historical fiction – Page 6

Tales of a Medieval Woman Doctor- PK Adams

One of the great things about historical fiction, if you’re open to it, is the chance to read stories you’ve never heard from places you haven’t given any thought to and learn a little in the process. Take, for instance, Hildegard of Bingen. I’ll lay money you didn’t know she was Germany’s first female physician. I wouldn’t know either except for “The Greenest Branch,” by P K Adams.

Alright, lady. What’s your story?

I’m a Boston-based historical fiction author with a master’s degree in European Studies. I’m a life-long lover of history, and my goal is to bring stories of lesser-known historical figures and places to the attention of wider audiences. The Greenest Branch is my debut novel, with the second book in the series slated for release in early 2019. When not writing, I can be found drinking tea, practicing yoga, reading …. although usually not at the same time.

I was gonna say, that could get messy. Anyway, what’s “The Greenest Branch” about?

The Greenest Branch is based on the true story of Hildegard of Bingen (c.1098-1178), Germany’s first female physician. Living in the 12th century, she faced an uphill battle in her quest to gain the necessary medical education to be able to practice what was referred to then as “the healing arts.” Opposition to what she wanted to do was rooted not just in the prevailing social norms, but also in the Church’s attitudes towards women and towards the use of herbs (which it tended to conflate with witchery).

But it was not just the patriarchy that Hildegard had to deal with on her journey – she also faced difficult personal choices. In the book, I try to balance her achievements against the sacrifices she had to make, sacrifices that I believe ring true even all those centuries later.

What is it about Hildegard and the time period that drove you to write about her?

I have been a fan of medieval history for a long time, but I did not hear about Hildegard of Bingen until I took a history of music class in college (yes, she was also a composer, a writer, a philosopher, basically a jack-of-all-trades – in an era where most women could not even read or write). So I became captivated by her accomplishments and began to read more about her to find out how she was able to become a pioneer in so many fields reserved as a man’s domain in her time.

Interestingly, the record of her early life is pretty sparse, and I saw that as a chance to write a fictionalized account of how she rose to such prominence despite not being a royal wife or daughter. Some of the details may be fictionalized, but the story broadly follows Hildegard’s life journey.

Without giving away too much, what’s your favorite scene in the book?

In a scene quite early in the book, when Hildegard is only 13 years old and has just started working as an assistant to Brother Wigbert, the abbey physician, she asks him if women can also become physicians. Here’s the exchange:

“Can women study to be physicians, Brother?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“It is the natural order of things,” he replied, “that women should rear children since they are the gentler and more nurturing of the sexes. Who would guard the family hearth if they were to go to schools?”

I pondered this, frowning. “But if women are better at caring for others, they should make better doctors too, shouldn’t they?”

Wigbert looked momentarily surprised, then chuckled. “You make clever arguments, Hildegard, but studying requires well-developed reasoning faculties, which women do not possess, being more impulsive and less logical than men.”

I considered pointing out the contradiction but decided not to.

I love that scene because it shows the prevailing medieval beliefs regarding women’s intellectual abilities (I did not make Wigbert’s statement up, it’s based on how women were generally viewed). It also debunks them by pointing out the fundamental flaw of this way of thinking. Still, I feel a bit bad for Brother Wigbert because he is actually one of the good guys in the story – he becomes Hildegard’s mentor as her talent and determination become evident. However, there is another monk – the abbey’s prior – who is the antagonist and whose entire existence is absorbed by his efforts to make it impossible for Hildegard to achieve her dream of becoming a physician. As you can see, she had her work cut out for her.

Where can people find more about you and your work?

My book is available on Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2IPpj7h

and also Amazon UK, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, and several other marketplaces

My Goodreads author page URL: https://www.goodreads.com/pk_adams

Twitter: @pk_adams

Subscribe to my newsletter and get a chance to win a signed paperback copy of Acre’s Bastard. Each month you’ll receive links to interviews with great authors, news about upcoming events and previews of my work in progress, Acre’s Orphans. Look at the bottom left of the page for the sign-up sheet. No spam, just once a month updates and a chance to learn about great new Historical Fiction of all types from around the world.

