Alice Hoffman's new book The World We Knew is just released.
“Can you fathom why certain things happen in life magically, to save you or not happen?" She questioned. “Why did the car to Auswictz stop in the middle and turn around that day saving lives? One of those holocausts survivors was a doctor who lives in Palo Alto, I had interviewed him.”
Ms. Hoffman, a breast cancer survivor is drawn to themes of love, loss, and survivors, she said. That intrigues her to write this book, The World We knew.
She told us a story that one day after a book reading an elderly lady approached her in the parking lot urging her to write her story — how her parents had sent her away to save her from the Nazis. Ms. Koffman didn’t bother to take her name or contact information as she knew that moment that she wouldn’t be able to write the life story of everyone who requests so. But this particular elderly lady’s voice, her words ‘Otherwise it’d be lost, such stories of hidden girls.’ kept haunting her, and the book was written finally.
“So that money may not be an issue my grandmother used to give me half her Social Security check, and I took it.” She confessed. "A short story about grandma later won me the Stanford Fellowship for Creative Writing."
“I like to question. That’s how I start my writing. What if…?”
She often writes about settings where she had never been, never visited except in her imagination. But she likes to do thorough research before writing. She had interviewed many Holocaust survivors to write this particular piece. She visited France and went to every prison she could to write about the story of a hidden girl.
She also likes to create the ambiance with images, quotes, colors and immerse herself in it in order to create that world, she shared with us.
“When do you usually write?” One of us asked.
“Usually from 4:45 to sunrise. That’s when the rest of the world is quiet and sleeping.“ She nodded.
Margie, my writer friend and I exchanged glances.
“Readers and writers have one thing in common. Both want to get lost in that other world. But when you don’t find that on your bookshelf that is when you write. The book that is not written yet.” She smiled.
The World We Knew is not the real world — that is what I learned today in the book reading by Alice Hoffman at the Rakestraw Bookstore. The author believes in magic and that is what she brings in her writing.
“Can you fathom why certain things happen in life magically, to save you or not happen?" She questioned. “Why did the car to Auswictz stop in the middle and turn around that day saving lives? One of those holocausts survivors was a doctor who lives in Palo Alto, I had interviewed him.”
Ms. Hoffman, a breast cancer survivor is drawn to themes of love, loss, and survivors, she said. That intrigues her to write this book, The World We knew.
She told us a story that one day after a book reading an elderly lady approached her in the parking lot urging her to write her story — how her parents had sent her away to save her from the Nazis. Ms. Koffman didn’t bother to take her name or contact information as she knew that moment that she wouldn’t be able to write the life story of everyone who requests so. But this particular elderly lady’s voice, her words ‘Otherwise it’d be lost, such stories of hidden girls.’ kept haunting her, and the book was written finally.
Ms. Hoffman mentioned the power of grandmas. She talked about her Russian grandmother - whom she called Bobeshi — her love and impact on her career as a writer.
“So that money may not be an issue my grandmother used to give me half her Social Security check, and I took it.” She confessed. "A short story about grandma later won me the Stanford Fellowship for Creative Writing."
“There is a saying — write what you know. But I liked what my professor in my writing class used to say — Write what you imagine.” She shared.
Fairy tales, mythical characters, magical realism are places where she finds her answers, and that comes out in her style.
“I like to question. That’s how I start my writing. What if…?”
She often writes about settings where she had never been, never visited except in her imagination. But she likes to do thorough research before writing. She had interviewed many Holocaust survivors to write this particular piece. She visited France and went to every prison she could to write about the story of a hidden girl.
She also likes to create the ambiance with images, quotes, colors and immerse herself in it in order to create that world, she shared with us.
“When do you usually write?” One of us asked.
“Usually from 4:45 to sunrise. That’s when the rest of the world is quiet and sleeping.“ She nodded.
Margie, my writer friend and I exchanged glances.
I am so excited. Now I’d get a blanket, a cup of hot tea, yes the temperature has dropped suddenly and find a cozy spot to open my new book, the signed copy of The World We Knew.
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