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Ask the Author: Jessica Shattuck

“I'll be answering questions about The Women in the Castle this week. � Jessica Shattuck

Answered Questions (7)

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I found that you explored the questions about "...how Germans could have let the Holocaust happen-- how so many could have been, at least in the beginning, enthusiastic about Hitler..." in this book, well. You also broached the subject of forgiveness. Was it intentional that you seemed to stop short of letting a character be able to forgive themselves, while not forgetting events? OR did I miss the one(s) that did?
Jessica Shattuck What an interesting question! Thank you. I try to think about that time less in terms of "forgiveness" than truthfulness and understanding. Sometimes the idea of squeezing everything through the lens of "can I-- or anyone else-- forgive this or that action?" feels like it limits our ability to understand the how and why it happened. I guess I felt that the character you are talking about (Ania?) would have felt it was not her place to forgive or not forgive herself. That she just had to be as honest with herself as possible.
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I found the stark reality details you present in 'The Women in the Castle' hard to absorb. Would I be correct in assuming that you did so, to highlight the choices the complex characters had to make?
Jessica Shattuck I tried to be as faithful as possible to the realities of the time and the details of day to day life. It was definitely a stark time. So in as much as those realities highlighted the choices the characters had make, it was less a conscious action on my part than it was an organic outcome of my research, but I was definitely very interested exploring those choices.
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Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?
Jessica Shattuck I'm half German and grew up hearing my mother's stories about her childhood in post war Germany. I've always had conflicted feelings about my German heritage and many questions about how Germans could have let the Holocaust happen-- how so many could have been, at least in the beginning, enthusiastic about Hitler. The Women in the Castle was a way for me to explore those questions and try to understand the German experience of that time.
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How do you get inspired to write?
Jessica Shattuck I try not to be too precious about inspiration. I have three young children so I am basically inspired anytime I actually get the chance to sit down and dive into my work. If I get stuck, I get up and go for a walk.
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What’s your advice for aspiring writers?
Jessica Shattuck Don't get stuck on honing and perfecting the first thing you write-- keep at it and assume you will leave lots of material on your computer. You might have to write six short stories before you have one worth revising. And read!
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How do you deal with writer’s block?
Jessica Shattuck Research. If I'm stuck, I like to delve into odd corners of my subject. Inevitably new ideas emerge for scenes or conflicts or avenues I'd like to explore.
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What’s the best thing about being a writer?
Jessica Shattuck I get to live in two worlds at once.
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Jessica Shattuck
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