Buzzy Jackson‘s debut novel is a tender historical fiction set in Nazi-occupied Netherlands. Based on a true story, Jackson recreates the harrowing experience of a young woman in the Dutch Resistance as she faces fascism head-on. The author, who has a PhD in History from the University of California, Berkeley, has also written three award-winning nonfiction novels. It’s no wonder she was able to craft a brilliant historical fiction novel.
Debutiful asked the author to answer our A Life of Books questionnaire so readers could get to know her better. Check out her answers below!
Is there a book or series that, when you think back, helped define your childhood?
I don’t know how old I was when I first read Ursula K. Le Guin’s THE EARTHSEA TRILOGY, but I think I reread it as soon as I finished it and have continued to reread the series every few years since then. As a younger person I loved the sense of mythology and the wonderful characters she created. As I grew older I began to appreciate the elegance and beauty of Le Guin’s language and philosophy. I’ve brought my paperback copies with me everywhere I’ve moved (which is a lot of places) and whenever I meet another Earthsea fan I know we’re going to be friends.
Would you want any children in your life (yours or relatives’) to read those too? Or what’s your philosophy on what children read?
I’ve given the Earthsea books to my own son and to many of my nephews and nieces. I think children should read whatever interests them. Reading books (and comic books, etc) is always a good use of time, as far as I’m concerned.
Moving to your school years: what book did you read in high school and hated (or skipped reading at all) that you learned you loved later in life?
When I was a teenager I read Truman Capote’s IN COLD BLOOD and Vincent Bugliosi’s HELTER SKELTER… within a few weeks of each other (WHY?!) and they terrified me! So much so that I avoided true crime and most of the thriller genre for years. Eventually I returned to IN COLD BLOOD and it became one of my favorite books, and remains so to this day. I’m a born-again true crime fan now.
What about the opposite way? One you loved in your teens, but realized you didn’t love it so much later on?
While I still love the children’s books THE SECRET GARDEN by Frances Hodgson Burnett and THE VELVETEEN RABBIT by Margery Williams, when I returned to them as an adult I found them even more crushingly sad than when I first read them as a kid. This probably has something to do with nostalgia, because I have a similar reaction these days even to picture books such as THE SNOWY DAY by Ezra Jack Keats and WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE by Maurice Sendak. They’re all perfect books that remind me how quickly time passes.
Are there any books that you read while writing your debut that helped shape the direction you took your own book?
When I started researching TO DIE BEAUTIFUL I assumed I’d be writing a nonfiction biography of the Dutch Resistance hero Hannie Schaft. But as the book developed, I began to consider writing her story in the form of a novel. I was hesitant to take that step until I reacquainted myself with Thomas Kenneally’s SCHINDLER’S LIST. It’s a book many people think of as a nonfiction history, but in fact it’s a novel based in historical research; Kenneally called it a “documentary novel.” SCHINDLER’S LIST gave me the confidence to fictionalize Hannie’s story as a way to bring her story to life, while staying true to the incredible facts as they happened.
What is a book you’ve read that you thought, Damn, I wish that was mine?
Oh, there are a million of those! Two that come to mind immediately are James McBride’s THE GOOD LORD BIRD and Barbara Kingsolver’s DEMON COPPERHEAD. Both novels are absolute triumphs of first-person narrative, and although they both deal with many dark, heavy themes, they’re also full of humor and seem like they would have been fun to write.
What have you been reading / do you plan to read during your debut book tour?
I’m reading a lot of mid-century American writing at the moment, as research for my next novel. It’s been such a pleasure to reread some old favorites (Ralph Ellison, Flannery O’Connor) and discover authors I’ve always meant to read and am finally getting around to (Dorothy B. Hughes, Jim Thompson).
And, finally, I have to ask… I’m sorry. What’s next? But wait! Only use three words.
Historical true crime!