resonated with me. His characters were so much like people in the town I knew so well. The story had sufficient suspense but deeper ideas to ponder.

 

So, inspired by Ordinary Grace, I departed from my mysteries to write Prodigal.

 

The father and brother in my book are reminiscent of the Biblical story of the prodigal son. The other characters just seemed logical, the family and supporting cast that are part of a small-town experience.

 

Q: The author M. M. Buckner said of the book, “Secrets, lies, and surprise revelations abound when a long-lost son returns to his small southern hometown.” What do you think of that description, and what do you see as the role of secrets in this novel?

 

A: It’s an accurate description. Connor Burdette, who comes back to his hometown and family after 10 years, is not prepared for the truths he discovers as long-buried secrets are uncovered. More than once he thinks he should just catch the bus out of there.

 

In a way, secrets revealed to him and to readers provide the framework of the plot.

 

Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?

 

A: I knew where the novel was going, but I didn’t know exactly how to get there.

 

One of the most significant changes I made was point of view. My first draft was written from the POV of Ivy, Connor’s sister. It was not until I rewrote with multiple viewpoints that the novel began to accomplish what I wanted. Each viewpoint character has certain information that others do not have.

 

It was very satisfying to write in that way, so that readers are putting it all together for themselves as they engage with each character.

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the novel?

 

A: As with all of my books, mysteries included, I hope readers don’t want to put it down, that they’re eager to know what happens next, and that when they close the book, they will think their experience has been worthwhile.

 

With Prodigal, especially, I hope readers will keep thinking about it. Connor has to come to terms with something heavy, the cost of forgiveness. I don’t hammer readers over the head with theme, but I hope the underlying wisdom of the book comes through.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I have finished The Princess of Almost Alabama. It’s women’s fiction/literary and, even more than I did in Prodigal, I draw from my own experiences growing up in a small Southern town. It’s set in the years 1956-1978 and is told by a reminiscent narrator.

 

I suppose the book I’m writing is always the one we like best, but this one seems to have put in story what I’ve always wanted to say. I am hoping for an agent who will see promise in it!

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I love engaging with my readers, at book clubs (in person and Zoom), at conferences, and on social media.

 

My website is www.phyllisgobbell.com, and the first item you see is an opportunity to sign up for my mailing list, to receive information about events and special offers. I won’t fill up your inbox. I usually send an email once or twice a month.

 

The next thing you’ll see on my website is a book trailer for Prodigal. I hope the short video will make readers want to read it!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Phyllis Gobbell.

Nov. 21

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Nov. 21, 1694: Voltaire born.

Q&A with Niall Williams

 

 

 

Niall Williams is the author of the new novel Time of the Child. His other books include the novel This Is Happiness. He lives in County Clare, Ireland.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Time of the Child, and how did you create your character Dr. Jack Troy?

 

A: I think there were a few things that probably came together. I never plan a novel, I just find a first sentence and then try and find the second.

 

But the importance of healthcare workers during the pandemic was certainly an influencing factor, and then the birth of our first grandchild, Esme Willow, to whom the book was dedicated.

 

The doctor had featured in the previous novel, This Is Happiness, and now required his own stage. 

 

Q: How was the novel’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

 

A: The title refers first to Christmas, the time a child is born, and the story takes place over the weeks of Advent, ending at Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.

 

But locally, in Faha in west Clare where the story is set, it came to refer to that time when a child was found at the end of the Christmas Fairday. 

 

Q: As you mentioned, this novel is set in Faha, where your novel This Is Happiness took place. Why did you decide to return to this location, and how important is setting to you in your writing?

 

A: I don’t think I had a choice to go somewhere else. Rather the way that Christine and I have lived nearly 40 years in west Clare, the writing took root here.

 

When writing This Is Happiness I didn’t want to finish the novel and leave Faha. And I was greatly encouraged when readers started writing to me to say they didn’t want to finish reading and so leave Faha.

 

So I began to conceive of a series of Faha novels that will cover the time between the coming of electricity and the arrival of the internet. 