Incas and Conquistadors with Dennis Santaniello

One of the guiding principles of my blog- hell, my life- is that swords are way cooler than guns. That means there are certain periods of history I find more interesting than others. One of those is the Spanish Conquest of South America. It’s an exciting, if not very pretty, period.

This week’s featured author, Dennis Santaniello, has just released the first of his “The Conquistadors” series of short swashbucklers.

So, who’s Dennis Santaniello and why do we care?

My name is Dennis Santaniello. I’m a writer from New Jersey. I’ve written screenplays and novels for the last 15 years, and I’m finally ready to share my talent with the world. I’m a typical writer: introverted, weird, but also warm and genuine. My genre is Historical Fiction, and I’ve been writing my epic trilogy “CONQUISTADORS” for the last 10 years. I’m a minimalist and I believe in conciseness, patience and get to the point story-telling. Life is short. Your time in this life is even shorter. Read all the Jane Austin and Emily Bronte you want, it’s simply just not for me. I tell stories in an effective and powerful way. And I always prided myself in doing so. Why? Because I care about my readers.

Granted, you’re not much on word count. What’s the first book in your series, “Brothers and Kings,” about?

In a nutshell, my book “Brothers and Kings” is about a Spanish soldier named Sardina and his journey of finding gold in the great Inca empire, but it is also about Manco Inca: a king who tries to salvage his kingdom from utter destruction.

Why this time period?

The time period is from 1527-1540 in Peru. I wrote the book because when I was 10 years old I was pissed that there were no good fiction books about the Spanish Conquistadors. So I decided to write one for myself. Well, it took me 20 years, but I think I rectified that. Now I’m sharing it with the whole world.

I can see that. Acre’s Bastard is my delayed response to reading “Kim,” and wondering why we never knew what happened to him. What’s your favorite scene in the book?

My favorite scene is the Battle for Cusco. It is pretty cool, to say the least.

Where can we learn more about you and your work?

You can find me at dennissantaniello.com or on Twitter: @philosofarmer

Barbary Pirates and Scottish Lasses with Josanna Thompson

Most of us think pirates and we immediately go to yo-ho-ho and rum and all that. But the Barbary Pirates were no joke. Today’s interview is with Josanna Thompson, who gives us a gripping tale of Algerian pirates and sweet Scottish lassies.

So, Josanna, what’s your deal?

Hi! I’m Josanna Thompson, and I’m the author of A Maiden’s Honor. I’ve been weaving stories for as long as I can remember. I’ve always loved history and learning about how people lived way back then. I’m also an avid traveler and was fortunate enough to explore many of these distant lands in my stories. When I’m not traveling, I live a quiet life with my husband in New England.

What’s the story behind A Maiden’s Honor?

It’s complicated to say the very least. What can I say, it’s not in me to write a simple tale. A Maiden’s Honor is no exception. In fact, it’s two stories. The primary part follows the journey of Sarah Campbell. The other follows the journey of my villain, Naa’il Dhar. Their stories eventually intertwine.

Raised by her Scottish father and the natives of a remote island in the South Pacific, Sarah and her father embark on a perilous journey to Scotland. She knew that her life would change when she left her beloved island. Never did Sarah imagine that she would be sold into a harem. With her father murdered and everything that she had ever known gone, only Hassan Aziz, the most feared pirate on the Barbary Coast can save her. But is Hassan willing to jeopardize his secret mission and risk his life and the lives of his crew to shield this intoxicating maiden from slavery?

Naa’il is the Dey of Algiers, a man who has everything including, wealth, power, wives, slaves, concubines. Drawn to two beautiful American captives, Naa’il tests their loyalty to each other. Little does he know that his game will have devastating consequences… especially for him.

What’s your favorite scene in the book?

One of my favorite scenes takes place between Sarah and the hero, Hassan Aziz. Sarah’s father had died early that morning. Hassan returns to his cabin and finds Sarah sitting beside the window looking reverently at her trunk filled with “treasures” from her life on her island. Hassan can tell she is sad, he sits beside her. She opens her trunk and pulls out four objects, a bamboo comb, a flat shell, a sharks tooth and a mat. Hassan gives into his curiosity and asks her about the purpose of these objects. Sarah proceeds to tell him about her life on her island while demonstrating the use of each one.

