ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Feb. 3, 1874: Gertrude Stein born.
Friday, February 3, 2023
Thursday, February 2, 2023
Q&A with Katja Ivar
Katja Ivar is the author of the new novel Trouble, the third in a series featuring her character Hella Mauzer. Ivar lives in Washington, D.C.
Q: This is your third Hella Mauzer mystery--what inspired the plot of Trouble?
A: There's that thing that (still) happens to women - sometimes people just think they can decide for you, and when you challenge them, they explain that they are acting like that "for your own good!" Because some people still think women are incapable of knowing what is good for them, what they want. I wanted to build a story around that.
It takes place in the 1950s, but Hella is the sort of character who would not accept being patronised. She will keep on investigating, even if many people tell her she better not - for her own good.
The story starts with Hella doing a routine background check - as run-of-the-mill as it can get - but that quickly morphs into something much more dangerous. Even Hella is left wondering if she's up for that much excitement.
Q: In our previous interview, you noted that this third book took place in summertime, in the polar daylight, as opposed to the previous two books. How important is that to the plot?
A: Very important, for two reasons. First of all, the crime Hella progressively uncovers is so dark, but hidden in plain sight - I wanted to create a stark contrast between the sunlit summer city and the secrets hidden within.
Also, my character, Hella, is at a crossroads in what concerns her personal life. She's not that young by 1950s standards. She's unmarried. She has just terminated an affair with a married man who was the love of her life.
I wanted the events in the novel to take place around Juhannus (Midsummer) night - the time that is traditionally associated with many superstitions around love and marriage - because it is in opposition with Hella's worldview. Society, and fate, is pushing her in one direction. Will she go there is the question.
Q: How did you research the novel, and did you learn anything that especially surprised you?
A: I do try to be as precise as possible, and so this time around, I spent quite a bit of time going through old city maps, trying to figure out what tram line Hella would take, what songs my characters would listen to, and what would be on the front pages of newspapers.
As Hella's best friend (and sometimes reluctant sidekick, Tom) is a pathologist, I also had much fun trying to figure out what medical discoveries had been made at the time - and one of these provides an important clue to the enigma, though my characters do not realise it at first.
Q: The writer Maxim Jakubowski, referring to the first Hella Mauzer novel, Evil Things, called Hella a "feminist 1952 cop before feminism was invented." What do you think of that description?
A: That's so true! Feminism as an attitude has always existed, even when there was no word to name it. Contrary to what everyone around her thinks, Hella is absolutely convinced she can be as good as any man - or even better. In this novel, the weight of society's expectations lies heavily on her shoulders - but she won't have any of that. Of course, trouble ensues.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I am always scribbling something - storylines, descriptions, character studies. I have plotted another novel - now I just need to start writing it :-)
--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Katja Ivar.
Q&A with Philip C. Almond
Philip C. Almond is the author of the new book Mary Magdalene: A Cultural History. His other books include The Antichrist: A New Biography. He is an emeritus professor at the University of Queensland in Australia.
Q: What inspired you to write this cultural history about Mary Magdalene?
A: I became interested in Mary Magdalene when I first read Susan Haskins’ book in the 1990s and formed the intention to follow up on that. This was cemented by her increasing importance in popular culture with The Da Vinci Code.
Q: You write, “At the center of the story of Mary Magdalene there lies a paradox. We know virtually nothing of her.” Why is that, and what would you say are some of the most common perceptions and misconceptions about her?
A: The paradox is how much was made in the Western church of so little. I think it was Gregory the Great’s identification of her with the fallen woman and with Mary of Bethany that created the narrative space for the development of the Mary legend in the West.
Q: How have impressions of Mary Magdalene changed over the past 2,000 years, and what do you see looking ahead?
A: Only in the middle of the 20th century did the Catholic church rather surreptitiously separate Mary from the fallen woman. And only in 2021 did Pope Francis separate her from Mary of Bethany. Will this make a difference to Mary in the West? Probably not. The composite Mary is too well embedded. And she now has a Da Vinci Code-style life in popular culture outside of the Church.
Q: The Publishers Weekly review of the book says, in part, “Almond traces the ‘history of how and why Christianity, with the minimal historical data at its disposal, created its ideal Christian saint,’ characterized by a paradoxical meeting of sinfulness and holiness.” What do you think of that description, and can you say more about the paradox involved?
A: I think that is a pretty apt description. With the identification of Mary and the fallen woman, she was the person in the life of Jesus who was the greatest apparent sinner – the rest were fisherman, or tax collectors, or not known. So she was the great sinner who was redeemed within the gospels by Jesus himself.
Then too, as Mary of Bethany, she was the perfect exemplar of the contemplative life. Overall, the ideal of the redeemed person who was a sinner. If she can be saved, so can we!
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I have just finished a book on how the Buddha came to the West, that tells the history of the contacts of Buddhism and the West from the first encounter with Alexander the Great through to now. It demonstrates how the idea of “Buddhism” came to be invented in the West in the middle of the 19th century.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Perhaps it is useful to know that, in some ways, my research follows a very traditional model. It is above all curiosity driven. I come across something and think, now that is interesting – and off I go. That’s the old model of “blue sky research.”
But in another way, my work is untraditional. I have been writing crossover books for the better part of the last 20 years. So, while the books contain traditional academic architecture (footnotes, etc.), they are written for a larger audience coming to these topics without any background.
In that sense they are driven by the notion of writing for a larger public audience (as well as providing fresh insights for an academic audience).
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
Wednesday, February 1, 2023
Q&A with Lyn Liao Butler
Lyn Liao Butler is the author of the new novel Someone Else's Life. Her other novels include The Tiger Mom's Tale. She is also a personal trainer, fitness instructor, and yoga instructor.