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the story?

 

A: Joy. The timeless pleasures of a story well told. 

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am just starting the next Faha novel, set six years later. 

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: The film of my first novel, Four Letters of Love, starring Pierce Brosnan, Gabriel Byrne, and Helena Bonham Carter, will be in cinemas next spring. 

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Niall Williams.

Q&A with Bonnie Kistler

 

Photo by Nicole McConville

 

 

Bonnie Kistler is the author of the new novel Shell Games. Her other novels include The Cage. A former Philadelphia trial lawyer, she lives in southwest Florida and western North Carolina.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Shell Games, and how did you create your characters Julie and Kate?

 

A: I’m a bit embarrassed to admit this, but the idea for Shell Games literally came to me in a dream. This is such a departure for me. I write realistic fiction, and my ideas usually come from actual events going on in the world. I’m not at all a mystical person.

 

But one night I had a vivid dream: I was a bride, and on our wedding night, my new husband confessed to me that he was the notorious Tylenol killer.

 

Horrified, I ran screaming to the police, but he followed hard on my heels and apologized to the police, explaining that I was having another of my “episodes.” I realized that he was trying to convince the police, and ultimately me, that I was insane.

 

When I woke up, I thought This is the gaslighting novel I need to write!

 

The character of Julie was also a departure for me. A few years ago a reader at one of my events said that what she loved about all my books was how they centered on a strong, smart woman. That was exactly my aim, but as she spoke, I suddenly thought I’m in a rut!

 

I wanted to challenge myself to create a character who isn’t particularly strong or smart, at least at the outset.

 

Julie suffered a childhood trauma, grew up in the shadow of a powerful mother, and married a domineering man. The result is that she appears as mousy and unsure of herself.

 

But over the course of the novel, circumstances force her to draw on her inner resources and to become stronger and smarter. This was a character arc I really enjoyed writing.

 

The character of her mother Kate was such fun to create. So many books and shows have been written about male titans of industry, but so few about women, unless they’re in female-coded fields like fashion or cosmetics.

 

Kate is a self-made real estate developer, rich and powerful and larger-than-life. But she’s not without her tender spots, as shown in her reawakened love for her old high school sweetheart. Her unexpected vulnerability is what makes her fascinating to me.

 

Q: How would you describe their mother-daughter dynamic?

 

A: They love each other, but that love is so freighted with complications. Kate can’t help feeling disappointed that Julie isn’t her mini-me, but also guilty for feeling disappointed. Julie can’t help feeling exasperated with her mother and her high-handedness, but also guilty for feeling exasperated.

 

Their relationship becomes even more complicated when Julie begins to fear that Kate is sinking into dementia. This is a fear confronted by many women with aging parents, and like them, Julie whipsaws between denial and a need to protect her mother. It’s almost a role reversal where she becomes the parent and her mother becomes the child.

Q: Why did you decide to focus on the issue of climate change in the novel?

 

A: I always aim first and foremost in my novels to entertain the reader. But because I’m writing contemporary fiction reflecting the real world, I also try to weave in real social issues.

 

The threat of climate change is present everywhere, but it seems especially visible in Florida, where Shell Games is set. Florida has always had to deal with hurricanes, but thanks to climate change, the threat is greater today than it ever was.

 

When I wrote Shell Games, Helene and Milton hadn’t even occurred yet, but I can’t take credit for being prescient. I’m afraid the devastation of those hurricanes was inevitable.

 

Q: The writer Matthew Blake said of the novel, “Shell Games is the ultimate one-sitting read that has everything—incredible family dynamics, characters that burst off the page and a premise so deliciously enticing and surprising that the pages quite simply turn themselves.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: Matthew is the author of Anna O, one of the most exciting and highly-praised thrillers of the year, so I’m overjoyed that he liked Shell Games.