I love this scene because it’s such a sweet interlude between these two strangers. This is the beginning of their love affair.

Where can we learn more about you and your work?

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Maidens-Honor-Woman-Eden-Book-ebook/dp/B076FQ27S8

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JosannaThompsonAuthor/?ref=bookmarks

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17238374.Josanna_Thompson

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theglobetrottingtiari/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/josannathompson/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JosannaThompson

Look me up. I always enjoy chatting with readers.

Oh, I have a killer website. I built it like a DVD and packed it with lots of extras, including, a blog, interviews with characters, and articles about my research. I also give readers an opportunity to ask my characters questions. They are very chatty and would love to hear from you. (Click on the link below.) Check back from time to time. I’m always adding to it.

My website:

www.josannathompson.com

This is kind of a cool idea. Josanna has a feature on her site that says “Ask my character a question:” What would you ask her? I may steal this idea.

http://www.josannathompson.com/your-questions-for-the-characters

Thanks for interviewing me, Wayne. I had a great time answering your questions!

2 Stiffs Writing Historical Fiction

One of my favorite things about being a writer is connecting with other writers, and one of my favorite literary humans lately is Jeffrey K Walker, author of “None of Us the Same” and “Truly are the Free”.

He’s taken it upon himself to share some of our correspondence in a running feature on his blog called “Two Stiffs Writing Historical Fiction.” If you’d like a peek inside the minds of two guys who are trying to figure out the whole “writing about the past” thing, take a look.

Here’s this month’s edition

And the first conversation we had.

Beau Brummell by the Fashionable Erato

I know nothing about fashion, but both my wife and my mother ( and there’s nothing creepier than when they both say the same thing to you) referred to my attempts at dressing up as “very Beau Brummell.” I had no idea who that was, but now I’m smarter because of this week’s interview.

Erato, (yes it’s a pen name) has written about the ultimate 18th-century fashion plate in her new novel, The Cut of the Clothes.

What’s your story, Erato?

Erato writes under a pen name. She obviously doesn’t have my crying need for validation

So, Erato is my pen name — and no, it doesn’t mean I write erotica (what the hell, people? It’s not even the same key vowels, but people mistake it all the time for “Erotia” or something.) Editor’s Note: an overwhelming majority of people are idiots. Don’t let it get to you. In any case, I write historical fiction. So far all of my books are set in the Georgian/Regency era, which I am finding is a bit of a misfortune, as “Regency” has become a modern genre of its own that I don’t actually write; consequently people who like “Regency” stories don’t usually seem to like my work and other people who might actually like them don’t want to read them because they think they don’t like “Regency” stories. It just means they’re set in the late-18th/early-19th century in Great Britain, it doesn’t mean they’re about rakish noblemen having dubiously consensual sex with reluctant heroines, or that they’re Christian propaganda for clean living, or that they’re Jane Austen fanfiction where Darcy and Elizabeth have a secret baby the entire time of Pride and Prejudice.

Duly noted. It’s rough when genres constrict your subject matter. What’s the book about?

It tells the true story of Beau Brummell and the Prince Regent. It’s a story that’s been done a few times before, since it seems everyone agrees that was the most interesting part of Brummell’s life — when he was in London and at his peak. Brummell seems to possess such a natural charm, good looks, and a talent for matching his clothes together that he becomes an instant star once the Prince befriends him. My version is different from the other tellings for a couple reasons: first, it is the only one I know of that didn’t make up a fictional character to serve as a love interest for Brummell and then try to tell it as a love story. Secondly, it’s told from the Prince’s point of view, in my best attempt at historically accurate reproduction of the way he wrote.

I’m going to confess that fashion and talking about clothes bores me to tears, despite being strapped to the couch and forced to watch 13 seasons of Project Runway with the Duchesss. What is it about this story you find so fascinating?

