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| photo: Nick Woodall | |
Erika Robuck lives in Annapolis, Md., with her husband, three sons and a miniature schnauzer. Her seven historical novels include The Invisible Woman and Hemingway's Girl. Sisters of Night and Fog (Berkley, March 1, 2022) is based on the true stories of an American socialite and a British secret agent whose acts of courage collide in the darkest hours of World War II.
Handsell readers your book in 25 words or less:
The true story of two remarkable women--a polished American and a feisty Franco-Brit--whose Resistance work results in tragedy and triumph at Ravensbrück concentration camp.
On your nightstand now:
My staggering "to read" pile is always the dangling carrot at the end of a writing deadline. Tapping impatiently from my nightstand are galleys of the following: The Spanish Daughter by Lorena Hughes, The Last Dance of the Debutante by Julia Kelly, A Dress of Violet Taffeta by Tessa Arlen, The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin, That Summer in Berlin by Lecia Cornwall and The Mozart Code by Rachel McMillan.
Favorite book when you were a child:
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White was my childhood favorite because it doesn't shrink away from death and loss but reveals how to walk through life's challenges with dignity. And how can anyone not love a story about an unlikely friendship bound by the power of the written word? I used to read it aloud to my elementary school classes, but I always had to pass off the ending to a student. I can never get through the last chapter without bawling.
Your top five authors:
In the order they popped into my head, my top five authors are: Jane Austen, Ernest Hemingway, C.S. Lewis, Toni Morrison and Kate Morton.
Book you've faked reading:
I've tried and tried with Ulysses by James Joyce, but I can't get through it. I know I'm a shame to my Irish heritage and my fellow Lost Generation aficionados, but I despise it.
Book you're an evangelist for:
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles is the book I most often recommend. It is a perfect and timeless novel.
Book you've bought for the cover:
The cover of Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia sold me. Richly colored and sumptuous, it's a pleasure to look at on my bookshelf. The paperback also has a brilliant pulpy stepback that reveals even more about the story, and the story certainly delivers.
Book you hid from your parents:
My Irish grandmother snuck Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews to me when I was 13. I snuck it into Catholic school lit class to read with my BFF. When the teacher discovered it, she demanded to know where I got such smut. I told the truth.
Book that changed your life:
The Bible. The pandemic has forced me to confront existential issues, so in 2021 I listened to The Bible in a Year podcast. From an historical, sociological and spiritual standpoint, it's fascinating, revelatory and challenging. Now that I know the whole story, I'm doing it again.
Favorite line from a book:
"It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both." --Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
Five books you'll never part with:
I'll never part with my well-loved, annotated, dogeared and otherwise vandalized copies of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, Possession by A.S. Byatt, Beloved by Toni Morrison and Emma by Jane Austen.
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
Now that I'm well into my 40s, I wish I could read Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés again for the first time. It is a transformative piece of work that I reference often in my both my writing and my spiritual life.
Books coming out soon that you're excited about:
I had the pleasure of reading an early copy of Cora's Kitchen by Kimberly Garrett Brown. The novel is anchored in fictional letters between a Black woman, who's a librarian in Harlem, and Langston Hughes. Other books on the horizon that excite me are The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian, Michelle Moran's forthcoming novel about the Von Trapp family and The Three Lives of Alix St. Pierre by Natasha Lester.