River's Edge (35 page)

Authors: Marie Bostwick

BOOK: River's Edge

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A Special Chat With Marie Bostwick

I
n the year since my first book,
Fields of Gold
, was published, nearly every day when I wasn't working on
River's Edge
was spent meeting and talking with readers. In that time I've chatted, in person or online, with hundreds of new reading friends and have been overjoyed to hear of their connection with my characters and impressed by the insight and depth of their questions. For me, this has been one of the most surprising, delightful, and humbling benefits of the writing life.

If I could, I'd love to sit down with each of you personally and have a good, long chat but of course that is impossible, so I thought I'd take some time to discuss a few of the questions some of my reading friends have had about
River's Edge
. Possibly you've had some of the same questions they did. I hope you'll find the answers you're looking for here. If you don't, please visit my website,
www.mariebostwick.com
, and send me an e-mail. I read all my e-mails personally and will do my best to answer any questions you might have. While you're there, be sure to check out the whole siteâyou'll find reader's guides, giveaways, contests, information about book signings and new releases, my quarterly newsletter and reader's spotlight, which features the stories of some of my reading friends, and even a DVD clip of me discussing
Fields of Gold
. I hope you'll drop by.

Like many of you, I am a voracious reader. I'm usually reading several books at the same time. In fact, as I write this there are exactly thirteen books sitting on my bedside table: four novels, three theological works, a book of quotations, a bible, a book on self-sufficient farming, a biography, and two nonfiction historical titles. Even though my choice of reading materials runs the gamut of genre, style, and subject matter, the mish-mash of things I'm reading has a way of connecting in my mind and adding texture to whatever it is I'm writing. However, once I have a new character in mind, history tends to be my jumping-off place. This was exactly what happened when I began working on
River's Edge
.

I knew my main character for this book was going to be a young girl who, for reasons beyond her control or understanding, found herself separated from her family. At the same time this girl made her appearance in my imagination, I was reading a series of books about the underground resistance within the officer corps in Hitler's Germany. I was fascinated by these men who were public participants in Nazi aggression while simultaneously plotting Hitler's assassination. How did they live with themselves knowing that, even if they were not directly active in Nazi genocide, they certainly were complicit in the deaths of countless innocents? For the safety of their families, they must have had to keep much of what they were doing a secret; perhaps they found it necessary to push those they loved away in an effort to protect them if their plot was uncovered. I wonderedâin trying to wrestle their country and children from the clutches of a madman, did they lose the respect and love of those they were trying to protect?

Nothing in the books I was reading could answer these questions, and when historical fact cannot answer questions of human motivation that is when I begin to rely on imagination. Some writers outline their plots before they ever begin to write, but not me. I don't like to outline any more of the story than is strictly necessary to help my publisher believe there really is a book hiding somewhere in my mind. This may be stubbornness on my part, but I really believe the work comes out better when I let the characters lead me where they want to go without binding them to the constraints of some pre-constructed plot. For me, the best books are sewn from threads of imagination and it was in my imagination that Elise, Hermann, Carl, Sophia, Junior, and the intertwining tapestry of their stories were woven.

Before we move to the fictional side of the
River's Edge
story, you probably want to know more about the factual side of it. There were many soldiers and citizens who were involved in the underground resistance movement in Hitler's Germany. The most well-known of the military resistance groups was centered in the Abwehr, a military intelligence unit. Admiral Wilhelm Canaris was a real person and one of the key players in the resistance. He was a career officer and began his military service long before Hitler's arrival on the scene of German history. Like many career officers he was very unhappy with the conditions of surrender imposed on Germany after World War I but had no real admiration for the Nazis or their leader and, in fact, held Hitler in contempt. However, trained from an early age to be obedient and loyal to superiors, he followed orders (how enthusiastically or reluctantly I cannot guess) and played his part in the German war machine.

When he witnessed numerous atrocities and the wholesale slaughter of innocent citizens during the Polish invasion, Canaris was horrified. He initially believed these were the uncoordinated actions of a few ruthless renegades within the army, but soon came to the realization that these atrocities were condoned and even ordered by Hitler. This marked Admiral Carnaris's conversion to the resistance movement. As the war progressed, dozens of other high-ranking officers would undergo the same transformation. His involvement in the resistance was suspected as early as 1940, but he was not arrested until 1944. He was hung in a concentration camp on April 9, 1945, just weeks before the end of the war.

Elise's beloved cousin Peter was also an actual person. Count Peter Yorck von Watenburg was descended from an old Prussian family, the tree upon which I decided to graft Elise's fictional ancestry. Peter was a lawyer, a charming, handsome man whose deep religious convictions led him to become part of the Christian resistance that was known as the Kreisau Circle. He played a role in the July 20, 1944 attempt to assassinate Hitler, was arrested when the plot failed, and executed on August 8. The well-known protestant theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, whose writings I have admired for many years, was also part of the Kreisau Circle as were many others from diverse Christian denominations. Bonhoeffer was killed in the same place and on the same day as Canaris.

