Joshua Henkin's Book Club Adventures: The Latest Chapter, May 2009

Each month novelist and creative writing professor Joshua Henkin shares behind-the-scenes stories about his meetings with reading groups to discuss his novel Matrimony. Today he answers a question that he has been asked by book club members. Read on to find out whether he prefers e-readers or printed books.


May's Condensed Statistics

Number of Book Groups Visited: 17
Number in Person: 3
Number by Phone: 13
Number by Skype: 1
Number of States Represented: 8 (New York, New Jersey, Texas, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Iowa)
Total Number of Participants, not including author: 165
Total Number of Male Participants, not including author: 6



A Popular Book Group Question in May: How do you feel about Amazon Kindle?

This is a question that usually gets asked when I visit a book group in person, and at the end of the evening I sign readers' books. There are always a few people who read the book on Kindle, so I can't sign their books, and most of the book group members assume that I (and authors in general) hate Kindle. Not so. I'm certainly a print and paper guy myself. I like the feel of a real book, and I also know from when I'm writing that things look different on the screen than they do on the printed page (the screen is much more forgiving). I don't own a Kindle and would be surprised if I owned one anytime soon. That said, I can see the appeal of Kindle and other e-readers. When you're traveling, you can carry fifteen books with you in bag, which you can't do with an actual book. Beyond that, my feeling is that as long as people are reading (and buying!) my book, I don't care in what form that reading takes place. Although I would be disappointed if printed books became obsolete, if they do, I'll adjust.

To me, far more worrisome than e-readers are two phenomena that rarely get mentioned by book group members. The first is the decline of the newspaper and, along with it, the paring down (and at times elimination) of book review sections. Book reviews have long been the way that writers get discovered. I know that I owe a lot of Matrimony's success to the coverage the book received in the major book review outlets. With those outlets disappearing, it's getting harder and harder for writers to be discovered, and for readers (and book groups) to learn about new authors they might admire.

The second phenomenon is the decline of the independent bookstore. Independent bookstores are essential for the health and diversity of book culture. When you shop at an independent bookstore, the workers at the store can recommend a book to you that you haven't heard of and that you very well might love. This is especially true if you're a regular customer and the people at the bookstore know your taste. Just this month, Shaman Drum Bookshop, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, a town in which I lived for eight years, announced that it was closing down after thirty years of business. To me, it was devastating. If a college town like Ann Arbor can't support a great bookstore like Shaman Drum, then the state of independent bookselling (and of book culture more broadly) is in serious trouble.

So go ahead, use your Kindle. But don't forget, also, to buy books from independent bookstores and to strongly support your newspaper book review sections. We'll all be much better off for that.

---Joshua Henkin


Previous RGG.com Posts by Joshua Henkin:
Book Club Adventures, April 2009
Book Club Adventures, March 2009
Book Club Adventures, March 2009 Part II
Book Club Adventures, February 2009
Book Club Adventures, February 2009 Part II
Book Club Adventures, January 2009
Book Club Adventures, January 2009 Part II

Carol Cassella: Why I Love Talking to Book Clubs

Carol Cassella's novel Oxygen is the story of Marie Heaton, an accomplished Seattle anesthesiologist involved in an operating room disaster. As her life and career fall to pieces, she uncovers the fault lines of responsibility, betrayal and truth that can divide us, and discovers that conviction and love --- like oxygen --- can sustain us. "This novel is written with a clear, even hand, and the reader feels like a part of the heady world of high-stakes surgery.... Oxygen is a great read with some juicy surprises," wrote our reviewer on Bookreporter.com

Today's guest blogger, Carol --- a practicing anesthesiologist herself --- shares some of the benefits to personally connecting with book clubs.


People in the book business are always telling me who my readers are. Book store managers, publicists, agents, editors --- the demographics and stereotypes fly when they discuss where to shelve Oxygen, which blog or magazine or radio talk show to target. But after a year of meeting with book clubs all over the country --- in person whenever possible --- I know the people who are reading my novel way better than any statistics could summarize. I've eaten dinner with my readers. I've copied down their lasagna recipes, compared the relative clutter of our living rooms, discussed childrearing, aging parents and, of course, the miracles and pitfalls of our healthcare system.

Any writer, particularly any novelist, can confirm that the world of writing a book and the world of marketing a book are not always compatible. Writing forces you to turn off all those critical voices and get naked with yourself. Alone. Marketing, on the other hand, forces you to shut down your nurtured internal muse, change out of your coffee-stained bathrobe and transform into a cold-call salesman. And it might seem like offering my presence at book clubs is just more marketing in disguise. But book clubs fall into their own category entirely; a sweet spot in between the private and public life of an author. I'm not there trying to sell your club my book --- you've already chosen it. I'm not dancing around to avoid spoilers and plot twists --- you already know them. You've read Oxygen, or at least skimmed it to get to the meeting in time for the appetizers. You've entangled a bit of your imagination inside the black and white words that originated in my own mind. We are now, in a way, siblings. Or, better, co-parents of this small brain-child I produced.

Without your participation my novel would never really come to life. It's sort of a literary take on the Koan --- those famous Zen paradoxes designed to foster enlightenment: "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" "Does the falling tree make a sound if no one is there to hear it?" Can a book find its true soul until it travels the full circle from my keyboard to your mental movie? Sure, the same question might be raised about almost any artform --- paintings need eyes, operas need ears, perfume needs noses. But a book is a participatory experience too. I can only choose a few details out of millions of possibilities when I build my characters and scenes; a few metaphors that resonate with my concept of the story. Ultimately, I can only offer you a sketch. From there on it's you, the reader, who animates the child's face and shades in the particular hue of that blue sky or sunburned skin. I hand you the template for what has to become your own private journey.

I could add plenty of other benefits to personally connecting with book clubs: so far everyone has been really nice to me! They share their list of favorite books. There is always good food --- homemade, and way better than my cooking. I know one author who asks for the simple payment of a six pack of beer --- imported preferred, but only if you can afford it. I'm plenty happy with a glass of wine and a good chair, which I can provide myself if we're meeting over the phone. You pay me with fresh insight on my characters, their motivations and secrets. I hear what parts of my novel made you cry or laugh or rage, and what parts left you wanting more. I learn even more about the complicated relationship between doctors and patients. But the hands-down best payment is that I come away from your book club a better writer because I listened to you, my readers --- the critical silent partners in the art of fine story-telling.

---Carol Cassella

Keep Kids Reading Over the Summer

Today RGG.com contributor Jamie Layton raises a terrific issue --- inspiring kids to read over the summer. She has come up with an interesting list of books for her 14-year-old son, ones that will make great reading and discussing for everyone, regardless of age. Since I think many school reading lists do not encourage reading but rather make it seem like a chore (or a punishment), as many of the books are not exciting, we've compiled on our website for teens, Teenreads.com, the Ultimate Teen Reading List with more than 300 titles. What we've skipped is anything that we would not want to read ourselves!


This is the time of year when summer reading lists start springing up overnight in every magazine, on every website, even on breakfast TV shows. I, however, am bemoaning the absence of a summer reading list for one very important person --- my 14-year-old son, a rising high school freshman. To be fair, I must admit there is a book he must read before classes resume in August. But notice the singular article: "a." As in one. And only one. Did I mention he is an honors student? And no summer reading list? Huh?

My son is an avid reader; but unfortunately seems to go most summers without a book at hand. I have decided this summer will be different and put together a Summer Reading List for him that I have since shared with several mom friends and now happily pass along to those of you who find yourselves in the same boat.

First on the list is The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, his freshman reading requirement. I'm so glad I'll be able to say, "I didn't pick that one for you!" because I am already anticipating the complaints of a 14-year-old boy regarding this book.