I had heard the name Beau Brummell a bit, and when you mostly write Georgian/Regency fiction you know a little about him and his contributions to fashion from your research. I wrote kind of a knockoff version of him into the book None But Fools (as “Beau Bancroft”) but nothing very studied. While I was writing my upcoming book The Virgin and the Bull (it was written before Cut of the Clothes but only now getting published) I had needed to look up some fashion vocabulary term — I think the word I needed was the fall of a pair of breeches — and when I did so online, the page I found happened to also have a video of the opening scene of the BBC film Beau Brummell: This Charming Man. I watched the opening scene, which is not really anything more than James Purefoy as Brummell getting dressed and then walking down a hall, but on that basis, I thought, “My next book should be about Beau Brummell.” I deliberately did not watch the rest of that movie until after my book was done, and indeed our final takes on the story were quite different, but that was the inspiration.
What’s your favorite scene in the book?

There’s a joke, and I’m afraid if I explain it it’ll be ruined for like, the one person who will ever read it and actually get it without needing to look it up… ah well, they might not be amongst the same people who reads this blog, right? What are the odds? Prinny is sick in bed and is reading a book with a French title: Les Bijoux Indiscrets. I deliberately went out of my way to find the trashiest possible 18th century book for him to be reading. It’s a book by Denis Diderot of all people (co-creator of the first Encyclopedia.) It’s about a king with a magic ring that causes women’s vaginas to talk, and to declare their sexual histories. That’s as much of a plot as it’s really got. So, that’s what Prinny reads there.
Worth being said, the real-life Prinny had one hell of a pornography collection. If I remember correctly, when he died, it took three days of continuously burning fires to destroy it all. Nowadays people don’t tend to collect pornography magazines or dvd’s instead they just go online and visit websites like https://www.tubev.sex/ that have hundreds of adult porn videos that are free to watch.

Where can people learn more about you and your books?

The Cut of the Clothes – Amazon.com:
Amazon UK:
Google Play:

Erato’s Author Pages –

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2H3M6eD

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15113073.Erato

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EratoWrites

The First Draft of Acre’s Orphans is Born–Be Very Afraid

If you’re one of the many people who enjoyed Acre’s Bastard, you’ve probably figured out that there’s at least one more book to come. Well, I’ve finally finished the first draft. Here’s photographic proof.

The first draft of Acre’s Orphans does exist

That said, it’s a first draft. Here’s what that feels like in my head…

A first draft is like giving birth… even if it is an ugly, demonic little darling

If you’ve seen David Cronenburg’s 1979 movie, The Brood, this makes a lot more sense. It’s a deformed, demonic little creature but mama loves it. That’s how I feel about the first version of Acre’s Orphans. (Yes, that makes me Samantha Eggar in this story. Don’t read too much into that.) I am hopeful to have this revised and beta-read in time for a late fall launch.

If you’re a fan of Lucca the Louse, be prepared. You can drop me a line or join the newsletter using the link on this page to be the first to know when Acre’s Orphans is ready for the world.

Subscribe to my newsletter and get a chance to win a signed paperback copy of Acre’s Bastard. Each month you’ll receive links to interviews with great authors, news about upcoming events and previews of my work in progress, Acre’s Orphans. Look in the bottom left of the page for the sign-up sheet. No spam, just periodic updates and a chance to learn about great new Historical Fiction of all types from around the world.

Searching for the Nile, with Ken Czech

I am a sucker for stories about the British exploration and colonization of Africa. Maybe it’s being a child of the Commonwealth, or maybe it’s because when I was 8, I nearly wound up living in Rhodesia (which is now Zimbabwe) except for a paperwork error (long story, not enough whiskey to tell it right.) Just maybe it’s because, regardless of your political opinions of it (and it ain’t easy on a white boy’s conscience), it’s exciting and makes for great storytelling.

Among my favorite tales (and, full disclosure, this is in my file of novels I might want to write someday, so I’m a little cranky Ken beat me to it) is “Beyond the River of Shame,” the story of Samuel and Florie Baker. A middle aged hunter and railroad man took his young wife- purchased from the Turks at a slave auction no less- into the heart of Africa to follow the Nile from stem to stern in search of the river’s source.

Let’s let Ken Czech tell the story himself. Ken, what’s your deal?

I’m a retired history prof, and though I’ve had numerous history articles and books published, my new love is writing historical fiction. Beyond The River of Shame is my debut novel. My
second novel Last Dance In Kabul will be released in August.

I’m also an on-line antiquarian book dealer specializing in 19th and early 20th
century sporting and exploration books. I do my writing from wintry Minnesota.

