Beyond Belief by Deborah E. Lipstadt
Buried by the Times by Laurel Leff
I Will Bear Witness by Victor Klemperer
I believe these are three of the books you mention as sources. I would be curious to learn sources you would recommend about the women who were your inspiration for the character of Frankie -- yes, I should remember their names or go look for them, but... (Margaret Bourke-White? Martha Gellhorn?)
Sarah-Blake wrote:
gold02 wrote:Sarah,
I have truly been enjoying The Postmistress as my first First Look book! Seeing your answers to questions here, such as the origin of the idea for Iris' "certificate", has clarified many things for me.
I was wondering if there was any particular book or source that helped with your research for Frankie's reports on the plight of the Jews in Europe? I know you have mentioned the Holocaust Museum as one place you did research. As a former history major, I always love a book that makes me interested in finding out more about a time period or event.
Thank you again for your involvement in our discussion!
Anne
Hi Anne,
I too, love a book that leads me deeper and deeper into a time period or event. There are countless books on the story of the Jews, but the more I worked on this story, I grew more and more interested in just what we knew over here, how much, what kind of knowledge etc. Two books: Deborah Lipstadt's Beyond Belief: The American Press and the Coming of the Holocaust, and Laurel Leff's Buried by The Times: The Holocaust and America's Most Important Newspaper were crucial in my research. Also Victor Klemperer's I Will Bear Witness: A Diary of the Nazi Years was a first hand account of the years leading up to the Final Solution.--Sarah
Peppermill wrote:
Beyond Belief by Deborah E. Lipstadt
Buried by the Times by Laurel Leff
I Will Bear Witness by Victor Klemperer
I believe these are three of the books you mention as sources. I would be curious to learn sources you would recommend about the women who were your inspiration for the character of Frankie -- yes, I should remember their names or go look for them, but... (Margaret Bourke-White? Martha Gellhorn?)
Sarah-Blake wrote:
gold02 wrote:
Sarah,
I have truly been enjoying The Postmistress as my first First Look book! Seeing your answers to questions here, such as the origin of the idea for Iris' "certificate", has clarified many things for me.
I was wondering if there was any particular book or source that helped with your research for Frankie's reports on the plight of the Jews in Europe? I know you have mentioned the Holocaust Museum as one place you did research. As a former history major, I always love a book that makes me interested in finding out more about a time period or event.
Thank you again for your involvement in our discussion!
Anne
Hi Anne,
I too, love a book that leads me deeper and deeper into a time period or event. There are countless books on the story of the Jews, but the more I worked on this story, I grew more and more interested in just what we knew over here, how much, what kind of knowledge etc. Two books: Deborah Lipstadt's Beyond Belief: The American Press and the Coming of the Holocaust, and Laurel Leff's Buried by The Times: The Holocaust and America's Most Important Newspaper were crucial in my research. Also Victor Klemperer's I Will Bear Witness: A Diary of the Nazi Years was a first hand account of the years leading up to the Final Solution.--Sarah
Hi Peppermill,
Martha Gellhorn was a great inspiration for Frankie--though she was a print journalist. Her collected journalism is entitled The Face of War. There is a great biography of her by Caroline Moorehead, called Gellhorn: A Twentieth Century Life. And then a great book on early women in journalism: Nancy Caldwell Sorel's The Women Who Wrote the War.
Sarah
Sarah-Blake wrote:Hi Peppermill,Martha Gellhorn was a great inspiration for Frankie--though she was a print journalist. Her collected journalism is entitled
Face of War . There is a great biography of her by Caroline Moorehead, called Gellhorn: A Twentieth Century Life. And then a great book on early women in journalism: Nancy Caldwell Sorel's The Women Who Wrote the War.
Sarah
Gellhorn by Caroline Moorehead
The Women Who Wrote the War by Nancy Caldwell Sorel
Thanks, Sarah. I did reach the end of The Postmistress today and realized you have some notes and good leads there as well, but I appreciate your honing down the list here!
I have liked your story and particularly the three key female characters. Good luck with The Postmistress. I agree with those who say it can be the basis for a good movie, too. I am delighted fo have had the chance to be one of the early readers and will recommend it to friends.
Pepper
Sarah-Blake wrote:Thank you so much, Pepper! And thanks for pasting up these books--they are all tremendous.
Another v. interesting one was
Operation Drumbeat, about the first German Uboat to cross the Atlantic and surface in New York Harbor--proving that Harry was not so off base!
Sarah
You are most welcome, Sarah. Those who accept my recommendation to read your book shall have some enjoyable reading.