He's already most of the way through Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America and has really liked it. The rest of his list includes All Quiet on the Western Front (Erich Maria Remarque), Night: A Memoir (Elie Wiesel), I Know What You Did Last Summer (Lois Duncan), Lord of the Flies (William Golding), A Long Way Gone (Ishmael Beah) and I Am the Messenger (Marcus Zusak). (If he has time I'm going to throw Ayn Rand's Anthem at him to see if he gets it.)

If the list has any underlying theme, it is this: At this time of his life, as a teenager living in America with a limitless future, countless freedoms and a multitude of blessings, I hope these books will remind him how truly fortunate he is to be able to walk every mile in his very own shoes. Perhaps reading about boys not much older than himself who endured incredible war-time horrors (Wiesel and Remarque) will remind him of the sacrifices of earlier generations. Maybe he will understand how truly lucky he and all his friends are to have been born in a democratic country versus one where constant civil strife creates soldiers out of eight year old boys (Beah). Maybe he'll finally get that the blue collar worker who greets him at Wal-Mart does so not because they want to, but because they have to (Ehrenreich). Maybe he'll think twice before getting too crazy this summer (Duncan) or remember how lucky he is to have a home with a mother who cares before ignoring a request to clean up his room (Zusak). And as he moves toward the social challenges of high school, perhaps Golding's classic will open his eyes to group dynamics and the power of personality.

If your child didn't come home with a summer reading list, don't despair. Make one up! There are countless resources on the internet to turn to; many colleges now assign one book that all incoming freshman must read, like Nickel and Dimed. Use their requirements for your list. Many private high schools publish their reading lists online. Take advantage of them. Or just take your kid to the local library or favorite independent bookstore and ask them what they want to read this summer. Whatever you do, make sure you keep 'em reading...

To an enjoyable summer,

Jamie Layton

An Author's Plea for the People of Iran

Marjane Satrapi is the author of the memoir Persepolis, in which she recounts growing up in Iran in the 1980s. As our review on Bookreporter.com says,"Those were particularly turbulent years for Satrapi's native country of Iran, encompassing the overthrow of Mohammed Reza Pahlavi (the Shah of Iran), the installation of the Islamic Republic, and the war with Iraq. The story is told entirely through the eyes of Satrapi, the child, and how these events affected her parents, her relatives, her friends, and herself."

We received an email from Marjane that we wanted to share with readers. It's a request from the heart, from one who understands all too well the current crisis that Iran is facing.

Dear Friends:

To all who beleive in freedom and democracy...

Please sign this petition to the United Nations to stop the violence, arrests and torture in Iran.
The situation is really, really bad.

Please forward it to whoever you know.

Best and lots of love,
Marjane Satrapi

http://www.petitiononline.com/12June/petition.html

Book Clubs' Summer Plans Part II

Yesterday we shared some of the activities, trips and other things reading groups are doing differently during the summer months. Here are some more of their plans...


INVITE OTHERS
"The Finley Farms Elementary Book Club is comprised of a group of faculty and staff from our elementary school. For the summer we choose a young adult novel to read and in July have a mother/daughter book club meeting. Sometimes our daughters will also bring a friend and fellow student along. We love the interaction and various viewpoints that are presented during this book club meeting. And also 'passing the torch' with teaching our children different aspects of what is involved in a book club. It is always, by far, our best attended meeting of the year." ---Robin Hall


FIND NEW MEMBERS
"In an effort to attract new members, our group sponsors a summer reading contest. We pick a theme and have sign up sheets. All books must be checked out at our library, and the desk personnel help our patrons keep track. In September, we invite all the participants to attend a reception where we give prizes for the most books read, etc. We serve refreshments and invite all to join our book group." ---Marie Smith


CHANGE THE FOCUS
"Our book club, after much trial and error, has evolved a plan where we pick a longer book than usual, assign it in June, and then pick a date in September to discuss it. Even last year, when we decided to try meeting over the summer, was unsuccessful. People found that as much as they wanted to, they couldn’t keep the dates of the meeting, and we often ended up with only 2 or 3 members." ---Susan Reidy, Newport, RI

"Our book group does something different for June, July and August. We start an hour earlier and have a potluck supper before our discussion. We either have it at a member's patio or deck and sometimes at a local park. One of those months we usually do a cookbook so everyone brings a cookbook and a dish from that cookbook. We have lively discussions, believe it or not, and many books bring back fond memories. We have been together a long time and have become friends as well as book club members. When I recently had major surgery my 'book mates' brought me meals, books, book reviews and lots of encouragement. How much more can you ask?" ---Heather James

Book Clubs' Summer Plans

In a recent ReadingGroupGuides.com newsletter we asked if book clubs do anything different during the summer months. Some groups change up their meetings, while others forego getting together --- which, as one person noted, means more time for lengthy solo reads like Ken Follett's 1,024-page novel World Without End. And for some book clubs, although the discussions might be on hold, it doesn't mean gatherings necessarily stop. They do other book- and community-related activities instead. We'll share more book club summer plans tomorrow.


LITERARY ADVENTURES
"Our book club is taking a long-distance train trip from the west coast and heading east. During that time, we will be able to talk about books for hundreds of miles. We have people who have read so much and have so many opinions ideas, and wit that we do not expect to run out of conversation." ---Ruby and Helen, Edenvale Book Club

"Our group doesn't meet in July and August, but we (15 members) will get together (those available) for trips to book stores, book readings/signings, book fairs --- whatever special attraction is within a day's drive. We also stay in touch by email and give each other opinions of our latest reading choices and recommendations." ---Carolyn Milliser, The Book Worms, Salado, TX


LIGHTEN UP
"In July and August my book group takes a break from assigned reading. In July we always go out to dinner, usually Chinese or Italian food that we can eat communally. In August we go to one member's beach house for lunch, and each of us brings a list of books we've read during the summer and movies and plays that we've seen." ---Nancy Lund McCue

"During July and August, we hold our discussions outdoors at the homes of two of our members who have pools at their homes. We still enjoy our wine and snacks, and we sometimes have foods tying in with the places in the books. We cool off in the pools and spend a leisurely afternoon discussing the characters and themes of our stories." ---Dot Lechmanick, The Final Chapter Book Group, Lock Haven, PA

"Our last meeting is in May. We take the summer off until September.... We keep reading and share the best when we get back together again in the fall." ---Carol Weigel, The Bookers/Lake Gaston Ladies Club, Henrico, NC

Miriam Gershow's THE LOCAL NEWS

Sonja Somerville, Robin Beerbower and Liz Hughes from the Salem Public Library in Salem, Oregon, have teamed up to tell us about The Local News by Miriam Gershow. Along with their thoughts on the debut novel, they've crafted questions you can use if your group decides to discuss the book.


Oregon author Miriam Gershow has done a lot right in her debut novel, The Local News, beginning with writing one heck of a compelling opening chapter. She lays it out in a few elegant strokes. The Local News is the story of a young woman whose popular, jock brother disappeared as he approached his senior year. Left behind, his dorky younger sister doesn't care as much as you might think. In fact, she may be a little glad to be rid of him. "Going missing," she says as the opening chapter concludes, "is the only really interesting thing my brother ever did."

It certainly makes you want to read on.

Gershow takes her leading lady, Lydia, back to the weeks during which her family disintegrated and the neighborhood spun out of control in a frantic effort to locate the missing boy. Lydia claims disinterest, but is caught up in the drama and uses the interest in her brother to increase her own social status. Lydia also develops a complex relationship with the private detective her parents finally hire to help the family figure out what happened to their beloved son.

The story is a page-turner with a quality reminiscent of Jodi Picoult's ability to explore complicated dilemmas without attempting anything so trite as solving the problem. For anyone who has ever not been able to muster the "right" feelings about the absence or loss of a loved one, there is a connection to explore on a personal level.

Gershow's book also offers a lot for a group to explore, with issues a-plenty to drive a lively discussion:

Did Lydia, as she claimed, welcome being ignored by her parents in the wake of her brother's disappearance? Or was she begging for attention?

