Reviews
**Top Pick 4 1/2 stars**
"White writes complex, heartbreaking novels with just enough pathos and plenty of redemption."
—RT Book Reviews
"White...once again crafts characters who transcend their romantic roles through their frailties and weaknesses"
—Kirkus Reviews
"White moves smoothly between narrators as well as different time periods, crafting an intriguing and romantic family drama."
—Booklist
"...The Time Between weaves a story as intricate and sturdy as a sweetgrass basket, with the fresh, magnetic voices of its headstrong characters."
—ArtsATL
A Conversation with
Karen
White
Author of
THE TIME BETWEEN
One of
the recurring themes in your books is the bond between sisters. What is
it about sisterhood that provides so much inspiration?
Because I grew up with three brothers, my life
long wish was for a sister. I was
horribly jealous of my friends who had sisters, knowing in my heart that my
life would never be complete without a sister. My mother was the oldest of six children—five of them
girls—and my fondest childhood memories are listening to my mother and aunts
doing their “southern sister girl talk”.
It is their voices and mannerisms that I hear and see in my head while
I’m creating my fictional sisters.
Your books often play with real events or
historical facts—did THE TIME BETWEEN have a real-life inspiration?
For this particular book, I was inspired by a news story about two elderly twin sisters who’d once sung with Bing Crosby and were renowned beauties. And then, for some inexplicable reason, they stopped leaving their house, or returning phone calls, or answering their door. This went on for years until they were found deceased in their home—from natural causes. They had died within days of each other. I wanted to know why they’d become recluses—what happened? This question kept on pecking at my brain, and I knew that I had the seeds for a book.
Why did you decide to make Helena and Bernadett Hungarian? Is Hungary a country you’ve ever visited?
After deciding
that the book would have World War II as a foundation of one of the plot lines,
I knew I had to use Hungary.
Hungary had a very unique and precarious position during the war. It was an Axis power, allied with the
Third Reich as a lesser of two evils.
The Hungarian government was more afraid of the Russian Communists than
of Hitler, and so an uneasy alliance was formed. But it was because of this that the Jewish citizenry,
although not immune, escaped much of the terror that Jews were facing in Nazi
occupied countries. At least until
the very last year of the war when Hungary tried to ally itself with the Allied
powers and failed—leaving itself vulnerable to Nazi occupation, and the forced
deportation of nearly 500,000 Jews in a three month period in 1944. It is as unbelievable as it is
heartbreaking, and I knew it would be a powerful backdrop for my story.
I read a lot for
the research for this book, but I was lucky enough to schedule a trip to
Budapest while writing the book. I
am so glad I did! I think the
details and ambiance of the city really added to the “immersion” into the story
that I like to provide for my readers.
The story begins with a near-death experience—is
this something that has ever happened to you or someone you know?
I have never had a
near-death experience nor do I know anybody who has. However, when I was in middle school, I read my first
account of a near-death experience and I’ve been fascinated by the concept ever
since. There is so much
documentation on the subject, from people from all over the world and
throughout history, that it does give one pause. And for me, I knew it would be great fodder for a novel.
There are no villains in this story, which is
something the reader realizes once they “see” it from the other characters’
point of views—is that why you decided on three different narrators?
Absolutely. When I first started the book, I
thought I’d only have two narrators—Eleanor and Helena—since both plot lines
revolve around them. But then I
realized how important Eve’s character was to both Eleanor’s past and
present. Seeing Eve through
Eleanor’s eyes made the reader very biased against her and I thought that made
her very one-dimensional. The best
way to flesh Eve out for the reader was to let the reader into her head.
Is it hard to write a story with no real villains,
only protagonists?
I write as true to
real life as I can, and in real life—with notable exceptions—there are no
completely good or bad people.
Everybody makes mistakes, or bad choices. It’s how we live with them that make us the people we
are. Eleanor and Helena have made
mistakes and bad choices—but they have learned from them and are more
interesting characters because of it.
What was the hardest thing for you to write in THE
TIME BETWEEN?
Helena’s story was
the hardest part to write. It’s
truly heartbreaking. I had to put
myself in her shoes, on a dark night with bombs falling from the sky, and
figure out what she would have done with the information she had at the
time—and there really was no other answer. The consequences were devastating, but not intentional. She’s one of my favorite characters
I’ve created because of how strong she is—how she was able to move forward
despite the guilt she carried for so many years.
Visit Karen's website here
Go here for a current list of Karen's books
Great interview, I find the subject of near-death experiences fascinating too.
ReplyDeleteHi Kim. Me too, in fact my June featured author Matthew Dicks talks about that on his bio on his website that he died twice before the age of 18. I can't wait to chat more about that with him next month when we read his novel Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend.
Deletehere's the link to the conversation - http://matthewdicks.com/about/am-b