What’s the story behind “Beyond the River of Shame?”

Beyond The River Of Shame is based on the real life adventures of 19th
century explorer Samuel White Baker and Florie, the young woman he
buys at a slave auction. After thundering the winning bid, Sam
realizes that owning a slave girl would be a huge scandal in Victorian
England so he abandons her and continues his trek to discover the
source of the Nile River. Pursued by the slave traders, Florie refuses
to stay abandoned. She joins Sam on an epic journey into the depths of
Africa where they struggle against wild beasts, killer diseases, and
the horrors of the slave trade. Though their courage and new found
love will be driven to the breaking point, the lure of the mysterious
“Dead Locust Lake” draws them to their climactic showdown with the
slave catchers.

The title is a bit of a metaphor for both the Nile River (their search
for its source keeps Florie and Sam together), and the angst Sam feels
in owning a slave girl coupled with the priggish judgment English
society would level at his reputation and family.

I’m halfway through the book now, and really enjoying it. I know why I’m fascinated by it. What is it about this story that got you going?

My specialty while teaching was Modern European History, including English exploration and imperialism. I became acquainted with the
story of Florie and Sam through the books he wrote describing his adventures. While Florie appears in his writings as his companion (usually identified only as ‘F’), there is no mention of her past or
their physical and psychological relationship.

My story combines fact with fiction as I tried to fill in the blanks about them. By the way, according to several biographies of Sam, Florie was purchased at a slave auction, something she admitted to only later in her life.

What’s your favorite scene in the book?

In Beyond The River Of Shame, my favorite scene takes place after a
Cape buffalo has charged Florie. She is escorted back to a tribal camp
where the women cleanse her in a cone of incense. Invited to a victory
feast that evening, she is quiet and reserved, while Sam dances around
the campfire. Later, after all have retired, she visits Sam’s bed for
the first time, breaking the barriers that have separated them.

Yeah, about that. If we lived closer, I’d buy you a couple of beverages and we could argue the historical merits of that particular detail, but that’s what makes historical fiction so much fun. Besides, after Count of the Sahara, I’m hardly in a position to judge filling in the blanks in people’s sex lives. Where can people read more about you and your work?

Here are some links that readers can find out more about my books and me.

http://www.kenczech.com

The book on Amazon

My Goodreads page

http://www.allthingsthatmatterpress.com/buynow.htm

http://www.fireshippress.com/fireship_authors/ken-czech.html

https://historicalnovelsociety.org/directory/ken-czech/

Subscribe to my newsletter and get a chance to win a signed paperback copy of Acre’s Bastard. Each month you’ll receive links to interviews with great authors, news about upcoming events and previews of my work in progress, Acre’s Orphans. Look in the bottom left of the page for the sign-up sheet. No spam, just once a month updates and a chance to learn about great new Historical Fiction of all types from around the world.

Latin American Drama w Charles Ameringer

One of the great joys (for me) of reading historical fiction is finding out about people, places and times I either never heard of or gave no previous thought to. No offense to those who spend their entire reading hours in the Civil War or dealing with the Tudors (the hell with it, offense meant. Change the menu on occasion, it’s good for you!) When I heard about Charles Ameringer’s novel of 1920s Venezuela, “The Sons of Hernan Garcia,” I figured it was worth speaking to him. It’s not like I have a shelf full of early 20th Century Latin American stories taking up space. What about you?

Charles Ameringer, born in Milwaukee, WI, September 19, 1926, is professor emeritus of Latin American History at Penn State University. During his academic career, he published eight scholarly books. Now, in retirement, he has drawn upon his travel and research and unleashed his imagination to produce works of fiction, namely, the spy/thriller, “The Old Spook” (2012), the urban drama, “Duke Wellington: East Harlem Lawyer ” (2015), and “The Sons of Hernan Garcia” (2018). (Editorial note, that makes him nearly ninety-freaking-one, and he’s still writing. I am out of excuses.)

What’s your novel about?

The book takes place during two years (1920-1921) within the rule of Juan Vicente Gomez of Venezuela (1907-1935) and Hernan Garcia’s tyrannical rule is based upon that of Gomez. It was a rule that was extremely cruel, and although the book is fiction it spares no details about the evils perpetrated by a dictatorship. That which the fictional characters endure and try to repay in kind makes for a thrilling game of cat and mouse.