Q: What inspired you to write Someone Else’s Life, and how did you create your characters Annie and Serena?
A: When my husband and I bought the lake house we currently live in, we found out that we’d taken it from a buyer who had had their mortgage turned down twice and were about to ask for an extension. The sellers were freaking out since they’d already moved, and we were told to come in with our best offer if we really wanted the house.
After we moved in, I started to see this white car parked in front of our house, but whenever I looked, I never saw anyone in the car. And then my husband started seeing the white car too. I was convinced it was the previous buyer, coming back to harm us for stealing their house. I imagined her sitting out there, thinking, that’s my house, my life. And thus, the characters of Annie and Serena were born.
If you’ve read the book, you’ll see that much of what I said above is familiar – lol.
Q: The novel is set in Kauai, Hawaii, during a storm--how important is setting to you in your writing?
A: The setting is very important. We love Kauai, it is the place of my heart and I knew I wanted to set this book there. My husband and our son lived in Kauai during the pandemic so I could research this book.
It started off as an upmarket novel, much like my first two books, but somehow turned into a thriller. I found the idea of something sinister happening on such a beautiful place intriguing, and leaned into it.
Q: Most of the story takes place over the course of one day. How did that timing affect the pacing of the novel?
A: It was very hard to write, pacing wise. For me, it was supposed to be a slow burn, building up to the tension and reveal. Some people may think it’s too slow in the beginning, but I wanted to build up the two characters, make them real people, before the reason for Serena knocking on the door becomes apparent.
Q: Without giving anything away, did you know how the story would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?
A: No, the ending is not at all what it originally was. First of all, the first version I wrote was a multicultural family drama, much like Amy Tan’s books. And then when it turned into a thriller, it had a different ending when we pitched it to my editor. As I started writing the book, what is now the ending just wrote itself in.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I just turned in my next thriller (out in February 2024) to my editor, and I have a romcom titled Crazy Bao You coming out later this year. I am also working on an upmarket novel right now, which will be set in Kauai and Taiwan.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: I am fueled by sunshine, papayas, and Mai Tais.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
Q&A with Mansi Shah
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| Photo by Ron Derhacopian |
Mansi Shah is the author of the new novel The Direction of the Wind. She also has written the novel The Taste of Ginger. She lives in Los Angeles.
Q: What inspired you to write The Direction of the Wind, and how did you create your characters Sophie and Nita?
A: I have long had a love affair with Paris and knew I wanted it as the backdrop to my story, but I wanted to focus on the lesser-known gritty side of Paris that isn’t often written about.
I also wanted to address the expectations of motherhood placed on women and how that could impact a woman’s mental health, especially as we are moving into a time when more and more women are choosing childfree paths.
I’ve always loved books that deal with complex issues by making them more accessible in an engaging story with interesting characters, so I set out to combine all these elements in my novel.
In creating Sophie and Nita, I wanted to have characters who had sheltered lives in India and had to learn about the harsh realities of the world when they went to the Western hemisphere for the first time.
Sophie is someone who has always wanted to blend in, but with a name that is not common in India and growing up without a mother, she never could. Nita is someone who always wanted to stand out, but felt that the culture and society into which she had been born wouldn’t allowed that.
The similarities and differences between them make clear they are family even though they spent most of their lives apart, and show that while we each have a history that we cannot change, we all have the power to guide our futures in a different direction.
Q: The book is told from both characters’ perspectives, along two timelines. Did you write the novel in the order in which it appears, or did you focus more on one character before turning to the other?
A: My first chapter had always started with Sophie and is basically the same as in the final version. I knew from the start that the story would be most compelling if I alternated between Sophie’s and Nita’s stories, but in my original drafts, I wrote the entirety of Nita’s story after the first chapter with Sophie, and then picked up the remainder of Sophie’s story and her search for Nita.
I needed to know everything that happened to Nita before I could write Sophie’s story, and writing chronologically made the most sense to me. Going back and editing to alternate the chapters was a lot of work to keep both stories engaging and cohesive, but it definitely felt like the right decision in the end.
Q: How was the book's title chosen, and what does it signify for you?
A: I love a multi-layered title, so when it came to choosing titles for my books, I leaned on Indian proverbs that apply to the characters and stories in a nuanced way. Once I had the concept for my book, I started researching proverbs that would fit the themes, and had to enlist the help of my parents and their friends to help me translate a lot of the Gujarati writing, but there’s no better feeling than the calm I feel once I know I have the right title.
Q: How did you research the novel, and did you learn anything that especially surprised you?
A: I want my readers to feel immersed in the places in which I set my novels, so for The Direction of the Wind, I spent a lot of time in Paris over many years to make sure I had an accurate depiction of the neighborhoods and places described in the book.
I also had to research any changes that would have happened between 1998 and 2019, but one of the reasons I’d chosen Paris as the backdrop is because it is a city that favors tradition over modernization, and has many long-established restaurants and locations that would ensure that despite the two-decade difference in the storylines, Nita and Sophie would be able to visit many of the same places.
I also had to do a lot of addiction and drug-related research, so that was an interesting rabbit-hole to jump down. If anyone had reviewed my Google search history during that time, they would have had a lot of questions!
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I’m currently working on a novel that features a chef and takes place in Tuscany and the Amalfi Coast. I have plans for future books that take place in Singapore and Bali as well. I’m not sure where my characters will end up after those stories, but Antarctica, East Africa, and the Maldives are in consideration.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: I have been blessed with an immensely talented cover artist, Micaela Alcaino, who does an exceptional job of visually representing my stories. I’d highly recommend you check out her work.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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