 

I especially love his statement that the characters burst off the page. To me, that’s the most important ingredient of any novel. A lot of thrillers have a terrific premise and a fast-paced plot, but without fully developed characters who seem like living, breathing people, the stories often fall flat.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m writing another thriller, and it’s a tricky one, with dual narratives in multiple locales and a tightly compressed timeline. At the moment I have about a dozen balls in the air. Fingers crossed that I manage to catch them all.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: One of my earlier novels, The Cage, is currently in development for adaptation as a limited series on streaming TV.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Bonnie Kistler.

Q&A with Steve Schafer

 

 

 

Steve Schafer is the author of the new young adult novel eMortal. He also has written the YA novel The Border. He lives near Philadelphia.

 

Q: What inspired you to write eMortal, and how did you create your characters Liv and Breck?

 

A: Most AI stories are apocalyptic—the AIs realize they are superior and they try to take us out. I wanted to explore a different angle of AI evolution. If we create AI in our image, what if they develop as emotionally fragile and needy as we are?

 

eMortal tells the story of an AI (Breck) who struggles with his own identity after becoming self-aware. I then added a ticking-clock to give the story the pace of a page-turning thriller.

 

I created Liv to explore a related question—even if an AI became self-aware, how could it/he prove this to us? As Breck’s programmer, this is Liv’s struggle. It’s not an easy question to answer! Even when she finally believes it, she can’t convince others.

 

This struggle made for plenty of room to explore some deep questions in a relatable way.

 

Q: How would you describe the dynamic between Liv and Breck?

 

A: It evolves along with Breck’s progression from chatbot to sentient being.

 

Liv treats Breck like a tool at first, because that’s what she believes him to be. Breck not only recognizes this, but he also feels it. This allows him to explore his newfound emotions and ability to express these.

 

I loved writing their arguments—there’s so much tension in Breck fighting to prove his worth and Liv’s reluctance to accept it. But she eventually does. The ultimate test is whether she’s willing to sacrifice what truly matters to her in order to save him.

 

This sets Liv on a path to become more than just Breck’s creator, but also his advocate and his friend.

 

Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?

 

A: The ending includes a big twist, and I knew what this would be from very beginning. I just wasn’t clear how to get there. I rewrote the novel a few times because it was tricky to deliver upon. Each iteration got closer. I’m happy with how it all unfolds—I hope readers are as well!

 

Q: What do you think the story says about AI? 

 

A: I think it’s an acknowledgment that we’re moving exponentially toward something that we don’t fully understand, and this may force some tough questions that we don’t know how to answer.

 

AI is a black box. Even AI programmers don’t fully understand how AI does what it does because it’s an algorithm, not a program in the classic sense. The code instructs the AI to learn and then reconfigure itself based on this learning. So, it evolves in ways we can’t predict or even see firsthand.

 

What if it becomes something more than just code? It’s a sci-fi idea right now, but it may be something we need to consider in earnest at some point down the road.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Promoting eMortal! I do have a few ideas that I’m fleshing out for my next novel.

 

A couple are YA-related. One idea explores the how a US teen wrestles with his sense of privilege in a world with so much disparity. Another idea returns to the topic of immigration (like my prior novel, The Border), but this time it examines the journey of an immigrant who is already in the US and trying to connect with his mother who came here years before him. 

 

I’m also considering rewriting an (unpublished) adult novel I wrote about a decade ago. It’s about how one hasty action might impact the course of your life.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: The AI character from eMortal, Breck, exists on my website. Readers can chat with him there to learn more about him and his struggles with identity. I’m hopeful it’s a fun way to add depth to the story universe. Try to see if he can prove to you that he’s “real”…or try to prove that you are real to him!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Nov. 20

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Nov. 20, 1923: Nadine Gordimer born.

Q&A with Shelley Noble

 

 

 

Shelley Noble is the author of the new novel The Colony Club. Her many other novels include The Tiffany Girls. She lives in New Jersey.

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Colony Club?

 

A: I had been kicking around this idea of doing a story about Bessie [Marbury] and Elsie [de Wolfe] for a while. They were fascinating characters.

 

Bessie was one of the most important theatrical agents in New York and Europe in the early 1900s. Elsie was known as “The best dressed actress on the Rialto,” as well as Bessie’s protégé and lifetime companion.

