7 minute read
YEREVAN, AUGUST 10, ARMENPRESS: Chris Bohjalian's "The Sandcastle Girls" , telling a touching story about the Armenian Genocide is among US bestsellers. Armenpress had an exclusive interview with Chris Bohjalyan on his motives of writing the book, the real messages and on the forthcoming visit to the motherland.
-Mr. Bohjalian “ The Sandcastle Girls “ book is based on real facts of 1915 events of the Armenian Genocide, on the attempts of the people to build a new life in the ruins of their suffered lives. What made you raise the theme?
I had been contemplating a novel about the Armenian Genocide for most of my adult life. I actually tried to write one in the early 1990s, between “Water Witches” and “Midwives.” After all, the story is profoundly important, but almost unknown in America. Unfortunately, that early attempt at a novel was a train wreck of a book. I’m not kidding. It was amateurish and I was disappointed in what I had written. In 2009, my Armenian father grew ill. He lived in South Florida and I live in Vermont. When I would visit him, we would pore over old family photos together and I pressed him for details about his parents – who were Genocide Survivors from just outside of Constantinople. I also asked him for stories from his childhood; after all, he was the son of immigrants who spoke almost entirely Armenian and Turkish, even though they lived in a suburb of New York City. Finally, a good friend of mine who is a journalist and Genocide scholar urged me to try once again to write a novel about what is, clearly, the most important part of my family’s history. His name is Khatchig Mouradian. He is the editor of “The Armenian Weekly.” So I did try again. And this time, the story came together.
- Do you confirm the statements the book deals with your family history? Wasn’t it difficult for you to write about the sufferings of your own family?
Laura Petrosian, the narrator, is a female version of me: An Armenian-American novelist at mid-life. But Armen Petrosian and Elizabeth Endicott are nothing like my grandparents, Leo and Haigoohi Bohjalian. Armen and Elizabeth are entirely fictional. But the suffering and the scenes in Aleppo or Der-el-Zor were indeed difficult to write. And I worried every moment when I was writing a scene with one of the novel’s children: I was always terrified that something horrific would happen to eight-year-old Hatoun or her slightly older friend, Shoushan. I never know where my books are going; I depend upon my characters to take me by the hand and lead me through the dark of the story. And so those children’s safety was a real concern for me. Likewise, I was as angry and as furious as Laura Petrosian when I was chronicling the horrific crimes of the Young Turks – and the way Turkey and its allies continue today to deny the Genocide.
- What for the book is entitled with “ The Sandcastle Girls “?
When Elizabeth Endicott thinks of sand, she thinks of the beautiful dunes of Cape Cod in Massachusetts; when Hatoun thinks of sand, she thinks of the nightmarish march toward Aleppo – and the brutal murder of her mother and sister. The title is a juxtaposition of the differing images that come to their minds when they think of sand. And, of course, sandcastles are ethereal: They simply do not last.
-Why did you devote the novel to your mother-in-law Sondra Blewer and father Aram Bohjalian?
My mother-in-law and my father died in the summer of 2011, both within weeks of my finishing the novel. I wish they had lived to see the novel’s publication. It would have meant a great deal to them. - Many of your books have been widely spread and became known in Turkey.
Do you guess this particular book will have the same fame? Are there reactions from Turkey?
So far there has been no formal reaction from Turkey. I would be thrilled to see this novel published there. - You consider this book the best you ever wrote. Do you think one day it will be screened? These days, it seems nearly impossible to get any movie made – especially historical epics. But next week will be the novel’s third week as a “New York Times” bestseller, and that might help. Nevertheless, it remains an uphill battle.
- Do you think books with such plot will contribute to the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide?
I hope so with all my heart. That is one of the reasons why I wrote this novel – so the world would know what our people experienced and that devastating cloak of denial would be lifted.
- Your authored books have been for many times recognized as bestsellers. To your opinion what interests the modern reader?
It varies dramatically; it really does. But I believe my readers want characters they care about deeply and a story that surprises them. They hope to be moved by my stories, but they also hope to learn something. And I am confident they never want me to write the same book twice.
- Do you have future plans to come to Armenia and present the book for local readers?
Yes, I do. The dates have not been finalized, but I hope to return to Yerevan soon.
Interviewed by Arusik Zakharyan