Why does Lydia so deliberately refuse to cooperate with and mislead her therapist? Why does she exaggerate the cruelty of her brother?

Lydia talks a lot about why she becomes so involved with the private detective. What is he thinking? Does he really care about her or the situation that he finds her in?

What drives the varied reactions to the disappearance of the characters outside the family? Are they genuine?

Does Lydia grieve? How does she express her grief?

Do Lydia's parents really love her brother more? Do they love Lydia more or less in the wake of her brother's disappearance?

Is the reaction of the parents to the disappearance reasonable? What drives each member of the family as they first search for answers, then cope with the final knowledge of what happened to Lydia's brother? Do any of them ever get over it?

Talking About Chris Cleave's LITTLE BEE

RGG.com contributor Heather Johnson's book club recently read Chris Cleave's Little Bee, the story of a Nigerian girl orphaned by violence whose life intersects with those of a British couple on holiday. Heather shares the varied reactions of her book group members to the novel.

Click here to read a Q&A with Chris Cleave, who shares true stories surrounding Little Bee, discusses the novel's characters and themes and more.


This month my book club met to discuss Little Bee by Chris Cleave. I'd first heard of this book right here on this blog, and I was really excited to read it. Our Sunday afternoon meeting was one of those rare days where almost everything seems to go right...

The weather was gorgeous --- mid-70s, fluffy clouds, lots of sunshine. Our hostess has the most perfect shady, screened-in porch large enough for the eight gals who attended to relax on her puffy chairs and soak in the mellow mood of the day.

We're not a club who goes all out with the food at our meetings, but we do like to eat. This time the stars aligned and we ended up with a fabulous spread: crepes, tons of fresh fruit, scrambled eggs with spinach and feta, bagels, chocolate covered strawberries, cake, and mimosas. Divine, I tell you...simply divine.

The book was a hit with most of the gals, but we all reacted to it in different ways. The defense attorney in our group identified with that feeling of helplessness in the face of injustice experience by one of the characters. Two members with babies under a year old struggled with the emotions brought up by the book; both women are more emotional than usual at this stage in their lives and had a hard time getting through the book. I reacted strongly to a scene in the middle of the book involving a little boy not much younger than my own son. Some of us identified with one of the main characters while others had harsh words for that same character. One woman protested that she only wants to read happy things from now on while the rest of us argued that the book isn't all sad.

We loved the book for the author's amazing ability with words. One gal described it as poetic; another said the tightness of the narrative made it feel like she was reading a short story. Everyone agreed that the book was beautifully written. We all loved the main character, Little Bee, and admired the way she chose to have a positive outlook on the world despite everything that had happened in her life. This led to a discussion about the ways that two people who go through a trying experience often react in completely different ways. That, in turn, led us to consider how we might react in similar situations.

After our discussion ended we voted on books for our next three meetings. We chose The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, and Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis. Everyone was pleased with at least one of the chosen books, and that's all I can ask.

The meeting closed with the announcement of a pregnancy, the news that a PhD dissertation was approved, and a reminder that two members were out of town visiting an ailing relative: reasons to celebrate and reason to be concerned. In the end, that's really what a book club is all about --- connections between people and books, and between the members themselves. As I said at the beginning, this was a nearly perfect day.

---Heather Johnson

Results of 2009 Book Group Survey

ReadingGroupGuides.com recently conducted a survey of book group members. Many, many thanks to the more than 7,700 respondents who completed the 62-question survey, weighing in on topics like where they get information, if they use online social and book networking websites, and whether their book-buying habits have changed in the last year.

To see the full results of the survey, click here.

Book club members offered a lot of great feedback, and based on that input we're developing some new features and other content for ReadingGroupGuides.com. We'll be sharing details on those initiatives in the fall.

Here are some of the survey highlights:

- 83% of groups read both hardcovers and paperbacks, while 15% read only paperbacks.

- 65.6% are interested in having authors join their book club discussions.

- 72% would like a place online where they can find out what other groups are reading.

- The top book selection categories are bestsellers, general fiction, classics, award winners, historical fiction, mystery & thriller, biography, memoir, books into movies and Oprah selections.

- Leading sources for information about books are local newspapers, followed by The New York Times; the Oprah Winfrey Show ranked third, followed by morning talk shows and NPR.

- 71% rely on recommendations from friends as their primary source of information for selecting books.

- Nearly half of book clubs make reading selections annually, quarterly or every six months; of those groups most do their planning in January, followed by June and September.

- 54% are on Goodreads and 53% are on Facebook.

News from the Pulpwood Queens Book Clubs

Lists, lists, lists. In a recent ReadingGroupGuides.com survey (results coming soon), book club members indicated they like lists of recommended reading selections. In The Pulpwood Queens' Tiara-Wearing, Book-Sharing Guide to Life, RGG.com blog contributor Kathy L. Patrick has lots of them, including summer reading suggestions. It's also the story of how books changed her life. Kathy tells us more about it in today's post, along with news from the Pulpwood Queens Book Clubs.


Dear Readers,

For some reason in this throw away and discard society, someone made up this unsaid rule that books have a six week shelf life. My new motto for this year is "Who Made Up that Rule!" A good book is a good book regardless of time. Lord, hold me down if someone told me that To Kill a Mockingbird would only have a six-week shelf life after publication. Things could get really, really ugly. Those are fighting words.

Of course, I am exaggerating, but WHO DID MAKE UP THAT RULE that books are only to be publicized for six weeks then it's on to the new "flavor of the day"? You can imagine my utter surprise and delight,then, after getting this Google Alert yesterday:

Pittsburg Morning Sun - Pittsburg, KS, USA
Pittsburg Public Library will have its monthly book discussion at 6:30 p.m. This month's book is The Pulpwood Queens' Tiara-Wearing, Book-Sharing Guide to Life

Good grief, a news story on a library reading my book after it had been out over a year. Hallelujah! This is cause for celebration. But this got me to thinking, which is really scary. What if, what if, a good book was a good book to read forever.

In fact, I believe that last statement so much that I published all my Pulpwood Queens Book Club Selections from inception until pub date in my book, The Pulpwood Queens' Tiara-Wearing, Book-Sharing Guide to Life. In fact, it would make a great summer read as it's my story on how books saved my life. It's the story of Beauty and the Book, the only hair salon/bookstore in the country and the story of The Pulpwood Queens Book Clubs, the largest "meeting and discussing" book club in the world. Shoot, I started four more chapters this past week so what are you waiting for? Join in the fun.

The book is also a personal story. My own mother disowned me on Mother's Day two years ago prior to publication because she didn't like what I had to say in my book. She told me it was all lies. I was shocked beyond belief as I love my Mother very much and thought when I sent her the advance galley she would finally understand me and we could really reconnect as mother and daughter. Wrong, big time. But as Pat Conroy and Jeannette Walls guided me, onward book soldier. I have a story and it's all mine to tell and share with you. I hope you will read it! I wrote this book, not to hurt anyone, but to show that books can save anybody. Books saved me.

Go to Beautyandthebook.com and click on "The Pulpwood Queens' Tiara-Wearing, Book-Sharing Guide to Life" because besides all of the above, you'll get a treasure trove of reading lists perfect for summertime reading or really anytime reading. (Including my Top Fifteen Favorite Books and suggestions for the kiddos from babies to teens.) These are books that are NOT HOMEWORK. Let me repeat these are books that are enlightening, entertaining and engaging to read and educational without being HOMEWORK. Each chapter states at the end, if you liked this story, perhaps you would like to read this list of books.

My book also has recipes that are easy and delicious. You can amaze and surprise all your friends at parties this summer with these recipes. I actually have people come to events just because they know I will be bringing one of these dishes. And any book club who decides they want to read my book, I will call personally and send signed book plates. Email me at kathy@beautyandthebook.com or call me at the shop, 903-665-7520.