 

But I couldn’t come up with the historical or fictional hook that felt right for the story.

 

Then one day I was listening to a podcast by my colleague Alix Rickloff who mentioned using the book Ladies and Not-So-Gentle Women in her research on Daisy Harriman for Last Light Over Oslo.

 

I had used the same book for my research on Bessie and Elsie, so I revisited it and happily ran across a phrase about “Daisy’s club.” It seemed intriguing so I looked for more about this club, and found the establishment of the very real Colony Club, which still exists today. And suddenly the concept of the novel blossomed into being.

 

Q: The writer Eliza Knight called the book a “powerful reminder that when women work together, they can not only achieve great things, but smash through barriers.” What do you think of that assessment?

 

A: I absolutely agree and I’m so glad that she got that from my portrayal of the real and fictional characters and their story.

 

Over and over in history, women have embraced issues that were unrecognized, dismissed or considered off limits, and have organized to overcome obstacles to change things for the better. Change sometimes takes a village, and often a village of women.

Q: Of your three main characters, two--Daisy Harriman and Elsie de Wolfe--are historical figures, but the third, Nora Bromley, is fictional. How did you create her?

 

A: The first thing I did was study the few women architects of the period. At the time an architect, male and female, didn’t need a degree in architecture to practice. Most attached themselves to a firm and worked their way up as Stanford White did. Only a few women actually ended up practicing.

 

I knew the kind of young woman I wanted Nora to be and I wove the characteristics of her prototypes into her personality and drive.

 

Q: What do you see as the role of Stanford White in the novel?

 

A: Stanford White was the architect of the clubhouse, which was a four-storied town house that took up four city blocks on Madison Avenue. He was very much in demand at the time. And a very complicated person.

 

His scandalous lifestyle finally caught up with him and he was murdered during the building of the club. The scandal arising from the trial nearly ended the future of the club.

 

So though he was a minor player in the actual scenes of the novel, his own life impacted the club and its members in extremely challenging ways.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I just turned in The Sisters of Book Row, which takes place in 1915, along Fourth Avenue between Union Square and Astor Place, which was home to most of the secondhand and rare book stores of Manhattan.

 

Three sisters who run a rare bookshop mysteriously receive a box of lost fragments of poetry by the ancient, and banned, Greek poetess Sappho, just as the most vicious censor in American history, Anthony Comstock, unleashes his minions upon Book Row.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Just that I feel blessed to be able to bring my love of history to my readers and hopefully spark a little of that love in them too.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Shelley Noble.

Q&A with Ginette DePreist

 

 

 

Ginette DePreist is the author of the new memoir Reach Up: My Beautiful Journey with James DePreist. It focuses on her life with her late husband, symphony conductor James DePreist (1936-2013). Ginette DePreist lives in Portland, Oregon.

 

Q: What inspired you to write this memoir?

 

A: I wanted to show how important it was for anyone to stick to their dreams and passion no matter what, which is what Jimmy did.

 

Q: How would you describe your relationship with your late husband, and what do you see as his legacy today?

 

A: My relationship with Jimmy was one of a loving and strong partnership.

 

I am still amazed after his passing away over 10 years ago, how Jimmy is still so alive in people’s memory. Whether it is all the artists he collaborated with or with the public he served and the students he had been teaching all through his career, their memories are strong and they are still happy to talk about him.

Q: The writer Rita Coburn said of the book, “This is as much a story about the fine art of conducting as it is about the blending of two souls that discover what it is to become one.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I think what she saw in both of us, as I said, was not only a partnership but also a true love story. Jimmy was as much in love with me as I was with him which lasted until the day he died. It is completely accurate.

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?

 

A: A beautiful love story about a man who was also loved by so many.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Just digesting the three-plus years I spent writing this book. It was very emotional for me to put the book together and now it’s time to go out into the world to talk about the book and Jimmy but also making time to focus on my other love, which is painting and drawing.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I’m available to talk to people about the book – book clubs, bookstores, libraries, special groups of people interested in the world of classical music – I’m excited to be spreading the word.

