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Please welcome David Ebershoff, author of The 19th Wife for a great interview!  But first if you haven’t already, check out my thoughts on attending David’s reading and book signing and my book review of The 19th Wife.

David Ebershoff has graciously given us many of his thoughts before and while preparing this interview I tried to steer away from questions that have already been asked.  Terri at Reading, Writing, and Retirement has an excellent guest post from David where he talks about his research process, fact checking and fictionalization.  Random House hosts a great interview about The 19th Wife, he also answers readers questions on Library Thing.  Also listen to David on NPR.

Now for the interview!

Maw Books:  First things first:  Deb Savidhoffer??  I loved it!  Hmm . . .  I wonder.

David Ebershoff: Obviously that’s an anagram of David Ebershoff.  In the novel, she’s an LDS Church archivist.  In fact she’s a very minor character, but she plays a role in bringing forth documents and narrative threads about the past.  I guess after four years of writing this novel I felt a connection to the role of an archivist.  So I made up Deb Savidhoffer one night when I was having a little fun.

Maw Books:  I can only imagine how many documents you had to go through.  Prior to beginning your research for The 19th Wife what was your familiarity with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as radical polygamous sects??  Or in other words, what was the learning curve like for you?

David Ebershoff: The learning curve was very steep.  I grew up in California and so I had some general understanding of the significant role the LDS Church and its members have played in the history of the American West.  But I knew little about the theology, the Church’s early leaders, and very little about the history of polygamy, and so I needed to learn all of that, plus so much more.  At one point I almost gave up.  I thought to myself, some people have spent lives studying these people and these issues, how will I ever know what I need to know?  But I kept working and at some point I felt comfortable enough to begin writing.

Maw Books:  Is it difficult to write objectively or do you find yourself inserting some of your own beliefs when you wrote The 19th Wife?

David Ebershoff: One of the most enjoyable parts of writing THE 19TH WIFE were the many, many different narrators.  Several people get to speak in this book, each talking about polygamy from a different point of view.  For example, Ann Eliza Young of course narrates part of the story, but Brigham Young narrates a section as well.  They disagree on many matters, most especially polygamy, and in the novel each gets to state her or his case.  Novels are not meant to be objective.  Novels are meant to accurately represent the points of view of characters who, to the reader, feel overwhelmingly real and truthful.

Maw Books:  Excellent points.  You’ve talked extensively about the difference between fact and fiction.  As a novelist, what do you think the author “owes” his reader and the subject matter, if anything?

David Ebershoff: I believe the author owes the reader many things.  To name just a few: a good story; authentic characters; original ideas; fresh language; and some kind of moral vision.  When fiction turns to history, the author owes the reader some sort of acknowledgment of how he or she has used history to inform the story.  One of the ideas in THE 19TH WIFE is about how we write and create history: the book asks questions about the “truthfulness” of history, the “reliability” of documents and eyewitnesses, the “objectivity” of historians.

Maw Books:  You’ve also talked extensively about the research involved in writing The 19th Wife.  What part of the research was really great to get into and what was the hardest?

David Ebershoff: I loved my time in Nauvoo, Illinois.  In the late 1830s and early 1840s, the LDS Church thrived there.  Joseph and his followers built up the city quickly and successfully.  And then, in 1844, Joseph was assassinated in nearby Carthage.  Within a few short years the Mormons abandoned Nauvoo for the Salt Lake Valley, leaving behind everything they had built, including their new temple.  It’s an incredibly moving chapter in American history.  Today much of historic Nauvoo has been rebuilt as a sort of living museum (I think of it as a sort of Mormon colonial Williamsburg).  Many of the old stores and houses are open to visitors and the guides wear 19th century costumes and tell stories about the people who lived and worked there.  For my purposes, this fed my imagination and helped me envision a number of scenes in the book

The hardest part was preparing to write the section narrated by Brigham Young.  I kept saying to myself, who are you to dare to channel the voice of Brigham Young?  But I realized what I wanted to know most about Brigham – and what I assumed the reader would want to know most – is what he thought about polygamy when he was alone with himself.  What was in his heart when he wasn’t orating or writing sermons or publishing declarations or penning letters he knew would be widely read?  What did he think when he was alone?  And so I wrote what I thought he might think based on my reading of his letters, sermons, and other documents.

Maw Books:  I’ve also visited Nauvoo, it’s a beautiful town.  I was in high school at the time.  I’d love to go back again.  Have you received any type of response either from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or its offshoot polygamists groups in regards to the publication of The 19th Wife?

David Ebershoff: I have not received any official response from the LDS Church. THE 19TH WIFE is a novel after all.  It reminds me of what the White House said recently when asked about AMERICAN WIFE by Curtis Sittenfeld (a wonderful, compassionate novel about a First Lady similar to Laura Bush): “We do not comment on fictional characters.”

I have received many, many emails from Mormons, all but one of them positive and supportive. I haven’t heard anything from the FLDS leaders, nor do I expect to.

Maw Books:  If you were to say that you received a response from the FLDS I think I would have been blown away! I’m glad to see that your response has been mostly postive.  Who is your favorite character in The 19th Wife and why?

David Ebershoff: That’s very hard to say because I feel close to each character for different reasons.  They feel quite real to me as if I have met them and know them personally.  It always sounds loopy when writers say things like that, but it’s true.  Jordan, Johnny, and Tom, for example, feel as real to me as many of the people I actually know.  I have a special affection for Kelly Dee, the graduate student from BYU.  Sometimes I feel as if I interviewed Kelly Dee while writing this book . . . . but of course I didn’t – she’s an invented character!  Over the course of writing the novel I grew surprisingly fond of Brigham, although I personally disagree with many of the things he said.

Maw Books:  If you could give a new author any advice about writing and publishing a book, particularly a historical fiction novel, what would it be?

Find a good story and tell it well.

Maw Books:  Short and sweet.  Would you share a bit of your back story?  How did you become involved as an editor for Random House and also publish three novels?  Has books always been a love of yours?

David Ebershoff: Yes, I’ve always loved to read.  When I was in my teens I started writing fiction, which was really only a matter of channeling my somewhat dangerous inclination to make things up.  As an adult I needed a job and after floundering for a few years after college with little direction I applied for a summer internship at Random House.  Even today it shocks me that I got that job.  But I did and I never left.

Maw Books:  What’s on your nightstand right now?  Anything amazing this year that you would highly recommend?

David Ebershoff: Not on my nightstand right now but a few new novels I loved this year:

AMERICAN WIFE by Curtis Sittenfeld
BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN by Charles Bock (I edited this book)
THE STORY OF FORGETTING by Stefan Merrill Block (ditto)
IN THE LAND OF NO RIGHT ANGLES by Daphne Beal (I love love love this book)

Maw Books:  I just looked at IN THE LAND OF NO RIGHT ANGLES by Daphne Beal and it looks fabulous!  I always ask each author I interview to share with us a favorite recipe that either appears in the book or is a family favorite?  Would you care to share one for our readers?

David Ebershoff: It’s called take-out and requires only two ingredients: a menu and a phone.

Maw Books:  David, you are my kind of guy!!  I’ve never been to New York City, but one of the only reasons I want to go is because of the variety of food.  What are your plans now?  What can we expect to see from you in the future?

David Ebershoff: I’ve just begun a novel about tennis.  That’s all I can say.

Maw Books:  The suspense!  Thanks David for stopping by!

Visit David Ebershoff’s website, as well as the many links listed at the beginning of the post.

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