Out of Eden
frequently asked questions
| How did you come to write Out of Eden? |
| As a matter of fact, this novel came to me almost against my wishes. While putting the finishing touches on my last book, I came across a story of two women who moved to Kansas in the 1880's to build twin houses. Although I knew this situation would make a dynamite novel, I had no interest in writing it myself since historical fiction was not my bailiwick. In the next few weeks, however, the two women kept wandering into my thoughts. Why did they decide to go to Kansas? What could have caused the final rupture of their friendship? And, finally it dawned on me that these questions were my novel. |
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| How much is fact; how much is fiction? |
| That two women, an East Coast widow and a Parisian, met in Paris, homesteaded in Kansas and lived in twin houses for almost ten years before their friendship ended. That's about all I knew or wanted to know until told myself the story. Those women had to become my creations; only then could I delve more into their backgrounds. Happily my instincts proved right on the few things that were known. For instance, the American really came from New York and they really had prospered, becoming the country's second largest landowners - just as I had imagined. Let me quickly add that Huddleston, Kansas, in my book is Hutchinson, Kansas, only in the way that a brief sketch resembles a finished oil painting. I took the foundations of the place and constructed my own edifice. |
| How did you go about your research? |
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I wanted to be as historically accurate as possible to the flavor of the period, not only in Kansas but in the rest of the United States and Paris as well. First, I read only enough to situate my characters in their time and place, but I had to monitor myself because the research was so much fun and a legitimate excuse to play hookey from the writing. When the women were in Paris, I concentrated on reading everything I could from letters and memoirs to history texts on France. In fact, I got so intrigued I left my women there for one hundred pages instead of one chapter, as I had originally planned. When they got to Kansas I read in the same fashion - whatever I could put my hands on and in no particular order. A little harum-scarum, but it worked for me. The only part of the research I didn't enjoy involved having to check on specific information: what kind of harvester? was it a rainy year? That sort of detail. I tried hard to keep weather true to the year I would be writing about, especially since I regarded it as another important character in the drama. |
| Did Kansas create the people or did the people create Kansas? |
| Both, of course. You had to be a dreamer and/or adventurer to come, and many of the earliest pre-Civil War came with a mission of either banishing or upholding the institution of slavery. In western Kansas particularly, only the stoutest could survive. The land itself fostered self-reliance and bravery although sometimes even those traits weren't enough to sustain an individual or a family. |
| Did you discover any parallel between then and now? |
| I found that we share many of the same concerns that were prevalent then: the hunger for family structure and ideals, a fascination with exploration existing alongside fear of the vastness that such exploration may reveal. Our unease with some the of genetic research that's going on or with the seemingly limitless possibilities of new technology seems similar to their feelings toward their own new discoveries. The desire for global thought persists along with a deep mistrust of the very notion of "global". In all of these cases, the sense of a lack of control permeated the culture then as it does now. |
| Do the stories of Lydia and Charlotte have relevance to women in the late 20th century? |
| Leading an independent life now is still costly, though more accessible; and, even in the vast majority of enlightened, two-working partner marriages, the primary responsibility for childcare and domestic chores remains the wife's. If, in fact, today you are a young woman in your twenties, as the women in Out of Eden are, the need to grapple with the myriad of conflicting pulls - yourself, your career, your friends, family, possibly a spouse - is similar. Fortunately, considering a career and yourself can now be included in the list. Unfortunately, in too many places, women continue to threaten when they step too far from the traditional line. The line is not as rigidly defined, certainly, but more so as one would have hoped. |
| When and why did you become a writer of fiction? |
| I wrote my first story about age eight for a children's magazine but don't think I ever sent it off. At eleven, I made a conscious decision to be a writer because writing and telling stories appeared to be the only thing I did well. After much gnashing of teeth over what I was going to do with my life, at eighteen I knew I wanted to be one. The main reason, then as now, is the sheer fun of it all - when I'm clicking. I also like to think a deeper understanding of human nature evolves. |
| Were you ever tempted to write this story as straight non-fiction? |
| Not for a minute! |
| Why not? |
| As a practical matter, solid information was not at a premium. More importantly, my predilection is for fiction. I like digging under accepted truths, exploring their prisms. Fiction is much more tolerant of ambiguity, a state most of us find uncomfortable but a necessary one to cultivate, whether for examining ourselves or the world. |
| So how do you find writing historical fiction? |
| Exhilarating! I found the engagement on so many levels, with both the fictional and analytical juices flowing at the same time, a completely satisfying, if exhausting, experience. What a pleasure creating a world while also trying to recreate someone else's. |
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