No one answered. Nobody! We called twice.
IRENE
Sorry. My phone… I think I’m having problems again.
JULIA
Really? Not again.
IRENE
I think so.
KURT
Someone kept calling today. Some blocked number.
FRANK
I’m afraid that might’ve been me, my phone.
JULIA
We called. We were lost.
AUDREY
They were just wandering up and down the street.
JULIA
We called but no one answered. We called twice.
KURT
Oh.
IRENE
Well, you’re here now.
KURT
Yes, welcome.
IRENE
Yes, have some tea. It’s… what kind is it, Kurt?
KURT
It’s vanilla something.
AUDREY
I hope there’s no caffeine in it!
FRANK
So Irene. Are you anxious to see it?
IRENE
Oh of course. I’ve seen a mock-up…
FRANK
Your first book, right?
IRENE
Yes.
FRANK
Quite a topic. Certainly opened my eyes to the situation.
IRENE
You read it?
FRANK
Interesting all the Europeans and Americans in Nanking
at the time of the Japanese invasion.
IRENE
Yes, there were quite a few. This was pre-World War II. Nanking was the capital in 1937, so there was quite a bit of international trade. And of course, a lot of foreigners escaped Shanghai when the Japanese came.
FRANK
Only to have Nanking invaded!
IRENE
Yes.
FRANK
Poor bastards. Lucky for the Chinese we were there.
AUDREY
Where are the books? Are they in your car?
JULIA
Oh no no no, the company’s sending them here. No worries, no worries. I saw the finished cover, they look great. They’ll look fantastic! And I know they finally shipped out to stores yesterday.
Kurt explained? It was just a delay.
IRENE
What exactly happened?
JULIA
Does it even matter? Look, I don’t want you to worry your
little head. A little controversy never hurt a new writer.
FRANK
Especially one writing non-fiction!
JULIA
The books’ll be here soon enough.
FRANK
Good. Gotta pick up my kid by eight. My week with him.
His mother goes bitch-crazy when I don’t pick him up on time.
JULIA
Frank… please.
FRANK
(continuing) I mean, she works from home, what difference does it make?
JULIA
So! Have you two packed and got your things sorted?
A beat.
IRENE
Excuse me?
JULIA
For the book tour?
IRENE
Oh. Kurt’s not coming on the tour.
JULIA
He’s not?
KURT
Actually, my parents’ll probably retire in Japan so I’m back at the restaurant full-time.
JULIA
Okay.
JULIA and FRANK look at each other.
It’s just, you do realize, it’s quite a long tour, you’re lucky to get it. Fourteen dates across North America, starting here and moving east…
IRENE
And you’ll be coming?
JULIA
Of course! Not in every city. But, definitely. Definitely. I’ll definitely try. It’s only—well—are you comfortable travelling all
by yourself?
IRENE
I don’t need a babysitter.
JULIA
I wasn’t suggesting you did! I thought you might want
a companion. Maybe Audrey? Hartford’s pulling out all the stops,
first class hotels, first class airfare. Lots of time for sightseeing.
AUDREY
Wow.
JULIA
Audrey, what do you say? You never know, we may even
get over the pond! Hartford’s still working out the details, but translations are on the way. Strong interest, very strong interest. German, definitely, obviously. French. Danish interest for some reason! UK version, but I told you that already…
IRENE
Mandarin? Cantonese?
JULIA
Well…
IRENE
Korean?
JULIA
Irene—
IRENE
Japanese?
JULIA
No.
IRENE
No Asian translations?
JULIA
Listen, we do a North American run, and, and Europe looks pretty good, promising. And… it’s a delay in Asia, that’s all. After they see the sales, they won’t need convincing. We don’t want to release the book without the proper research into the market. We research, we wait, and the book is released in the proper climate. You don’t want your book to be a bust, do you? And we certainly don’t want a repeat of your last time in Japan.
KURT
No, I agree.
JULIA
You are not a complete unknown in these circles. They have been misquoting your articles for years!
IRENE
I was a business reporter.
JULIA
Who occasionally strayed into cultural territory in her pieces. Which brought you to my attention.
IRENE
So it’s my fault?
JULIA
So we want to be careful how we proceed.
FRANK
Very careful.
JULIA eyes FRANK.
JULIA
Hartford’s going to be very happy. And very happy to have you along… Audrey?