As I read about these men and many others, I was torn. Certainly not all of their motives were pure, but I couldn't help but admire their willingness to risk everything in an attempt to stop Hitler. Still, I grew impatient and even angry at their inability to carry out their mission. During Hitler's reign, there were fifteen attempts on his lifeâall failures. The July 20 bombing during a meeting at the Wolf's Lair headquarters inflicted the most damage, but though the bomb had been planted directly at his feet, Hitler walked away unscathed. Why, if the plotters were actually in the conference room with Hitler, didn't they just walk up to the FÃ¼hrer and shoot him at close range? Why rely on something as unreliable as a bomb? Surely, after the plan failed, they must have asked themselves the same thing. The weight of their guilt must have been hard to live with. That is where Hermann Braun comes in and
River's Edge
moves into the world of fiction.

Elise's father, Hermann Braun, is completely a product of my imagination. My thoughts about this book began with a girl who is sent away from her family for reasons she cannot understand and thrust into a new family whose traditions and lifestyle are utterly confusing to her. But why would a family willingly send their child away to live with another family? Hermann provides the answer.

Hermann has many reasons, some well-intentioned and some misguided, for sending Elise to live with the Mullers but the biggest is his growing realization that eventually he will have no choice but to join the resistance. Though he will try to resist it, the pull of morality will eventually win out over a lifetime of ingrained obedience to authority and when it does, Hermann knows his daughter will be in danger. When he leaves Elise on the dock at Hamburg, Hermann himself doesn't entirely understand his reasoning and he certainly can't explain it to Elise. From an early age, Hermann was taught to obey without discussion or question. Because of this, his communication skills, even to the wife and daughter he loves, are painfully underdeveloped. He cannot express his love, his fears, his desires, or even his grief. It is a legacy he passes on to his little girl and consequently, the Brauns become a family of secret keepers.

Though Elise doesn't realize it at the time, the boisterous, joyous, demonstrative Muller family is just what she needs. Otherwise she would have grown up to be a hard, judgmental, and bitter woman instead of the strong, forgiving, and loving person she becomes.

Shall I tell you a secret? As I began working on this story, I didn't much like Elise! Her superior attitude coupled with her insecurity made me grow impatient with her. And yet, I understood her. In fact, the unlovely parts of Elise's character are not too different from the unlovely parts of my own character, so I suppose that explains my reaction. What is more to be despised than our own bad habits? But still, I do understand her. Like Elise, I have lived as a stranger in a strange land. My family and I lived in Mexico for almost five years, so I understand Elise's culture shock only too well. Even as she appreciates the warmth, generosity, and essential goodness of the Mullers, she can't quite help but feel that their way of life is at best confusing and at worst simply wrong. She will come to appreciate and even love her adopted country, but it will take time. In the beginning, she feels lonely and abandoned and that, coupled with the difficulty she has in expressing herself, causes her to say and do things that don't exactly endear her to some members of the Muller family, like Junior, who are less inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt. Elise the girl is not the most loveable of children.

However, by the time I'd finished writing, I not only loved Elise, I admired her. As she grows into womanhood, Elise attains the type of feminine maturity I think most of us aspire toâshe is strong and gentle, forgiving and moral, capable and generous, discerning and visionary, able to give love and receive it. And because she starts out life with so many strikes against her, her ultimate transformation is even more of a triumph.

But, as you know, Elise's transformation is not a sure bet. There are many people in Brightfield who, even though she is just an innocent girl living thousands of miles from the center of Nazi power, are more than ready to lay the blame for the war and the terrible crimes that came with it squarely at Elise's feet, perhaps none so much as Elise herself. The greatest challenge Elise will face is in dealing with her own sense of guilt. She must separate feelings of shame that stem from the soul of an abandoned child who is sure that her abandonment must be her own fault from the things for which she is truly to blame. She must learn to live with and learn from her regrets and mistakes. Having done that, Elise is finally able to move to a place of faith, to be forgiven and forgiving of herself and others. It seems to me an act of supreme courage.

But Elise isn't the only one who must come face-to-face with guilt and shame. All the men Elise lovesâHermann, Papa, and Juniorâ are all confronted with the reality of their own failures and each, in their own way, is in danger of being crushed under the weight of remorse. Having learned to carry this load herself, Elise is able to help Junior and Hermann face their faults, call them by name, and embrace life. She is a true heroine and that is what I love most about her.

Of course, Elise could not have become a heroine without the help and guidance of so many people. Though her tragic death from tuberculosis separates her from her daughter at a young age, Elise's own mother gives her love and the gift of music that will supply Elise with a sense of worth and a voice that help her through some difficult days. Additionally, the love and acceptance she receives from Mama, Papa, Cookie, and so many other people in Brightfield, including the loveable, curmudgeonly Mrs. Ludwig, (one of my favorite characters!) are crucial in molding Elise's character and helping her become a woman.

I suspect that I've written another book that is liberally sprinkled with wonderful, supportive secondary characters because I recognize the importance that loving family, friends, and neighbors have had in shaping my own character. I cannot imagine writing about a place where, even in the midst of tragedy, especially in the midst of tragedy, there were not people that brought rays of hope and words of wisdom, forgiveness, and compassion to those who need it.

Sometimes in life we are lucky enough to receive that type of love, sometimes we are privileged enough to give it. I hope you have the opportunity to do both.

Blessings,

Marie

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