I will tell you that I am working fast and furious on my next book, The Pulpwood Queens' Guide to Reading and Writing for a Higher Purpose. I will also tell you in these hard economic times there is nothing more entertaining and inexpensive as a good book. It's the gift that keeps on giving and giving and giving so pass it on after you read it to a friend, a library, school, or nursing home so others can share in the power of the written word.

Tiara wearing and Book sharing,
Kathy L. Patrick
The Pulpwood Queen

P.S. The Pulpwood Queen is headed to Music City Texas in Linden, Texas, this weekend to hear the Timber Guys Book Club's band, The Blooze Brothers, open and kick-off the T-Bone Walker Blues Festival. Check it out at Tbonewalkerbluesfestival.com. I'll have a booth there. See you at Music City Texas!

Talking with Julie Metz

Here at ReadingGroupGuides.com we've been talking about Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal by Julie Metz --- and telling others about it, too. After her husband Henry's sudden death in his early 40s, Julie discovered that for years he had been cheating on her, including an affair with the mother of one of her daughter's friends. In Perfection, she shares the story of how she came to find out, why she contacted the women Henry had been seeing, and how she put her life back together --- both for herself and her young daughter.

Today we talk with Julie, who shares insight into the book and answers some of the questions we wanted to know the answers to after reading it.

If you're in a book group, check out the contest we're running here on RGG.com until June 29th. 10 book clubs will have the opportunity to win a copy of Perfection. Click here for details.


ReadingGroupGuides.com: For readers who aren't familiar with Perfection, would you describe it for them?

Julie Metz: My book tells the story of the two years following my early widowhood. I was 43 when my husband died suddenly --- he was 44 --- leaving me with my six-year-old daughter. Seven months after his death I discovered that he had been unfaithful during much of our marriage. The most damaging affair was with a woman in my town who was also the mother of my daughter's friend. The book describes how I dealt with the revelation of my husband's infidelities and how I made a new life for myself and my daughter.


RGG: What made you want to write the book? Did you have any concerns about sharing such a personal story?

JM: I began the book as a kind of personal therapy as I began to make my life over again. I am actually a very quiet person and until I found out about my husband's affairs I had lived a very private life. Suddenly everything was out in the open and I felt intense shame, as if I had done something wrong. When I met other women who had experienced infidelity I saw that they too had this same overpowering shame. I felt that I would never feel whole again until I could shake off that feeling. I hope that my book will provide comfort for other women who have been through experiences of widowhood and infidelity. I am already receiving letters from readers.


RGG: You've said that you see Perfection in part as "a cautionary tale" for young women. Have you talked about the book with your 12-year-old daughter? What do you hope she might learn from your experiences?

JM: I have told me daughter about the book. I would never have published the book without discussing it with her. I hope that she will choose someone as a partner who supports and respects her. I am quite confident that she will choose well. She is a very wise young person, much more mature than I was at a similar age.


RGG: Perfection is the story of Henry's infidelity, but it's also about how you put your life back together after a tragedy, your relationship with your daughter, and finding love again. How important is it that readers also focus on the positive aspects of the book?

JM: Much of my story is dark, but I do hope that readers will see that the positive end is worth the hard journey. I do believe the old saying that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.


RGG: After deciding to confront the other women in Henry's life, you actually ended up coming to know and even like some of them. Were you surprised by this? How did they help you to better understand Henry?

JM: I was surprised that I found so much connection with Henry's women. Apart from the woman in my town, these were women not unlike me --- vulnerable, in a time of crisis in their lives. They were open with me and this helped me to understand much about my marriage and my self.


RGG: What are some of the questions and topics you anticipate book clubs will want to ask you the most?

JM: I imagine that many of my readers will be women and that some will have been through experiences like mine. I have already received letters from readers that are very emotional. I think many readers will want to talk about difficulties in their own lives and how best to tackle those problems.


RGG: As a designer, you've created many book jackets (including Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible). Did you plan from the start to design the cover of Perfection? Why did you ultimately decide on the image of a tulip?

JM: Originally I was determined to stay out of the design process. I thought I'd be too close to the project to be able to design the cover. But in the end I decided that I should give it a try. I worked on this project with my assistant of several years. I trust her taste and we began looking at imagery together. We wanted something that would capture the intense emotional landscape of the story. When we saw the tulip we loved the rich red colors and the fact that you are zoomed in close looking at the details of the flowers. It wasn't so much one flower or another that had significance, it was the colors and fierceness of the imagery that attracted us. From there, we worked on creating a type solution that was elegant but strong.

Book Club Facilitators Sound Off

At the BookExpo America trade show a couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of moderating a panel with four fabulous book club facilitators: Jill Campbell, Katherine Schulz, Marsha Toy Engstrom and RGG.com blog contributor Esther Bushell.

To listen to a podcast of the panel, click here. These ladies work with book clubs on a regular basis, and they share tips and suggestions on things like group dynamics, reading selections and much more.

What Would You Ask Mary Kay Andrews?

The HarperCollins Publishers' library marketing team, headed by Virginia Stanley, shares reading suggestions and more on the blog LibraryLoveFest. Stanley also hosts a show on Blog Talk Radio where she interviews librarians, editors and authors. Tomorrow's guest, Mary Kay Andrews, will be talking about her newest novel, The Fixer Upper.

Do you have a question you'd like to ask Mary Kay? HarperCollins is inviting readers to submit questions during the live interview tomorrow, Tuesday, June 16, at 3:00 p.m. How do you do it? Visit Blogtalkradio.com/LibraryLoveFest. To call in, dial the phone number that's displayed (347.826.9690). (When you're on the air, remember to turn down the volume on your computer.) If you prefer to email a question, type it in the "Chat" section which will appear on the lower left-hand side of the screen. (You'll need to register beforehand at Blogtalkradio.com.) Don't enter a question into the "Comments" section if you want it to be seen during the live show --- that section is for comments after the show.

Readers who ask a question will be eligible to win one of 25 copies of The Fixer Upper, which in true Mary Kay Andrews style is the hilarious story of one woman's quest to redo an old house...and her life.

Click here to read Mary Kay Andrews' RGG.com guest blog post, in which she shares her dual perspective as an author and a book club member.

Talking with Lisa See

Lisa See's new novel, Shanghai Girls, explores the complex bonds of sisterhood in the face of clashing cultures and personal hardships over two volatile decades in the first half of the 20th century. Today we talk with Lisa about Shanghai Girls, what aspects of the story she's particularly looking forward to discussing...and what she loves most about book clubs.

Lisa's other novels include Peony in Love and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.


ReadingGroupGuides.com: You've talked to many reading groups about your novels. What do you enjoy most about interacting with book clubs?

Lisa See: There are many things I love about book clubs. What I love most is the camaraderie. It's difficult these days as women to have time to get together. We're all working so hard. I suppose we could meet and go out drinking and generally whoop it up, but that's pretty hard if you have a family. It's like we have to make an appointment to have fun and see our friends. So women tell their husbands they're in a book club. They have to read a book. They have to meet to discuss it. Then when they actually meet, there's plenty of drinking, whooping it up and talking about things that go far, far beyond the book. In fact, the book is often incidental.

I also love how each book club has its own personality: some are very serious, some political, some religious. And finally, I've learned so much from book clubs about being a writer: what worked in a story, what didn't work and did readers get what I wanted them to get? Sometimes people come up with interpretations that are completely different from what I intended. That's fascinating to me. They aren't right, but then neither am I. Everything is right to each particular reader. That's the great thing about books and getting together to talk about them.


RGG: Shanghai Girls takes place partly in China, the setting of your novels Peony in Love and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, as well as in the United States. Why the change of locale, as well as a more modern time period for this story?