AUDREY
Okay! It’s not like I’m doing anything else!
JULIA
Okay!
IRENE
So, I guess I don’t have a say!
JULIA
Irene— It’ll be lovely. A lovely tour. You know, the publishers are really behind you. They believe in you and what you’re trying to say. They’re gonna promote the hell outta this book, don’t you worry. Hartford & Ross wants everyone who’s anyone to have your name on their lips. We want every major paper to review your book. We want
it taught in universities. We want you booked into every talk show, every discussion panel. We want you to be the go-to Chinese writer.
IRENE
For what? For everything?
JULIA
No, no. Of course not. Not everything. Relevant things naturally. Political things, women’s issues, you know, Darfur or even the Bosnian women, Pakistan…
IRENE
I’m not a specialist in any of those areas…
JULIA
Well, you don’t have to be a specialist to be on a panel! That’s the whole point. They start the conversation about genocide or some such thing and from there, you cite an example from your book and talk about Nanking blah blah blah. Get it? Now, you’ve mentioned your book—and someone somewhere out there in TV land—someone will go out and buy it!
IR
ENE
Okay.
FRANK
Well, no, you can’t just go out there and say anything!
JULIA
No, of course, no no no. That’s not what I meant. No, you
most definitely can’t—
FRANK
So tomorrow, we’ll meet early, with my team, and we’ll go over a few things. Lines of argument, phrasing, that kind of thing.
IRENE
What?
FRANK
If you’re really concerned, we can email you our notes.
I mean, it’s all your material, we’ve just organized quotations, direct from your book. Mind you, we’ve organized them into arguments.
We do it for all our non-fiction writers. Sometimes we have to do it for our fiction writers too, don’t we?
IRENE
I don’t understand, Frank. Who, who are you?
FRANK
Didn’t she tell you? Didn’t she tell you why I’m here?
JULIA
I haven’t had the chance…
FRANK
Frank Sadowitch, Hartford & Ross & Company. Legal Department.
IRENE
Oh.
FRANK
You do understand, right, that a book that is as controversial as yours—there are things that raise a few eyebrows. For starters,
your accusations towards the current Japanese government and
the royal family!
IRENE
I was very thorough, Mr. Sadowitch. My references,
my research—
FRANK
Yes, your research. Very impressive. We went through your book with a fine-toothed comb. I tell ya, I wasn’t sure though. That first draft I read. I thought, a Nazi hero, what the fuck!
IRENE
Okay…
FRANK
Sorry. Never start talking about Nazis in polite company,
it’s bound to go badly.
JULIA
Frank—
FRANK
But I mean, he was a Nazi for god’s sake!
IRENE
Niklas Hermann was de-nazified just before he died. In fact, in his diaries, he says that—
FRANK
Discovering his diary! Now, that—is priceless! Good thing his son let you have it!
IRENE
He didn’t initially. Until he trusted me. I had to go back day after day.
FRANK
I mean the amount of research that you recovered—the diary, the secret photos, the letters to Hitler! What a great story. It’d make
a great movie.
JULIA
Oh yeah! A movie!
FRANK
You could call it “Nazi of Nanking”!
JULIA
Or maybe “Niklas of Nanking…”
FRANK
And then that American woman…. What was her name?
The missionary… the Sister who taught at the college… Gin-a-ling.
IRENE
Ginling College. Her name was Anna Mallery.
FRANK
Anna Mallery—is that not a name for a movie character or what? And talk about tragic! Her life was tragic! Now that’s an ending! You could call that movie “Nun of Nanking”! Make a whole series!
JULIA
Frank…
FRANK
“Nicky and the Nun”!
IRENE
(a correction) Anna Mallery and Niklas Hermann are both considered heroes in China. They were at the centre of the entire safety zone operation, saving thousands of lives.
FRANK
I’m just happy you decided to beef up those sections. It made a huge shift for me, in terms of the growth of your book. A huge shift. I mean, without it… I don’t know too much about Sino-Japanese relations and all. It’s a big blur. But you get the foreign nationals in—gives me a focus for the story—
IRENE
It’s not a story. It’s not fiction.
JULIA
You know what he means—a narrative approach to non-fiction… shaping the information in a way that engages your audience. You have to know your audience! Academics, historians and Chinese advocates, yes, fine, a very small market. But, including the Western witnesses gives your book better range and broader appeal!
IRENE
What?!