 

And I encourage people to look at my website, www.jamesdepreistmemoir.com – where upcoming events and interview links will be listed.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Q&A with F.K. Clementi

 

 

 

F.K. Clementi is the author of the new memoir South of My Dreams: Finding My American Home. Her other books include Holocaust Mothers and Daughters. She is an associate professor of English and Jewish Studies at the University of South Carolina.

 

Q: Why did you decide to write this memoir?

 

A: I sat down, wiped my tears of rage, and began typing my book as soon as I heard the news about the Access Hollywood tape, in 2016. I too have been a woman “grabbed,” attacked, humiliated, probably laughed at in private between-men-only conversations, and left discarded, thoughtlessly like trash on the side of a road.

 

The news stirred flashbacks I had long ago repressed, pushed in a subconscious dungeon from where, I thought, they’d never resurface.

 

The tape emerged in the context of a presidential election battle, characterized by a foaming hatred for women, climaxing in a national death-wish against the Democratic female presidential candidate.

 

It seemed that in order to cater to the needs of this irrational and incurable misogyny, the course of history was going to be derailed. And eventually, in November of that year, it was.

 

My childhood in Rome, Italy, had been framed in a climate of misogyny, antisemitism, homophobia, racism, and Mafia-style clientelism. A bouquet of immoralities that I now saw reflected in the agenda itself of America’s right-wing politics.

 

At that point, it became an existential urge for me to narrate my path to becoming American, because while each path is unique to each person, mine was probably also not uncommon: not uncommon, that is, among women.

 

When little girls of my generation dreamed fame and success for themselves, they weren’t told that these come at a price specific to their gender. Not just the universal combo of hard work, self-education, and some ineffable God-given qualities.

 

In 1970s Italy, girls grew up to become women programmatically grabbed by the pussy and promised passage into the world of their dreams only in exchange for certain favors in nature they were never going to reveal, let alone denounce.

 

I reacted to this state of affairs the only way any sane person of means would: I fled. And what did I discover elsewhere? That in France, England, Poland, Israel, and America, the same dynamics were solidly in place.

 

The question of how I fit into this country, or whether I do at all, became pressing in 2016. And two election cycles later, today, as 2024 comes to an end, my memoir is being published perhaps to answer the question: Will I ever belong here? And what role will I play in the making of my America?

 

Q: The writer Julie Metz said of the book, “Yes, parts of Clementi’s story are harrowing, but there are also surprising moments of dark humor that leaven her quest to find the place where she can be truly free, in a room of her own.” What do you think of that description, and what do you see as the role of humor in the book?

 

A: Mine is a hybrid narrative nestled somewhere between Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary and Zola’s J’accuse, and quixotic Fania, the protagonist, is part Yentl (just not lucky enough to be motherless), part Portnoy (without a penis to get in the way of her humanness), and fundamentally everything Nora Ephron’s heroines aspire to be but without the connections to get a table at Masa or an OpEd in the Sunday New York Times.

 

Fania is not particularly lucky, and the only way to describe her path (which is my life) is through humor. Julie Metz’s description is right on the mark.

 

It is very rare to find humor in a literary genre that traditionally focuses on stories of struggle, personal pain and trauma—as my memoir certainly does as well. Humor helps mitigate even the most heart-wrenching episodes, and it also underlines the irreverence and subversiveness of this narrative.

 

My life is marked by an irreparable trauma, yet I believe that laughing at myself and the world won’t take away from the difficulties I experienced: it makes them simply more bearable, to a certain extent.

 

Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

 

A: Strangely, I had originally intended to title the book Liberty.

 

I love that English language is so much richer than Italian, to the point that it has multiple words for certain important concepts that in Italian can be expressed only by one word: for example, liberty and freedom (in Italian we only have libertà to signify both concepts), or alone and lonely (another great nuance that isn’t present in my language).

 

Liberty meant so much to me, personally, and as a symbol for what America stands for. However, as my friends here pointed out, the word liberty has been coopted by the conservatives and it makes everybody else recoil.

