In the King's Arms
Page 17
Q: How did you “show” them this?
They themselves came to the same conclusion as they grew older, perhaps aided by my academic and professional success, both in America and in Europe. My father was especially proud when I got into Yale Law School; it convinced him that in America, an immigrant’s child could do anything. When I went to Oxford, he was even more bowled over. His own schooling in Europe had ended abruptly, as had my mother’s. In his case, his father had been killed by the Cossacks when he was small, and he had to begin working soon after; in my mother’s case, a career as a concert pianist was aborted when the Nazis came into Lithuania.
Q: Did you practice law?
Yes, for a time. It was my father’s wish—in urging me to go to Law School—that I “save the world,” but what I mostly did in the early years was help major corporations fight enormous cases that dragged on forever. More recently, I returned to the law as a pro bono advocate for foster children as well as victims of sexual and domestic abuse.
Q: When did you become a writer?
I’d always written, starting from high school. At Oxford, I wrote fiction and plays. I wrote this book during my time as a corporate litigator. I got an agent immediately, and made thrilling plans for a life as an “artist.” My agent found many interested editors; several asked to meet me. One, a grande dame with her own imprint, spoke to me in her office for hours as we drank tea from porcelain cups. Regrettably, she decided against publishing In the King’s Arms (and that year published an English writer who is now world-famous!). Next, a senior editor, from a prestigious, small house, invited me in to discuss his changes for the book. If I made them, he said, he would make me “a literary event,” and a certain critic from The Washington Post would review me on the front page. So I went home, made the changes and. . . .
Q: They didn’t publish the book?
That kind of thing is quite common, I found. The senior editor loved the changes I made, but his publisher decided against the novel because he had just acquired something similar—another book that took place in Oxford.
Q: What year was that?
Oh, about 1986 or so.
Q: You mean, 25 years ago?
Yes.
Q: Does that kind of time frame make you want to give up on writing?
No. I got a book called Mothering Heights published by the estimable William Morrow, and enjoyed a heady ride (media blitz, paperback, foreign rights), which is unusual for us writers. A struggle is far more typical. So it’s a good thing that I am a dogged idealist, as struggle is what I faced despite the relative success of that first book. My new memoir, rejected by dozens of publishers (despite my having the best agent in the world), is coming out next year. Like the Jews, I like to beat the odds by surviving. And in the end, art, like any true love, is always worth the effort.
Q: What attracted you to write a book about two young people from different cultures?
I am always interested in polarities and how to reconcile them. I am also a product of two cultures: orthodox Jewish, born and bred in a Yiddish-speaking immigrant’s ghetto; and American, happy, bold and optimistic. I see the world through two lenses, each with a different view. It’s dizzying, at times, but the perspective is inspiring.
Q: Do you think the young lovers can conquer their cultural and religious differences?
My husband is a passionate convert to Judaism and past Board Member of our lively synagogue; so, yes.
Q: Do you think this reconciliation is important for the world at large?
My response comes perilously close to John Lennon’s “Imagine,” but I do envision a world in which ancient hatreds and rivalries can be soothed by bonds of love. Not necessarily romantic love, as in this novel, but open-heartedness. Perspective. Compassion.
Q: How autobiographical is the book?
As I’ve noted, my husband comes from a non-Jewish household. We have three beautiful children, all “brilliant as the stars.” As I recount in my forthcoming memoir, my father, at his deathbed, said: “Thank you for bringing these people [my husband and his family] into my life.”
Q: This book takes place several decades ago; how is it still relevant today?
Unfortunately, hatred and race prejudice are still all around us. I believe that words are equally powerful, and that is one reason that I will always be a passionate writer and reader.
Q: What are your next projects?
I hope to see my memoir in print next year, and I am working on a new novel.
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2011 by Sonia Taitz
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address McWitty Press, 110 Riverside Drive,
New York, NY 10024.
www.mcwittypress.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Taitz, Sonia
In the King’s Arms: a novel / Sonia Taitz.—1st ed.
p.cm.
eISBN : 978-0-975-56187-4