LS: Because I wanted to write about Los Angeles Chinatown. It's a place that's really changed since I was a little girl. So many of the people have died or moved away, and many of the places are either entirely gone now --- literally wiped off the map --- or have been transformed into hip art galleries. So I wanted to capture the people and places who have meant so much to me, who have made me who I am and who have given me so many stories before they disappear completely.


RGG: In a recent guest post with us you talked about three book clubs that helped you with various aspects of Shanghai Girls. What elements of the story are you especially looking forward to discussing with reading group members?

LS: First, the hardships that women faced and still face in their lives, how we rise above those things to survive and flourish, and what we will do to protect our children and our families. I think people will also be surprised and interested in the history of the Chinese in this country. I hope people will relate those experiences to those of their own families, because we all share in the immigrant experience. We all have someone in our families who was crazy enough, brave enough, or dumb enough to leave the home country to come here. We all have people in our families who came before us, and sacrificed and struggled, so we can have our good lives today. I think book clubs will want to talk about this shared experience --- what's similar and what's different from what their own families went through.


RGG: Shanghai Girls is the story of sisters Pearl and May. You yourself have three sisters. People have all different kind of relationships and experiences with their sisters. Do you expect this to generate some lively conversations with book clubs?

LS: Absolutely! And I think it will also generate conversation about the difference between actual sisters and friends who are "just like sisters." I'm a sister myself, as you pointed out. I have two half sisters, who come from different halves. I also have a former stepsister who I've now known for fifty years. What I love about sisters (and friends too) is that we always make these judgments about each other: who's the tall one, the short one, the thin one, the fat one, the smart one, the dumb one, the troublemaker, the peacemaker, the shy one, the party doll, who was loved more by Dad or by Mom. I love all that stuff. But in writing the novel, I was also curious if there was something a sister could do that would cause an irrevocable split.

When I was writing Shanghai Girls, I asked that of women in book clubs that I joined by phone or when I was giving a talk somewhere. I always got the same answer: "If my sister slept with my husband." That was the universal and immediate response. But then, after the phone call or talk, women would write to me or come up after the talk to whisper that there were plenty of terrible things their sisters had done. Oh, the stories! Many women hadn't talked to a sister in ten, twenty, thirty, forty years. But here's the thing: They all said that sisters were for life. You can't say that about friends "who are just like sisters." I think people will agree that sisters should stand by you, support you, and love you no matter what, but that sisters also know exactly where to drive the knife to hurt you the most. Oh, and the grudges we keep from when we were little kids! It's sad and funny!


Also by Lisa See on RGG.com:
Lisa See's Thank You to Book Clubs
How Book Clubs Have Changed

Patti Callahan Henry in the Spotlight

Patti Callahan Henry stopped by The Book Report Network offices last month, and we taped a quick video interview with her (with my Flip camera). We hope to do more of these with authors who come by in the weeks and months to come.

Patti's latest novel, Driftwood Summer, is now in stores and last night we got word that it is on the New York Times bestseller list for June 21st, which was quite lovely to hear. If you're in a book group, this interview will give you some nice background to the story, which is about three sisters who reunite to save the family's beach-community bookstore. Patti shares anecdotes about writing Driftwood Summer, gathering research while she was on tour last year and some of the book clubs she has met with over the years.

Julie Buxbaum: Cheating on Your Book Club

Do you belong to more than one book club? If so, you have something in common with Julie Buxbaum, author of The Opposite of Love. Her debut novel is the story of a Manhattan attorney whose life unravels after she ends her happy relationship just as her boyfriend is on the verge of proposing. In today's post, Julie reveals why she "cheats" on her book clubs...and why others might want to consider it, too.


I realize, after all these years, it's time to come clean. But before I confess though, please let it be known that in every other aspect of my life, I am a loyal, monogamous person. I pay my taxes, love my husband (and only my husband), remember my friends' birthdays. I rarely lie, and never, ever steal. Still, I do consistently break one cardinal rule of clean living...I cheat on my book club.

Or I guess I should say I cheat on my book clubs. Plural.

I recognize this is a problem. That when you are invited into a book club it is with the expectation that you have tacitly agreed and committed to certain covenants: that you will have read the chosen book, that you will arrive ready and willing to discuss, that you will bring a bottle of wine (or cheese dip, or sometimes dinner, depending on the standards set by the other members), perhaps above all that you will not repeat this ritual with another group --- next week --- across town. And except for the very last rule, I'm golden. I reliably show up, I reliably read the book, and I reliably provide the novelist's perspective. Perhaps, if I was feeling like tooting my own horn here, I might even venture to say I am a better than the average book club member. I often come armed with funny anecdotes, some insider publishing gossip about the author, on good days, maybe even notes in the margins of my books.

I've never cancelled at the last minute. Most importantly, I bring good wine.

So if I have committed a crime, it is only this: I love book clubs too much. A hit once a month just doesn't do it for me. And so I came upon on what I thought was a brilliant and innocuous solution: For the last couple of years, I've been a member of more than one book club at a time. Add to this the numerous guest visits (and conference calls and Skype conversations) I make to groups that are reading The Opposite of Love (and soon my upcoming novel After You) and I realized recently that book club attendance has become something more than a hobby. It may, in fact, border on an obsession.

For those of you who are more monogamous, who have committed selflessly to one group and would never even dream of sharing your famous broad bean dip with anyone else, I'd like to convert you to the dark side. Here's the secret beauty of the polygamous lifestyle: every reading group is different, and can satisfy a different need. In London, I am part of one group that tends to pick serious literary fiction, so I'm also forming another that leans a bit more commercial. When I lived in LA, I was part of a group that used the book chosen as simply an excuse to drink mimosas at noon on Sunday afternoons, and to chat about our lives. And though I loved those women, looked forward to our hours-long discussions, I cheated on them with a co-ed group on the other side of town. There, the club consisted of at least one other novelist, and the book selections were always challenging and provocative. I couldn't tell you who in the group was married or who had kids or what anyone did for a living, but I really got to know how they felt about the books we read.

Before you gasp, or tsk me in shame, I suggest you try the cheating lifestyle. Better yet, why don't you invite me to visit your book club and I'll tell you all about it. I'm always thrilled to discuss The Opposite of Love or After You or just gossip instead if that's your group's thing. What's the harm? Yes, I may cheat on you with the ladies down the block with the homemade guacamole, but I promise you this: I'll be on time. I'll have read the book. Maybe I'll even make you laugh. And hey, if all else fails, at least you'll get a decent bottle of wine out of the deal.

---Julie Buxbaum

Ninni Holmqvist: Are You Indispensable?

Swedish author Ninni Holmqvist's debut novel, The Unit, is the story of Dorrit Weger, who checks into the Second Reserve Bank Unit for biological material. In pleasant surroundings, women over the age of fifty and men over sixty --- single, childless and without jobs in progressive industries --- are sequestered for their final few years. Considered outsiders, they're expected to contribute themselves for drug and psychological testing and donate organs to people considered more worthy. Dorrit is well-treated and resigned to her fate until she meets a man inside the Unit, falls in love...and breaks the rules.

Today's guest blogger, Ninni talks about the personal circumstances that compelled her to write The Unit. Her thought-provoking post alone will inspire discussion!


I had recently turned 45 when I suddenly realized one day that I was completely dispensable. That if I died, a number of people would actually be sad and would miss me --- because I do have friends, and siblings, and nephews and a mother – but nobody's everyday life would be changed. Nobody would set one place too many at the dinner table by mistake, or out of habit. Nobody would wonder: how am I going to manage now, who's going to take care of me, who's going to support me, who's going to console me when I'm sad? Nobody would wake up in the morning and sleepily reach out for my body beside them, just to be reminded once more that I will never again lie in that bed. And because of my profession, there wouldn't even be any work colleagues expecting me to turn up quarter of an hour late as usual, out of breath and gasping an apology --- only to remember that I wouldn't be turning up at all, that I would never turn up again. No head of Human Resources would need to find a replacement for me, or to advertise my job.

