TBR [to be read] is a semi-regular, invitation-only interview series with authors of newly released/forthcoming, interesting books who will tell us about their new work as well as offer tips on writing, stories about the publishing biz, and from time to time, a recipe.
Give us your elevator pitch: what’s your book about in 2-3 sentences?
American Ending is a poignant reminder that everything
that is happening in America has already happened. This immersive novel weaves
Russian fairy tales and fables into a family saga set in the coal mines of
Appalachia in the early 1900s. The challenges facing immigrants—and the
fragility of citizenship—are just as unsettling and surprising today as they
were 100 years ago.
Which character did you most enjoy creating? Why? And
which character gave you the most trouble, and why?
The main character, Yelena, gave me the most trouble. I’d
never written a historical novel, and it was hard to stay inside her head and
the era that constrained her.
Viktor Gomelekoff, Yelena’s love interest, was the most fun,
because I based him closely on my beloved maternal grandfather. Sickly his
whole life (because of his years as a coal miner), he outlasted my other
grandparents and his sense of humor and tolerance stood out in his community. You
could tell him anything, and people did.
Tell us a bit about the highs and lows of your book’s
road to publication.
Early on, the publisher of my first three books rejected
this one, then my agent withdrew, saying my book “didn’t match the one in her
head.” Fortunately, nearly every writer I know was struggling with her agent
and/or publisher—I didn’t want that for them, but it made my situation feel
less personal. The agent I found asked for a rewrite, and she didn’t want to
show it to big publishers, which still puzzles me. But she found Blair, a
woman-owned independent publisher in North Carolina, and Robin Muira, the
editor there, had some smart ideas about making the book less episodic and more
dramatic. That meant another rewrite without any promises. Still, I know good
editing when I hear it, and I dove back in with great results—Robin bought the
book! My experience with Blair has been so validating—they picked the title and
came up with a stunning, dramatic cover of a dancing wolf, which gives the
flavor of Russian fairy tales along with the danger and gritty humor in the
book.
What’s your favorite piece of writing advice?
This was my first historical novel and the first time I
reached into my family for stories. I wrestled with the constrictions of history,
writing critically about the Old Believer Russian Orthodox religion (my cousin
is currently the priest of that church), and portraying “my” people in good and
bad lights. When I bemoaned about this to a group of writers who included Sarah
Boxer, she said, “It seems like the struggle is the substance.” That became my
mantra for this novel!
My favorite writing advice is “write until something
surprises you.” What surprised you in the writing of this book?
I planned to write about four generations of women in the
same family—and I wrote many pages about subsequent generations—but Yelena’s
story was the richest broth. She kept demanding my attention.
How did you find the title of your book?
I had many titles, mainly Yelena for the main character and narrator, and Buried Sunshine, another name for coal. As
soon as Blair bought the book, they said a committee was working on a different
title, which makes a novelist nervous, but I gasped when I read the email
announcing their title: American Ending is
better than any title I thought of. In the opening pages, Yelena’s mother asks
the children before their bedtime story,
“Russian ending or American ending?,” and that refrain haunts Yelena’s life. In
their Appalachian town, boys go into the dangerous coal mines at ten, and
girls are married off at fourteen, giving birth to more babies than they can
feed. The tension of the novel is between what Yelena imagines for herself and
what America delivers.
Inquiring foodies and hungry book clubs want to know: Any
food/s associated with your book? (Any recipes I might share?)
If I may quote Alice McDermott on my book “Oh, and the food. Gorgeous!” There’s blintzes,
skansa (like a cheese Danish), kielbasa sausage, loaves and loaves of
bread—from sweet paska to coffee-infused black bread—kapusta (cabbage) soup,
and everything pickled, especially cucumbers and beets. Paska is like a sweet
challah, which they top with a braid of dough to represent the Trinity. Here’s
my grandmother’s recipe for paska, published in the Erie, Pennsylvania, paper
in the 1950s!
*****
Read more about this book: https://www.americanending.net
Order this book for your own TBR stack: https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781949467994
Read an excerpt from this book, “Russian Ending or American
Ending?”:
