Photo by Leah G. Photography
Talya Jankovits is the author of the new novel The Very Unremarkable Life of Mrs. Etty Bloom. She also has written the poetry collection girl woman wife mother. She lives in Chicago.
Q: What inspired you to write The Very Unremarkable Life of Mrs. Etty Bloom, and how did you create your character Etty?
A: The idea of the mundane and the stories that lie inside the ordinary has always interested me.
I am also fascinated by unlikeable characters, not just fictional ones, but the individuals who come into our lives, whether on the periphery or the epicenter, that cause chaos.
It always begs the question of what is motivating that individual to make particular choices that might seem reprehensible to us, and what experiences transpired along the way that shaped them into unlikable people. Thus, the life of Mrs. Etty Bloom.
The character of Etty Bloom materialized out of nowhere one day as nearly a whole person — a very ordinary and unlikeable whole person. She became this manifestation of a conglomerate of unlikeable and problematic traits in people and of my observant lifestyle.
It was a snowball effect. She grew fuller and fuller so that by the time I sat down to write, she took the lead. What struck me as I followed her were the moments of profundity and existential struggles she faces, which facilitate empathy in the unlikable.
Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?
A: The title and the character were a package deal. They appeared to me together. One informed the other. I knew I wanted to tell the story of this woman’s life from beginning to end, and I understood her life to be prosaic.
The title encourages us to find the remarkable in the unremarkable. Most of us will live ordinary and forgettable lives, but to live at all is remarkable in and of itself.
Q: The author Sarah Yahm called the book a “beautifully sad and unexpectedly funny representation of the myriad ways women retain a sense of self in the midst of a patriarchal society.” What do you think of that description?
A: I think it is an attentive and insightful examination of a component of this book. Etty frequents the fringe of her community, and though she very much loves her observant lifestyle, she is also a strong-spirited woman who challenges the status quo.
I took advantage of Etty’s character to explore many of my own qualms within observant Judaism, but I also wanted to share much of the beauty found in this way of life as well. Her character definitely elicits a cognitive dissonance.
Q: How did you research the novel, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?
A: Though I am an Orthodox Jew with Hasidic lineage, I was not raised in the same community with the same customs as Etty. There are many nuances in traditions and customs within Orthodox Judaism, and I had to familiarize myself with the ones specific to Etty’s community.
Many people were generous with their knowledge, specifically my husband’s cousins, who observe Hasidic Judaism in the same way Etty does.
There is also a tremendous amount of Yiddish in this novel. My father speaks Yiddish fluently, but he never spoke it to my siblings and me, so I had to do a lot of consulting to do on the Yiddish.
Many Yiddish-speaking family members helped me with this, but one brother-in-law in particular proved instrumental, taking the time to check each word and phrase and assist with the transliteration. I learned there are different dialects of Yiddish, and no one way to transliterate.
I am not sure anything particularly surprised me during my research since the world of Etty is not as foreign to me as it might be to most. I grew up visiting Hasidic communities in New York, specifically Borough Park, and my father and father-in-law both wear shtreimels.
Perhaps the most surprising outcome was that I fell in love with the deeply flawed character of Etty.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I am always in the middle of multiple projects. Right now, I am primarily focused on completing the final draft of another novel. This one deals with memory and has a bit of a sci-fi component to it.
Though it is a wildly different novel from The Very Unremarkable Life of Mrs. Etty Bloom, it still begs the reader to ask similar questions: How do experiences shape who we are? What does it mean to live authentically?
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: This book faced a tremendous amount of rejection, hundreds in fact. Its publication is a testament to perseverance. I hope this serves as encouragement to anyone who is currently facing any kind of rejection.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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