To put it briefly: I was suddenly aware of the fact that if I died, I wouldn't leave a tangible empty space behind me that needed to be filled with someone of equal importance in order for the wheels to keep on turning. Because I make no contribution to the turning of those wheels.

It is also pertinent that the Swedish word for dispensable, umbärlig, is rarely used. We prefer to talk about people, things, occurrences et cetera that are indispensable. Being indispensable is highly valued. If you are indispensable, people can't do without you. Someone or something stands or falls because of you. There is something exclusive about being indispensable.

But at the same time, it means that something is expected of you. You are expected to be everything to someone else, to be someone they cannot do without. You need to be needed in order to count, to be regarded as normal, to have a value in the eyes of other people and society. I think this is why the word for dispensable barely exists in everyday speech in Swedish; people don't want to know about a word that describes something they don't want to know about.

You might well think that this sudden realization of mine at the age of 45 made me feel really sorry for myself, perhaps I even became depressed. But my reaction was in fact the reverse; these words which exploded in my head like a bomb, "my God, I'm completely dispensable," had more of a liberating effect on me. They made me stop feeling sorry for myself, they lifted me out of a state of depression, which had its roots in the fact that I was childless and single, and in addition had a fairly low income. These words lifted me out of a darkness and a destructive questioning of the choices I had made in life --- all the things I had chosen not to pursue (family, professional training, financial security), all the things I had never got around to, and for which it was most likely too late (children) --- and into the light where I was able to see and to have an overview.

So thinking of myself as dispensable did not make me unhappy. To be fair, it didn't make me happy either. It was simply a dizzying and interesting fact, a fact I felt I needed to make use of. I decided to write about what it was like to be dispensable, about how it felt to be regarded as a selfish, spoilt oddball who makes no contribution to any kind of growth, who has no responsibility for any other person, who doesn’t know what real anxiety is and who can always take each day as it comes, without the need to think about anyone other than myself.

And I thought I would try and write about this so that the sorrow I carried within me also came through; I could hardly be the only one who felt like this. Sorrow over the fact that I never had children while I had the chance, sorrow over the lack of responsibility for another person, over the fact that I had only myself to think about and worry about, when I felt so strongly that I had the strength, the desire and the ability to be there for a small, growing person too.

So I took the word dispensable to my heart, and decided to use words to try to describe something people don't really want to know about.

It took a while after that before I actually began writing, because that's often the way it is, perhaps for all writers, but certainly for me: I go around with a word or a picture inside my head, knowing that I'm going to do something with it, but not quite what that will be. It takes time before a bombshell like that finds its shape, its story. The fact that The Unit became a dystopia is pure chance; it is also pure chance that it ended up dealing so much with the issue of organ donation. The fact that it became a political novel is also chance; it could just as easily have become what is known as confessional novel. And perhaps it can also be read in that way, as an expression of a childless, single woman's mid-life crisis.

Or perhaps the mid-life crises of childless, single women --- and men --- are political, at least as long as childless, single women and men have a lower status than others.

---Ninni Holmqvist

C. M. Mayo: A Book Group Meeting Menu

"The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire is not about a Mexico you'll see on the news, in tourist brochures, travel memoirs, nor in almost any other work of fiction," C. M. Mayo has said of her historical novel. It's based on the true --- but never before completely told --- story of the short, turbulent reign of the archduke of Austria, Maximilian von Hapsburg, who was made emperor of Mexico in 1864. In today's blog post, she shares details about the story along with two recipes to enhance a discussion of the book.

Visit C. M.'s website for a discussion guide, an excerpt, photos (inlcuding a very rare carte-de-visite of the last prince, Agustin de Iturbide y Green), an author interview, tour schedule, a video trailer and more. If you'd like C. M. to speak with your book club by telephone, click here for details. To read her Playlist for The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, visit largehearted boy.


Apart from controversy, there's nothing better than some yummy cake and jolt of coffee to get a book group going. For The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, my novel based on the true story of 19th century Mexico, I beg you, skip those gloppy nachos and so-very-20th-century-American-tourist "margaritas"; they would not only put everyone to sleep, but they would be no more appropriate than, say, hamburgers and Pepsi for Gone with the Wind. May I suggest some café de olla and Mrs. Yorke's raisin cakes? Recipes follow.

Who is Mrs. Yorke, and what is she doing in a novel about Mexico? She's the queen of Mexico City's American society circa 1865, and based on a real person, the Louisiana-born wife of a banker. She is also the mother of Sara Yorke Stevenson, then a little girl, who in fact grew up to become a leading archeologist and author of the justly famed memoir, Maximilian in Mexico: A Woman's Reminiscences of the French Intervention 1862-1867. You can read about Mrs. Yorke and her daughter, along with the whole "tussie-mussie," that is, the novel's cast of dozens more Americans, Frenchmen, Austrians, Italians, Belgians, Englishmen, Spaniards, Hungarians, Prussians, and yes, of course, many Mexicans here.

(Strictly speaking, the most appropriate cake for this novel would have to be Doña Juliana de Gómez Pedraza's. That's right, Mexico experts, she's none other than the widow of Gómez Pedraza, two-time President of Mexico in that wacky merry-go-round of 19th century Mexican politics. Though Doña Juliana plays a far more important role in the novel than her friend Mrs. Yorke, alas, her recipe requires overgenerous quantities of lard and, as baked by Chole, her hateful and elderly cook, the crust would come out burned and the middle gooey.)

Moving beyond cakes, herewith a few more toothsome items from the novel that would be simple to prepare and serve:

Mrs. Green's boiled asparagus with butter, salt and white pepper
Austrian bonbons (wrapped in foil, and presented in a Mexican clay pot)
Lupe's sliced raw jicamas with salt, lime and chili powder
Lime, mango, watermelon and/or papaya sorbets (in Spanish these are called nieves)
Frau von Kuhacsevich's favorite plum tart (buy that one at your local European-style bakery) with whipped cream
Pistachio ice cream with whipped cream
Apple pie with whipped cream (Father Fischer's favorite)
Sweet potato pie with whipped cream
Strawberry pie with whipped cream (Zounds! There's a lot of whipped cream.)

If you want things to get a little more exciting, you might also consider serving:

Italian pink champagne (served at the Emperor Maximilian's Imperial Balls)
Tequila, served with lime wedges and salt for the rim of the shot glass
Tepache (Mexican pineapple liquor)
Mezcal, with the maguey worm at the bottom of the bottle

The two recipes:

CAFE DE OLLA (adapted)

Brew a pot of coffee. Stir in some brown sugar* and as much cinnamon as you can stand. A sprinkle of ground cloves. A big chunk of chocolate (the darker the better). Stir over low heat until blended. Ladle the café de olla (scooping chocolate from the bottom) into earthenware mugs.

*Authentic recipe calls for piloncillo, a cone of molasses and spices. You can find piloncillo in speciality and most Hispanic grocery stores throughout the U.S. Cover with a tea towel before you wack it with a hammer; then let a piece of it melt in the coffee.


MRS. YORKE'S RAISIN CAKES (also adapted)

Steep raisins in cognac for several hours. Add toasted and sliced nuts of whatever kind happen to be handy. (Drain raisins. Save the cognac for marinating duck. But don't worry about the duck because there is no duck.) In a separate bowl mix 2 cups flour, big dash of cinnamon, petit dash of clove, trés petit dash of nutmeg, and a teaspoon of baking powder. In a second bowl, beat one egg, dash of milk, 1/2 cup softened butter. Then, oh so gently, as if to a largo by Schubert in a minor key, with just enough effort to evenly distribute the raisins, stir it all together. Spoon batter into greased muffin tins. Bake until fork tines come out clean. Once the cakes have cooled, top each with a pat of honey and a flower from your garden. Serve on your fanciest china.