What’s your favorite scene in the book?

The birthday party of the five sons wherein they express their hatred toward Garcia and the ways they would like to do him in. Although the sons were “blowing off steam,” the tyrant’s security force takes their remarks seriously and undertakes a deadly manhunt. The reader is taken for a journey across the great plain of Venezuela, populated by exotic birds and animals (egret, jaguar, and anaconda).

I can safely say that qualifies as a unique story, and one not often told. Where can we learn more about your books and your work?

You can find me on Amazon by clicking here

or on Goodreads

Subscribe to my monthly newsletter and get a chance to win a signed paperback copy of Acre’s Bastard. Each month you’ll receive links to interviews with great authors, news about upcoming events and previews of my work in progress, Acre’s Orphans. Look in the bottom left of the page for the sign-up sheet. No spam, just once a month updates and a chance to learn about great new Historical Fiction of all types from around the world.

Samurai Action and Fantasy with Travis Heermann

A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled across a Kindle book that looked like fun: “Heart of the Ronin.” Think Yojimbo, if Toshiro Mifune could talk to dogs. (He was so cool, he probably could, but didn’t want to brag about it.) Just go with me on this one. I have already stated my deep affection for samurai cinema and stories, so it’s no wonder I wanted to interview the author, Travis Heermann.

Travis is a novelist, freelancer, award-winning screenwriter, editor, poet, and a graduate of the Odyssey Writing Workshop. His latest novel, co-authored with Jim Pinto, is the horror-Western Death Wind. Other novels include The Ronin Trilogy, The Wild Boys, and Rogues of the Black Fury, plus short fiction published or forthcoming in Apex Magazine, Alembical,Fiction River, and others. His freelance work includes contributions to the Firefly Roleplaying Game, Battletech, Legend of Five Rings,and EVE Online. He lives in Colorado.

Now, on to the questions.

What’s the basic story of your book?

Heart of the Ronin and the Ronin Trilogy in total is about a young masterless samurai, a ronin, and his quest to make a name for himself in a world that despises him. He saves the life of the noble maiden, beset by a pack of bandits led by a terrifying demon. Ronin and maiden fall in love, only to discover that she is promised to another, a political match with a powerful samurai lord.

At its core, the series is about the Zen concept of non-attachment, as its applies to things like love, honor, and duty, all of which come into deadly conflict throughout the trilogy. There’s also some exploration about the nature of evil and how the Eastern notion of evil differs from the Western. All of that couched in an adventure story that takes on an epic scope.

I get that. When I have to explain my samurai fixation, I often refer to them as Japanese Westerns. One of the basic tenets of my own work is that swords are cooler than guns. What’s your fascination with this time period?

I’ve been a fan of samurai films and director Akira Kurosawa and actor Toshiro Mifune since high school. Mifune’s wolfish presence fills a screen like John Wayne did, with larger than life characters. I wanted to write a samurai novel. What started out as a single novel ultimately became a trilogy.

I settled upon the time period, the 13th century, because I fell down the rabbit hole of research. Japan’s history, well documented for almost two thousand years, still fascinates me. There are so many fascinating eras and characters of incredible power, few of which are even barely explored in Western media. In the 13th Century, Japan was the target of two invasions by Mongol Empire, a force of conquest and culture that stretched all the way to Eastern Europe before it fell into decline. This seemed to me like the richest possible ground for some amazing stories, and I was not wrong.

I hear ya. One of my favorite T-shirts asks, “What Would Toshiro Mifune Do?” Without giving away the goodies, what’s your favorite scene in the book?

In Heart of the Ronin, my favorite scene is probably the one where Ken’ishi, our ronin protagonist, saves Kazuko, the noble maiden, from the bandit attack. First, it’s just a ton of great action, and its the first encounter between these two characters, which will shape the rest of the story. Also, the leader of the gang, the oni, or demon, even though he’s defeated, returns over and over thematically throughout the series. He was just an amazingly fun character to write–and to keep bringing back in new and ever more demented ways.

