Eva Stachniak Chooses Her Own Adventure Interview!

CYOAI is an interview series with authors, where I send them 10 random questions, and ask them to answer whichever they feel inspired to tackle.  The questions are generally about the author's opinions and personal experiences, but are meant to be light-hearted and a window into a person's creative nature. 

This month's interview features Eva Stachniak, author of The Winter Palace! A big thank you to Eva for humouring me in answering my questions!  Let's see what Eva’s answers were!

What's your first book/reading/writing-related memory?

I must be four years old. I’m in Wroclaw, Poland, holding a book of fairy tales my mother used to read to me from. I leaf though the pages until my eyes catch one title and I realize that I can not only recognize the letters, one by one, but I can string them together: *Braciszek i siostrzyczka — Brother and sister*, the title of one of Brothers Grimm fairy tales.

I will never forget the thrill of knowing I can read by myself.

Have you ever gotten a book hangover from a book?  If so, which one?

It happens very often to me. My first “book hangover” was with *Pipi Longstocking* by Astrid Lindgren. For days I could not read anything else, and that’s saying a lot about a voracious reader. I recall forcing my brother to play Pipi’s games, like getting around the room without touching the floor. It involved jumps from table to sofa, then to our bed, climbing on top of a wardrobe… the neighbours downstairs must have been wondering what we were up to.

I think Pipi was more real to me than any of my friends for quite a while.

Is there one word or turn of phrase that you've felt compelled to work into your writing?

“I would take you in my arms and tell you…”

What book by another author do you wish you had written?

*Wolf Hall* by Hilary Mantel. I loved this novel, loved how it allowed me to live in the mind of Thomas Cromwell. Through him I could see the court of Henry VIII, the streets of London, the inside of Tudor houses. Eavesdrop on conversations. Witness how political decisions are being made.

Where do you find inspiration for your writing?

In other books, mostly. I love novels based on historical characters, and I read many biographies and memoirs. The heroine of my second novel, *Garden of Venus*, Sophie Glavani, was well-known in the eighteen century Poland, and in addition of a biography by a Polish historian, I found many mentions

of her in contemporary memoirs. Catherine the Great was also the subject of many biographies, and—in addition—her reign changed the course of Polish history, so she was always looming important in my life. I’m always on the lookout for extraordinary women who intrigue me….

Do you reread books?  If so, which ones?

Yes. I re-read books that I admire, to observe how they were written, to learn the craft of fiction. I have re-read the historical novels of Penelope Fitzgerald many times, observing and admiring her use of significant details. I re-read Chekhov, Alice Munro, Bruno Schulz, Hilary Mantel.

If you weren't a writer, what would you do as a profession?

A journalist, perhaps. But writing and reading would have to be part of my life.

What's your opinion on Shakespeare?

“…not of an age, but for all time” as Ben Jonson famously declared.

Use the word 'cabal' in a sentence.

A cabal of vicious gossipmongers has ruined her reputation.

**If you’re an author that would like to participate in the Choose Your Own Adventure Interview series, please contact me at elise.guest@alumni.uottawa.ca.**

The Winter Palace, by Eva Stachniak

This morning I engaged in one of those mental back-tracking exercises where you try to figure out where and why you got interested in a topic, and I surprised myself at where I ended up.  The purpose of these musings was to figure out when and were I got interested in imperial Russian history – it’s not something that I experienced growing up (like British colonial history), since that was my dad’s area of interest as an amateur historian.  

But then I realized, like all good things in this world, the origins are in British history – follow me on this: as a kid, my dad watched the Sharpe movies on TV; I developed one of those celebrity crushes on Sean Bean; I then spent oodles of time and my (very little) disposal income hunting down all his movies; Sean Bean stared with Sophie Marceau in Anna Karenina (1997, and don’t get me started on the new version); I then read Anna Karenina in grade 10 as part of an independent study project; I followed that up with an undergrad course on the history of imperial Russia and a Russian language course at University; and now, I spend my time indulging my interest in Russia through literature.  As part of that (and to avoid re-reading Anna Karenina, because I just got through War and Peace), I dug into my latest read The Winter Palace, by Eva Stachniak for a bit more of that Russian ambiance.  

The Winter Palace tell the story of Barbara (who has about 50 nicknames thanks to the Russian penchant for monikers), an orphaned bookbinder’s daughter who, thanks to her father’s profession and work for the Empress Elizabeth, winds up in the imperial Russian court as a ward of the state following her parents’ death.  With a quick mind, it’s not long before Barbara gets caught up in the spy-game at the palace, first working for Elizabeth, but then shifting her loyalties to Sophia, later Catherine, who is brought to court to marry Elizabeth’s nephew and heir, Peter.  From Barbara’s position as a spy, the reader is given a glimpse of the private lives of all three players in this dynastic game.  Intensely loyal to Catherine, Barbara is witness to the heartache, the lovers, and finally the coup that put her on the imperial throne.  

Stachniak’s work is incredibly readable – I found myself halfway through it before I could blink, and I spent lots of time reading during the week (which I rarely do).  The plot is well paced, the characters are engaging, and the author’s writing style is delicate and well balanced.  I have no complaints about this book on those fronts!

My one reticence comes from the time frame of the book.  The sub-title to my edition is “A Novel of Catherine the Great.”  I get the impression that that bit wasn’t included on the first print of the book, but was added later as Stachniak is working on a sequel.  But the truth is, this isn’t about Catherine, it’s about Barbara; and it’s not even about Barbara’s interactions with Catherine the Great, but rather with Catherine as the Grand Duchess.  The reader does get to see the palace coup, but only in the last couple of chapters, and for a whole host of reasons Barbara isn’t even around Catherine all the much after that.  I get that Stachniak is gearing up for a series on the topic, but as one of my profs used to say/bark at us, picking an accurate title is half the battle.

But, regardless, I strongly recommend that you check out this book.  It’s an excellent read, and I’m really looking forward to exploring more by this author.  In fact, this book was so good, that I think Stachniak fortified me for another run at Tolstoy – Anna Karenina, here I come!