---C. M. Mayo

Mahbod Seraji: Thank You, My Friend

Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji was a recent Bookreporter.com Bets On… selection. Set in Iran in the 1970s, as the country is on the verge of revolution, it's a story about growing up, discovering love and awakening to the reality of a new way of life. I was especially taken with the vivid characters, engaging descriptions of time and place and the excellent pacing of the story. I had the pleasure of meeting Mahbod last August and got to spend time with him again in November at Book Group Expo in San Jose, along with Esther Bushell, who previously blogged about this meeting.

We're pleased to have Mahbod as today's guest blogger. He offers insight into the novel and shares a throught-provoking, true-life story that had a profound effect on him.


On one of my recent trips to the Middle East, a friend and a business associate, Hesam, invited me over to his house for dinner. I eagerly accepted.

The dinner was plentiful, the host and the hostess extremely gracious, and as the tradition goes, some relatives, including Hesam's parents and his wife’s two sisters and their husbands, were also present. Everyone was dressed in western-style clothing except my host, who was wearing a long while dishdasha. The house was sumptuously furnished with European sofas and chairs, artworks from the surrounding Gulf countries, expensive Persian rugs, and lavish, beautiful curtains, which dressed the bay windows that faced the Persian Gulf across the street.

The conversation during dinner focused on Rumi and Hafiz and other Persian poets whose works my hosts admired. The literary discussion grew livelier and I couldn't help but mention that I had written a novel, which was about to be published in America, called Rooftops of Tehran.

For a moment, an unusual silence filled the room, before a torrent of congratulations rained down on me.

"How lovely," the wife said.

"My mom and dad are avid readers," said Hussain, my host's son who attended the University of Michigan and was home for a break.

"They'll be the first to buy and read your book," Hesam's beautiful eighteen-year old daughter, Leila, who had just graduated from high school and was admitted to Stanford, assured me.

Both kids spoke English fluently.

But my host said nothing.

I was a bit surprised and unsettled by Hesam's delayed enthusiasm, but kept my discomfort to myself. Later that night, after we had Turkish coffee and deserts, and played a game or two of backgammon, which my friend won, he invited me to take a stroll along the shore of the Persian Gulf. I noticed how he refrained from referring to the Persian Gulf as the "Arabian Gulf," as most Arabs do.

It was a damp, hot night, but a nice breeze was blowing from the north. The stars were visibly shining in the skies and the sound of crashing waves on the beach brought back countless memories of my nights on the other side of the waters in my own homeland in Iran.

"Is your story going to become an international bestseller by making the Middle Eastern men look wicked and evil, like so many others have?" Hesam asked me with a pleasant smile.

The confused look on my face made him chuckle. Then his tone turned soft. "My father, whom you met tonight," he said as he pointed toward the house behind us, "is almost eighty years old. My mother is seventy five, may they both live to be one hundred-twenty, Inshallah --- God willing. Did you know that he can't read or write, but that he has most of the Holy Koran memorized?"

"Wow," I whispered still anxious to know where the conversation was leading, suspecting a link to the delayed reaction to my book announcement.

"My grandparents lived in a tent," he continued. "So did my father, until he was ten years old. But you know, my father has never beaten my mother. I have never beaten my wife, and I swear I'd kill the man who would raise a hand to my beloved Leila, the light of my eyes."

I remained silent as we trudged our way forward through the sandy beach.

"They portray us like animals," he complained. "Ugly, heartless, family hating, wife beating misogynists. Why do they do that? Why do they paint us all in one stroke? All in one color? Made of the same cloth? Why?"

I shook my head.

"Does every Middle Eastern man have to be a wife beater in their stories? Don't they know that there are men here who would give their lives for their families? In some ways I am glad that my father can’t read. They have marred and tarnished the reputation of real men like him, like my decent in-laws, whose warmth and pleasant temperaments make them great proud fathers, compassionate considered brothers, lovable husbands and partners for life."

He stopped momentarily. I could see under the moonlight that his face had turned red.

"I don't deny that such men exist in our culture but that's not how all of us are. Do you think people understand that?"

I nodded and he continued telling me of the sacrifices his father had made for his clan as a young man, of the love he himself had for all of his family, and of his dreams for Hussain and Leila. I listened without interrupting, as I wanted to hear him out.

Later that night, his wife accompanied us as Hesam drove me back to my hotel. She didn't want him to have to drive back alone. She insisted that she take the back seat.

"The two of you have things to talk about," she said adamantly. "You take the front seat with my husband."

I couldn't help but think that an American wife would have been unlikely to do that; not that I was passing judgment, only making an observation of our cultural differences.

It wasn't until I was on my flight coming back to the States that I realized I had forgotten to tell my friend that my story didn't depict the Middle Eastern men in the bitter way he had described. At first I thought of writing him an email but I decided to wait.

A few months later when Rooftops of Tehran was printed, I mailed him an advance copy of the book. He immediately acknowledged receiving it and promised to read it right away. A week later I received an email from him. It only contained four words. "Thank you my friend."

I knew exactly what he meant.

---Mahbod Seraji

Julia Gregson: About EAST OF THE SUN

In East of the Sun, Julia Gregson unfolds the story of Viva, Rose and Victoria, part of the "Fishing Fleet," the name given to the legions of Englishwomen who sailed to India in search of husbands and new lives. Along with sharing some of the memorable moments that have come with the publication of East of the Sun --- including touching letters from readers --- Julia talks about the two women who each had a hand in inspiring her to write the novel.


In my office, above my desk I have a sign that reads: "No Matter. Try Again. Fail Again. Fail Better."

Samuel Beckett wrote that, and O.K., not necessarily the jolliest messages to face you each morning, but for the thirty years I've been a writer, it has kept my feet on the ground. It's a sign that encourages you to write, write, write, because that is what you long to do, but to do it without hope and without fear.

In my case, baby's first steps were as a writer of short stories, then I was a journalist and then, in the last five years of my life, I've been a novelist. So, imagine how flabbergasting, even disorienting it was to find, last year, that my second book, East of the Sun, was a bestseller in the United Kingdom where it was published first.

My book is about three young and hopelessly naïve girls who take a trip to India in 1928, as members of The Fishing Fleet, the unkind name given to English girls who went East in search of husbands. During my down times of writing it, I thought that if I was very lucky it might appeal to one or two doughty old Colonels and their wives who had lived in India, but on this occasion I was wrong. It had struck a chord and for two or three glorious months I seemed to hear almost nothing but good news. The book was bought by the Richard and Judy Book Club in Great Britain, our version of the Oprah book club.

The book was optioned for television by a top producer, Allan Mc Keweon, who is out in India as I write looking at locations for what will, hopefully, be a six-part television series.

Most thrilling of all, I got actual letters!! From actual readers! Young girls backpacking across India who wanted to write, an 80-year-old former memsahib whose own mother had given birth to her in Kashmir. I talked to a blind woman who had listened to the story on audio and who talked about my characters as if they were as real to her as they were to me.

My friends, of course, teased me unmercifully, calling this my "spice girl moment."

But the funny thing was that actual publication day was a complete non-event. I was on holiday in France and actually spent it miles out to sea on a boat.

No parties, no fanfare, just, I guess, some vans trundling around the country delivering East of the Sun to various destinations. No, the real shock came when I was back in London again. I'd gone there to listen to the audio edition of the book being recorded, by Sian Thomas, a fine actress. I left the recording studio just as the sun was starting to set.

Too excited to take the bus, I decided to walk up Piccadilly and as I walked I saw my book in the windows of almost every bookshop I passed. It felt like a mad dream, and I was so overwhelmed, that I did something I would never do normally. I stopped off at Fortnum and Mason, that posh shop where the Queen buys her tea and quails eggs, and I sat down in the wine bar underneath and I drank a glass of pink champagne.