I have posted these reflections elsewhere on these threads, but let me place them to you as well.
You have said you imagined the scene in which Iris obtained her "certificate of virginity or intactness." In the period since, have stories come to you of women who took such an action? If not, does or should that impact how we as as the reader view the story? Perhaps I am asking the literary question of what does it mean to write "reality" -- and even was "reality" or only plausibility what was intended here?
Second, Iris is largely portrayed as a "rule follower", at least early in the novel and relative to her role as a postmaster. Was she breaking those rules when she accepted the letter from Will (to be delivered if he died) before he left? Or was she already acting as "postmistress" rather than "postmaster", if we take the later to mean the US government sanctioned role and the former to be definable more generically?
Pepper
Peppermill wrote:
Sarah-Blake wrote:
Thank you so much, Pepper! And thanks for pasting up these books--they are all tremendous.
Another v. interesting one was
Operation Drumbeat, about the first German Uboat to cross the Atlantic and surface in New York Harbor--proving that Harry was not so off base!
Sarah
You are most welcome, Sarah. Those who accept my recommendation to read your book shall have some enjoyable reading.
I have posted these reflections elsewhere on these threads, but let me place them to you as well.
You have said you imagined the scene in which Iris obtained her "certificate of virginity or intactness." In the period since, have stories come to you of women who took such an action? If not, does or should that impact how we as as the reader view the story? Perhaps I am asking the literary question of what does it mean to write "reality" -- and even was "reality" or only plausibility what was intended here?
Second, Iris is largely portrayed as a "rule follower", at least early in the novel and relative to her role as a postmaster. Was she breaking those rules when she accepted the letter from Will (to be delivered if he died) before he left? Or was she already acting as "postmistress" rather than "postmaster", if we take the later to mean the US government sanctioned role and the former to be definable more generically?
Pepper
Both questions in some way are asking about how characters "breathe," how they seem real enough that you could meet them on the street and know them. The challenge always is to create enough reality so that what the characters do inside that reality is plausible--thus I was very careful to research the language used, the style of dress, the street scenes, but then each character, like each of us, is simply as full of contradictions and truths as any of us. Iris decided she needed a certificate of virginity--because she had a great faith in order and in decency set down. When she finds herself with Will's letter in her hand, a part she may never have suspected in herself, rose up. And she acted. I do feel this is so human--to suddenly find yourself acting in a way you were never prepared for, or imagined. We are all such complicated webs of contradiction. Characters in novels often remind us of that (if they are successful).
I think it's great what you say--the postmistress in Iris emerged, rather than the postmaster.
Sarah
I think it's great what you say--the postmistress in Iris emerged, rather than the postmaster.
Yes, this was an inspired observation Pepper - thanks!
Sarah-Blake wrote:
Peppermill wrote:
Sarah-Blake wrote:Thank you so much, Pepper! And thanks for pasting up these books--they are all tremendous.
Another v. interesting one was
Operation Drumbeat, about the first German Uboat to cross the Atlantic and surface in New York Harbor--proving that Harry was not so off base!
Sarah
You are most welcome, Sarah. Those who accept my recommendation to read your book shall have some enjoyable reading.
I have posted these reflections elsewhere on these threads, but let me place them to you as well.
You have said you imagined the scene in which Iris obtained her "certificate of virginity or intactness." In the period since, have stories come to you of women who took such an action? If not, does or should that impact how we as as the reader view the story? Perhaps I am asking the literary question of what does it mean to write "reality" -- and even was "reality" or only plausibility what was intended here?
Second, Iris is largely portrayed as a "rule follower", at least early in the novel and relative to her role as a postmaster. Was she breaking those rules when she accepted the letter from Will (to be delivered if he died) before he left? Or was she already acting as "postmistress" rather than "postmaster", if we take the later to mean the US government sanctioned role and the former to be definable more generically?
Pepper
Both questions in some way are asking about how characters "breathe," how they seem real enough that you could meet them on the street and know them. The challenge always is to create enough reality so that what the characters do inside that reality is plausible--thus I was very careful to research the language used, the style of dress, the street scenes, but then each character, like each of us, is simply as full of contradictions and truths as any of us. Iris decided she needed a certificate of virginity--because she had a great faith in order and in decency set down. When she finds herself with Will's letter in her hand, a part she may never have suspected in herself, rose up. And she acted. I do feel this is so human--to suddenly find yourself acting in a way you were never prepared for, or imagined. We are all such complicated webs of contradiction. Characters in novels often remind us of that (if they are successful).
I think it's great what you say--the postmistress in Iris emerged, rather than the postmaster.
Sarah