You write more than just the Ronin trilogy. Where can people learn more about your work?

Here are some links to where I and my books can be found.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/ B002E453X4

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ TravisHeermann

Web Site: http://www. travisheermann.com

Blog: http://www. travisheermann.com/blog/

Facebook: https://www. facebook.com/travis.heermann

Goodreads: http://www. goodreads.com/author/show/ 418704.Travis_Heermann

A WW2 Story You Haven’t Heard (Probably) K M Sandrick

No area of history is as popular in historical fiction and film as the Second World War. Oddly, it’s one I don’t read a lot about anymore, maybe because of overload when I was younger. I mean, I get it…Nazis = bad, battles in the South Pacific were brutal, and I’ve seen all the Holocaust movies I ever need to see to get the point…. yet occasionally you get a new story, one you didn’t already know. Such is the case with The Pear Tree, from fellow Chicago writer Karen (K M) Sandrick.

Full disclosure, I read this book to review it for Windy City Reads (I’ll post the review when it’s up). While the topic was intriguing, I wasn’t impressed with the cover of the book, and went in with low expectations. I was wrong. It’s well-researched and moving. Plus the story is one I only vaguely heard of, With that…

Karen, what’s your story?

I am a long-time freelance journalist who specializes in clinical medicine, hospital finance and governance. The Pear Tree is my first attempt at fiction. You may wonder how it all came about; glad you asked. With a degree and background in science, I have had little education in some of the fun stuff, like literature, and drama, and music. Even history got short-shrift. The only class I had as an undergrad, for example, was The History of Western Civilization—in two semesters. So I have been filling in the blanks with continuing education courses at local universities.

One class in a course on WW II on the Eastern Front began by recounting the story of the Anthropoid operation (depicted in the recent movie Anthropoid editorial note: least appealing movie title ever) and then described the Nazis’ retaliation against the Czech people. That same evening at a free-form writing seminar (I have a lot of blanks to fill), the story began taking shape in my notebook. I have to say that it just grabbed onto me and wouldn’t let me go until it was told.

What’s The Pear Tree about?

It is a tale about a largely forgotten incident in WW II–the total destruction of the small Czech town of Lidice in retribution for the assassination of the head of Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia by Czech partisans. The Pear Tree begins on the day Reinhard Heydrich was attacked by Czech partisans. It describes the investigation that leads the Gestapo to Lidice, the destruction of the town, the interrogation of its women and children, and the forced separation of mothers from their infants, sons from their mothers, friends from friends. The book follows the paths of characters who wrestle with fear that they will never see their families again, that their secrets will be revealed, that they will never learn the truth.

It’s a fascinating…and horrible… story. What is it that fascinated you about it?

The enormity of the Nazi response and, in the end, its failure. Though there is almost no link between the townspeople and the assassination, all its men are killed onsite. All its women are taken away, killed or sent to forced labor or prostitution. Children are divided by their racial characteristics and either sent to gas vans or adoption by German families. The buildings of the town are razed, their bricks and stones carted away. The farms are plowed under, unsuitable “Czech dirt” is replaced by rich German soil. The objective is to leave no indication that the town ever existed. Overlooked is a pear tree sapling whose top branches have been blown away but whose trunk remains. The book tells of the importance of the only living reminder of Lidice to two main characters: a young woman who mourns the loss of her son and a thirteen-year-old boy who confronts Gestapo in search of his mother.

Without giving away spoilers, what is your favorite scene?

After liberation of Eastern Europe by the Soviets, two characters from the town of Lidice meet in a displaced persons camp and begin a friendship. The woman is housed in the camp after being rescued from years in forced labor and learning that her son had been killed by Nazis. The teenage boy comes to the camp in search of his mother. The two begin a friendship: the woman tells the boy stories about what she remembers of his mother’s younger days; the boy brings the woman treats he smuggles from outside the camp.

The day before he leaves for Prague to continue the search for his mother, he brings the women one last gift: a crochet hook so she can stitch together patterns from the coils of threads she collects from her own clothing and the garments she resizes for other people in the camp. It’s a small scene but it reflects the resilience of the human spirit, the theme I hope the book conveys.

where can people find the book?

The book is on Amazon

The website is: www.thepeartreebook.com.