While I was sitting there, I thought about all the moments of boredom, of intense ecstasy, of uncertainty, of fear, of fascination that had gone into this book.

And I thought about Mrs. Smith Pearse. She was the woman who began my obsession with India. I was five years old when we met; she was in her late sixties and easily the most fascinating grown up I'd ever met. She'd just come home after nearly forty years in India and told me wonderful stories about camping out in the Himalayas, elephant hunts, finding snakes under her bath.

I wished my mother, Vicki, were there too. She was the one who took me out to lunch when I was 56 years old and said, "You know this novel you've been wanting to write. Well, you're cracking on a bit, I think you should get on with it now." She wrote me a check, not a lot, but it enabled me to give up teaching and journalism for two unpaid months. "Time," as she put it, "to fail if necessary."

I thought about luck and timing too. While I was writing East of the Sun, I asked a 90-year-old woman, once a member of the fishing fleet, why she thought so many of these young girls had been prepared to risk so much in order to find a husband in India. She fixed me with a beady eye and said:

"What you must remember darling, is that, in those days, we had no keys: no keys to a husband, or a career, or a house; our only hope was to find a husband, either that or you had to live at home with your parents for the rest of your life."

So here I was a woman of a certain age sitting with a glass of pink champagne in my hand, feeling for one dragon fly moment, that I had all the keys. I knew absolutely that this feeling would pass --- in fact, I'm back in my study again today, underneath that sign again --- but for that moment it was heaven.

---Julia Gregson

David Ebershoff: Character Inspiration

David Ebershoff's novel The 19th Wife weaves together two storylines. One is set in 1875, and is about Ana Eliza Young, separated from her powerful husband, Brigham Young, the leader of the Mormon Church. Expelled from the religious sect, she embarks on a crusade to end polygamy in the Unites States. A second narrative unfolds a tale of murder involving a polygamist family in present-day Utah.

Today's guest blogger, David talks about how he drew on historical figures like Ana Eliza for the novel --- and reveals the character he "unashamedly lifted from life," who happens to be a close companion of his.


Often when I'm speaking to a book club, whether on the phone or in person, someone asks how much in The 19th Wife is true. When a novel is inspired by real people and real events, it's human nature to wonder what is history what is a product of the author's imagination.

My short answer is that the basic arc of Ann Eliza's story is based on real events; and that Jordan's story is inspired by people I met who lived in circumstances similar to his. But when I get to speak to a book group, I can elaborate on this, including the details I uncovered in my research, such as why Ann Eliza's father married his third, fourth and fifth wives over the course of four weeks; or how the First Lady of the United States, Julia Grant, received Ann Eliza when she went to Washington, D.C., to plead her case against polygamy. In general, I try to explain how I wove historical facts into the novel's fabric; how and why I relied on certain sources; and, finally, why the historical record, vast that it is, can often prove inadequate.

After all, I assume a book group is interested in speaking to an author to get the inside scoop. And so the one tidbit I always share with book groups, the one perhaps I'm fondest of, is the character in the novel who is wholly, entirely real. I mean literally, unashamedly lifted from life. No, I'm not talking about Ann Eliza Young or Brigham Young or even Jordan Scott, the narrator of the murder mystery. I'm talking about Elektra, Jordan’s dog.

Jordan's description of Elektra is accurate: "She's got rich brown hair that turns red in the sun, yellow-gold nearly electric eyes --- you'd swear there were bulbs behind them --- and the kind of long long legs that make people turn around and whistle." Elektra --- the real Elektra, I mean --- behaves just as the dog in the book: she's loving, loyal, perceptive, tender, but also needy, loud, peevish, barfy and, every once in awhile, a complete pain in the butt.

Like most dogs, Elektra is convinced that each day should be bent around her schedule. Yet one of the most remarkable things about my dog is that when I sit down to my desk to write, she immediately curls up at my feet and goes to sleep. Somehow she senses that this is the important work of the day and that I need a span of peace. It's as if a Do Not Disturb sign is hanging around my neck and she can read it. Perhaps I emit a particularly intense, maybe even scary vibe whenever I'm writing and she intuits not to mess with that. Maybe she has figured out that my hours at the keyboard lead to income and income leads to kibble and squeaky toys.

Whatever it is, for nine years now, ever since she was an adorable but puddle-prone puppy she has always allowed me my quiet hours each day for writing. That's how Elektra became a part of The 19th Wife: just as Jordan's dog goes everywhere with him, my dog was with me through all the drafts and rewrites, always snoring lightly at my feet. For the four years I was writing the novel, Elektra slept loyally under my desk. She is there now as I write this sentence. She'll be there tomorrow, and I can only hope for a long time to come.

Whenever I speak by phone to a reading group, I often wonder who is on the other end of the line. I hear the voices but I wonder what everyone looks like and about the room the group is meeting in and who is sitting where and what kind of food and drinks are being served. In case you've ever wondered that about the author you are chatting with, I can tell you now, in case we speak one day, almost certainly I am on the couch --- the big red one in the den --- with Elektra curled warmly at my side. I don't know who enjoys speaking to a reading group more, her or me. For me it's a chance to hear many intelligent and often unexpected comments about my work from thoughtful, friendly strangers. For Elektra, it's a nice quiet hour with her head in my lap. I hope you have a chance to meet her one day over the line.

---David Ebershoff

Marie Brenner: Sibling Relationships

In her memoir Apples & Oranges, Marie Brenner shares the story of reconnecting with her brother, Carl, after years of living opposite lifestyles and finding very little common ground. It’s a story that many of you with siblings may understand. For years there have been books written about issues between sisters, which is a hot topic, but in this book, Marie examines her relationship with her brother as she strives to understand how they came to be different people from the same home. In today's guest blog post, Marie talks about how the topic of sibling relationships has struck a chord with the people she has met while promoting Apples & Oranges. Book clubs who select this thought-provoking memoir will find plenty to discuss.


Recently at New York's Museum of Jewish Heritage, I was interviewed by ABC's Magee Hickey but within moments, the entire audience was participating about their own complicated brother sister issues. I am no longer surprised by this. This is a time in America when we are trying to grapple with the financial meltdown. We are in a crisis and trying desperately to come together with our families. Often confusion and misunderstanding stops many of us.

Are we still on the playground? Sometimes it can feel that way --- at least it did to me.

The question I am most often asked is: How do two people who grow up in the same house become strangers in later life?

There are no easy answers to this question.

For years, I believed my own situation was uncommon. I often changed the subject quickly when asked if I had a brother. Yes, I would say. "We speak once a week." We were such opposites our mother had a name for us: Apples and Oranges.

You could have put our conversations on an egg timer.

My brother Carl and I struggled for years to become a team. He was an arch-conservative trial lawyer turned apple orchardist. I am a writer who lives in New York with friends my brother called "ACLU libs."

I wish I were kidding about this.

We learned we had a deep and abiding need to connect with one another.

"Why does no one talk about the importance of sibling relationships?" I was asked this week.

"I don't even know where to begin," another woman said.

There is startling new research which shows that the big hole in the lives of so many of us is this sibling "thing."

Now there are therapists who have adult sibling therapy weekends --- a first.

"What is new in the research?" I am often asked.

We see our reactions to our own siblings in our children's lives and for many of us, in how we react to our own partners, colleagues and friends. Are we distant? Loving? Quick to overreact? Is this a sibling trigger?

The statistics are startling.
52% of all of us with "challenged" relationships struggle to a place of new understanding.

This is an urgent topic for many of us. What we are talking about is the relationship which vexed my own life --- the tangled fishing line of brother sister love which defined my brother and me.

It was a fierce attachment --- the phrase Vivian Gornick used describing her life with her mother. The ferocity masked the deep yearning to connect…

---Marie Brenner