JULIA
You want to tell this story, right? Well, when you’re able to tell it from a Western point of view—this is the English reader after all, this is where the market is—
IRENE
Wait. Wait. Let me just get this straight. You’re saying that it’s good that I included the foreigners because it will sell more books!?
JULIA
No, not just that. That wasn’t what I was saying at all!
IRENE
So what are you saying?
FRANK
Telling the truth is a good thing. Telling the truth about the Americans and Germans, yes even Nazis, who were able to save the Chinese people—
IRENE
They saved some Chinese people. They didn’t save the Chinese people.
FRANK
You didn’t let me finish. The Chinese people of Nanking.
The Westerners set up the safety zone didn’t they? That’s what your research says?
IRENE
Yes, of course…
FRANK
At great risk to their own lives?
IRENE
Right—but—
FRANK
And what was the Chinese army doing? What were the officials of Nanking doing?
IRENE
They were being invaded!
FRANK
And weren’t they also in retreat from the city? Leaving it virtually defenceless? In your book, you said that the Chinese army was ill-equipped and unprepared. That they were ineffective! Didn’t you write that? I didn’t write that.
IRENE
But the Chinese didn’t have the power! Niklas Hermann had influence because of the colour of his skin, the swastika on his sleeve. That meant something to the Japanese.
FRANK
I think we’re saying the same thing, aren’t we?
IRENE
No, I don’t think we are! You’re saying that representing these Western heroes with prominence is a way to make it more palatable for a Western audience.
JULIA
Irene—now don’t get—
IRENE
That it’s more convenient to paint the Chinese as helpless against the ruthless Japanese, so helpless and useless that a group of foreign nationals, and by foreign, I think that you mean white, that these foreigners have to rescue them?
FRANK
That’s not the slant I was going for—
IRENE
Bad Japs rape and kill dumb Chinks. Good white people save the day. Is that more the slant you were going for?
FRANK
Now come on!
AUDREY
Irene!
FRANK
I don’t have to put up with this! You can’t say that!
IRENE
You’re not going to tell me what I can and cannot say!
JULIA
Irene. That’s his job!
KURT
Just calm down—
IRENE
I don’t care if it’s his job! He’s in my living room, throwing around his elitist, racist comments—
FRANK
What is your problem here really? Because I’ll tell you what
I think it is. It’s not that you think the “foreigners,
” the “white people,” didn’t save those people in Nanking. It’s because deep down you know they did. All your extensive research backs that up. And what gets you, what really gets you is that you wish it weren’t true. You wish that the Chinese could’ve been more organized, fought back, done anything! But they didn’t. They couldn’t. They lay down and they were slaughtered! It was their own fault!
IRENE
What!?
KURT
That’s enough! Enough! Let’s just do this!!
IRENE
Do what?
JULIA
We have to tell you something.
KURT
I think you should sit down.
IRENE
Is there a problem?
JULIA
Well, we wanted to talk to you about the title.
IRENE
We’ve been over this.
JULIA
You know, compromise is a part of life. When we last were
able to communicate—while you were away—we discussed the final title change.
IRENE
No, of course it’s changed. The title is Nanking: The Other Holocaust.
FRANK
This is what we wanted to talk to you about.
IRENE
They let my original title stand? It is The Nanking Holocaust?
FRANK
Absolutely not.
IRENE
I’m sorry. I’m confused. My original title, The Nanking Holocaust, wasn’t approved, right?
JULIA
Yes. There were many objections, as you know.
IRENE
I know. They didn’t like the word “holocaust.”
JULIA
A word with too many connotations. They felt you could appear to be trying to draw on sympathy—
IRENE
I’m not trying to take anything away from anyone.
JULIA
I know. But a perception that you were—
IRENE
I was using a word. In the proper context. If it wasn’t in a title it would be “holocaust” with a small “h.” Holocaust: from the Greek holos, meaning whole. Kaustos, meaning burned. Completely burned.
JULIA
It’s too evocative and it was always unlikely to pass…
IRENE
But the compromise? What we decided on—
JULIA
I thought they might go for it, but y’know I had some questions myself—
IRENE
Nanking: The Other Holocaust. What’s wrong with that?
FRANK
They liked that one even less.
IRENE
Why? That doesn’t make any sense!
FRANK
The issue was primarily the “other.” Its implications were that Nanking was the other—
A Nanking Winter Page 3