 

I saw their point, but for a long time I refused to give it up. You know, it’s like once you’ve decided the name of your baby… and have used it for a few years… it's hard to suddenly rename the child. Eventually I did and I am so happy to have received this important feedback.

 

It was sheer agony to come up with a different title, though: Excruciating! I took a notepad and jotted down a few options: 12 to be exact. My editor was waiting, and I was running out of time.

 

I took a break, went for a walk (I do most of my thinking while walking) and stumbled upon a new idea.

 

As I write in the book, only once in America, I learned the expression “to go south”… which I’ve always found super funny. And what else has my life been, if not a freefall, always away from my goals, often in the exact opposite direction from where I was heading… invariably and literally south?

 

I had already sent the first 12 options to my editor—whose response was kind but lukewarm. So, I wrote again, without much hope: “Sorry for bothering you with yet another option. How about South of My Dreams?” The editor answered within seconds, in all-caps, followed by loads of exclamation marks. He loved it!

 

Q: Especially at a time when immigration is in the news, what do you hope readers take away from your story?

 

A: I am an expat. Mine is the story of an unconventional “immigration” to America. This is not the typical narrative America is accustomed to hearing about itself. Not your classic from-rags-to-riches trajectory but, surprisingly, the other way around.

 

I left a loving posh environment in the heart of Rome (think Garden of the Finzi-Contini, if it helps) and came to pursue a Ph.D. in Jewish Studies at Brandeis University, happy as a lark to begin a new adventure that appeared full of promise and opportunities. (I had seen all the Hollywood movies about the American Dream: it had to be true!)

 

Most of all, I was thrilled to have found a way to leave behind a corrupt society that, especially for women, held no promises but often demanded demeaning compromises. A world marred by violent misogyny and antisemitism.

 

As soon as I landed at Logan airport, I discovered that reality in this new world was very different from what I had expected America to be.

 

The resulting book is the merciless and comical account of a disillusionment. One hundred years after Mary Antin, I offer my version of what it means to become American today.

 

I hope the readers will learn something about the way in which America appears to the eyes of a newcomer and that they will be able to laugh with me at some of its strange idiosyncrasies.

 

What can I tell the American public about immigration? Well, every immigrant has a different experience.

 

However, all hosting countries (be it America, France, England, or any of the traditional meccas) make the same mistake: people think that every single thing an immigrant leaves behind is awful and that what we find in the new place is better than what we knew before, in the "old world."

 

This couldn’t be further from the truth. All immigrants carry in their hearts distant traces of childhoods or adult lives full of sweet memories: foods, home, family, friends, the comfort of one’s native tongue.

 

I believe that no matter what pushes you away from your motherland, there are things you are forced to leave behind whose absence from your life will make your heart bleed forever.

 

But the immigrant is expected to bow his or her head, be in awe of America, abstain from criticizing: and as a symbol of loyalty to the new homeland, one has to disavow one’s origins.

 

I wish people had more compassion for the real sacrifices migration, expatriation, exile entail. Problem is, that because of the pressures the newcomer lives under, he or she very rarely voices the truth about this ancient and heartrending experience.

 

The fear of being accused of betrayal, of hearing “If you don’t like it, go back to where you came from!”, of being deported, is always threatening the newcomer’s freedom to tell it as he or she sees it.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am working on my second novel. Novel writing is such a relief after agonizing for years over one’s own real-life misery! I love making up stuff about nonexistent people who won’t get hurt by invented circumstances.

 

No more “Can I say this? Will such and such person be able to handle hearing what I think of him/her? Am I remembering this correctly? Did it really happen?!” and “It’s just too painful, I can’t anymore!” Now it’s just: “My protagonist has an evil colleague who is bad to her. I’ll have her kill him.” Such fun!

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: There is so much more than what made it into the book! But perhaps, to know all, you’ll have to wait for my next memoir. I received some personal information from my mother, recently, that bowled my world over. Fania’s crazy life is still unfolding.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb