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Mar
01
Bookish Event Recap: Sarah Blake at Politics & Prose
2010 at 10am Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky
I’m hurting a little this morning….okay, actually, I’m hurting a lot, but it’s totally worth it.
In a major break from my usual lazy Sunday routine (I put on REAL PANTS yesterday, so you know it must’ve been good), I took a mini-roadtrip up to DC for an afternoon of booknerdery with Swapna of S. Krishna’s Books. We kicked off the festivities with a delicious lunch at Busboys & Poets, which is a bookstore/restaurant hybrid with a hoppin’ atmosphere and sweet potato fries that were to die for, then we headed to that mecca of indie bookstores, Politics & Prose, to see Sarah Blake read and sign her new novel The Postmistress.
Gorgeous cover, right? It’s even better in real life because there’s a blurb on the front from none other than Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help. When Swapna and I complimented Ms. Blake on that superb endorsement and asked if it put pressure on her, she didn’t miss a beat before laughing “Yes,” as in, “yes, of course, how could there not be?” If you ask me, she doesn’t have a thing to worry about.
So, anyway, after extensive wandering through the store and book discussion—I’m telling you, there’s nothing better than book shopping with someone who reads 500 books a year—Swapna and I mustered up our willpower and agreed to limit each other to buying two books apiece. I picked up Sarah Waters’s Fingersmith based on Swapna’s recommendation and James Wood’s How Fiction Works,and she got….well, I don’t remember what she got because I was too busy being amazed that we were actually going to succeed in leaving with only four new books between us.
We scurried to our seats (front row, natch, because we’re cool like that), asked the woman sitting next to us to take our picture (she and her friend turned out to be bloggers, too, so that was fun), and settled in for the reading. And let me tell you, I have seen A LOT of author readings (many during my bookseller days), and Sarah Blake was one of the very best. Sometimes, no one can sell a book better than the author can, and this was definitely one of those times. Blake’s discussion of her inspiration for The Postmistress, her research process, and her experience writing the book were fascinating, and her reading was nothing short of mesmerizing.
I went into the reading planning to read The Postmistress when I could get to it, and I left feeling like I wanted to stay up all night and devour it whole. If you haven’t read or heard about The Postmistress, here’s the description from IndieBound.
Those who carry the truth sometimes bear a terrible weight…
It is 1940. France has fallen. Bombs are dropping on London. And President Roosevelt is promising he won’t send our boys to fight in “foreign wars.”
But American radio gal Frankie Bard, the first woman to report from the Blitz in London, wants nothing more than to bring the war home. Frankie’s radio dispatches crackle across the Atlantic ocean, imploring listeners to pay attention–as the Nazis bomb London nightly, and Jewish refugees stream across Europe. Frankie is convinced that if she can just get the right story, it will wake Americans to action and they will join the fight.
Meanwhile, in Franklin, Massachusetts, a small town on Cape Cod, Iris James hears Frankie’s broadcasts and knows that it is only a matter of time before the war arrives on Franklin’s shores. In charge of the town’s mail, Iris believes that her job is to deliver and keep people’s secrets, passing along the news that letters carry. And one secret she keeps are her feelings for Harry Vale, the town mechanic, who inspects the ocean daily, searching in vain for German U-boats he is certain will come. Two single people in midlife, Iris and Harry long ago gave up hope of ever being in love, yet they find themselves unexpectedly drawn toward each other.
Listening to Frankie as well are Will and Emma Fitch, the town’s doctor and his new wife, both trying to escape a fragile childhood and forge a brighter future. When Will follow’s Frankie’s siren call into the war, Emma’s worst fears are realized. Promising to return in six months, Will goes to London to offer his help, and the lives of the three women entwine.
Alternating between an America still cocooned in its inability to grasp the danger at hand and a Europe being torn apart by war, The Postmistress gives us two women who find themselves unable to deliver the news, and a third woman desperately waiting for news yet afraid to hear it.
Sarah Blake’s The Postmistress shows how we bear the fact that war goes on around us while ordinary lives continue. Filled with stunning parallels to today, it is a remarkable novel.
If that doesn’t sell you, check out this video:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deGewVlP92Q]
All told, yesterday was chock full of bookish goodness, including an unexpected meeting with Gayle from Everyday I Write the Book, who was also at the signing. Hi, Gayle!), and it was well worth not only the wearing of real pants but the four hours of drive time.
Then again, I’ll do just about anything for good sweet potato fries.
Go check out Swapna’s recap, complete with photos.
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I cannot believe you chose this – I just chose it for our book club reading this week. SO glad you liked it. Question – Do you think you like this because it follows the same time period at the The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and will that contribute to its popularity or would it be strong without that influence?
I absolutely think this book will stand on its own. GUERNSEY was a great, fun read, but THE POSTMISTRESS (which I haven’t read yet) appears to be much more literary. The fact that they’re set in the same time period and are both largely focused on women’s experiences will make for cross-recommendations, but aside from the era, the books seem to be rather different. I think this book is going to be hugely popular on its own merits and is more likely to benefit from the popularity of THE HELP, whose authors blurbed the book, than from GUERNSEY.
Sounds like a FANTASTIC Sunday. I loved The Postmistress, and would love an opportunity to hear Blake speak. And good job on only purchasing two books each – the only way I can limit book purchases is by not going into bookstores in the first place…
I’m honestly very surprised that we managed to stick to our limit….we were joking that we should have taken bets for a pool on how many books we’d end up with. I’m sure most entries would have been for WAY more than 2 each.
I looked at this book last week but didn’t buy it. May have to pick it up.
May I say, excellent choice with Fingersmith. It is one of my all-time favorite books. I cannot wait to hear what you have to say about it. Let me know when you pick it up, I may reread it along with you. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
How awesome that you met up with all manner of bloggers!!!!! that area is so rich in book bloggers it’s just NOT FAIR
I know! And they all get to live right there near each other….my two hour drive isn’t bad, but still. I’d like to have at least one other book blogger in Richmond!
If you were only going to buy two books for the rest of your life, Fingersmith would definitely need to be one of the choices. I am totally excited about The Postmistress. I bought it on my Kindle, but have to work my way through a small pile of things that won’t wait. I’m hoping to get to it in the next couple of weeks! I’m envious of your day with Swapna and bookshopping and hearing this totally cool woman read and promote her book!
Hi Rebecca!! It was great meeting you and Swapna yesterday and seeing the faces behind the blogs. Thanks for the shout out and link above btw! I completely agree with you on Sarah Blake’s reading from The Postmistress. Though her voice was soft and beautiful, she really filled it with inflections and emotion which made the readings that much more powerful and memorable. Happy Reading!!
I’m so bummed I couldn’t make it! It was for the best, though…did you really want to deal with me in my “less than two hours of sleep after taking a red-eye flight home from CA” mood yesterday?
Sounds like you had a great time. I can’t wait to read your comments on THE POSTMISTRESS.
Here’s another book that I had absolutely no interest in reading, but with all of your bookish enthusiasm (and let me tell you it leaps off the page), now I must give it a second look.
Rebecca, thanks for the shoutout in your post!
Happy reading and enjoy The Postmistress!
~LibraryLove~
http://bookwormz2010.wordpress.com
I am so jealous!!!!! This book is on my wish list and would have love to have met up with you, Swapna, and other bloggers for a great reading. Sigh.
Glad you and Swapna had fun. And a little jealous.
The last time I was in DC, I took a power nap at Busboys and Poets during a night out.
Power nap. Sounds like code for having too much fun!
I was able to read The Postmistress for B&N First Look and I just loved it. I look forward to more from this author
This sounds really interesting. Seeing the humanity in something so terrible really strikes a chord and speaks to readers. Can’t wait to get my hands on The Postmistress.
I’ve not heard of Fingersmith, either. Guess it’s time to hit the bookstore!
Combined with the promise of sweet potato fries (mm, food), this sounds like one fantastic afternoon! The Postmistress is definitely on my wishlist… hope to grab a copy soon. Glad you ladies had fun!
You’ll have to join us on our next DC-based book jaunt! This one was planned very suddenly, but we’d love to have a fellow foodie for the next one.
Thanks so much for this–the day and book sound great!
Just realized that I commented over a Swapna’s but forgot to say anything here — What a fabulous day you had!!!
I loved The Postmistress, I have this habit of telling myself I’ll ready for 10 minutes or so before bed – this one kept me up until 2:30 AM, there was no way I could put it down without finishing it.
To Stacy – I know , right? A great book! One of my fav’s this year!
I had the same experience and wanted to devour it in one sitting. Now that I’ve finished it, it’s taking me FOREVER to put my thoughts into words for my review. Such a wonderful read.
[...] contributes to an articulate review), I’m going to do something a little different. After I saw Sarah Blake read from The Postmistress earlier this month, I heard her voice in my head as I read the book, and it was just so perfect. So [...]