Hey everyone! Today I have a great interview with Rosie Sultan, author of Helen in Love, to share with you along with my review of the book! Read on for more information on the novel and don't forget to enter my giveaway for a copy HERE!
Helen in Love: A Novel
Author: Rosie Sultan
Release Date: November 26, 2013 (paperback edition)
Publisher: Penguin Books
Source: Paperback copy from publisher
Description:
The astonishing and imaginative debut novel about Helen Keller and the man she loved
What comes to mind when you think of Helen Keller? Is it the deaf-mute wild child at the water pump outside her Tuscumbia, Alabama, home portrayed in The Miracle Worker or the adult activist for the rights of the disabled and women, the socialist who vehemently opposed war? Rosie Sultan’s debut novel imagines an intimate part of Keller’s life she rarely spoke or wrote about: her one and only love affair.
Peter Fagan, a reporter from Boston, steps in as her secretary when her companion Annie Sullivan falls ill. The world this opens up for her is not the stuff of grade school biographies. Their affair meets with stern disapproval from Annie and from Helen’s mother, and when the lovers plot to elope, Helen is trapped between their expectations and her innermost desires. Sultan’s courageous novel insists on Helen’s right to desire, to human frailty—to be fully and completely alive.
What comes to mind when you think of Helen Keller? Is it the deaf-mute wild child at the water pump outside her Tuscumbia, Alabama, home portrayed in The Miracle Worker or the adult activist for the rights of the disabled and women, the socialist who vehemently opposed war? Rosie Sultan’s debut novel imagines an intimate part of Keller’s life she rarely spoke or wrote about: her one and only love affair.
Peter Fagan, a reporter from Boston, steps in as her secretary when her companion Annie Sullivan falls ill. The world this opens up for her is not the stuff of grade school biographies. Their affair meets with stern disapproval from Annie and from Helen’s mother, and when the lovers plot to elope, Helen is trapped between their expectations and her innermost desires. Sultan’s courageous novel insists on Helen’s right to desire, to human frailty—to be fully and completely alive.
1. What was your inspiration for writing Helen in Love?
RS: I got my first book about Helen Keller when I was seven years old; I became fascinated by her then, and have read just about everything about her since.
A few years back I picked up a new biography called Helen Keller: A Life by Dorothy Herrmann. One slim chapter in the book tells the story of how, at age 37, Helen had a secret love affair with Peter Fagan. I dropped that book into my lap, looked up and said to myself, “There’s a big story here.” Within days I was on my way to writing Helen In Love.
I wrote about this love affair because once I knew of it I saw Helen Keller as more than an icon: I saw her as a woman with conflicting loyalties. I wanted to bring to life the vulnerabilities and complexities of her very human heart.
2. What kind of research did you have to do for the book?
RS: I loved doing the research. Over a period of three years immersed myself in Keller’s life and words. I scoured the Helen Keller Archives at The American Foundation for the Blind: there I found that Helen was a socialist, an advocate for birth control, and a voice against war. I read her personal letters—they amazed me. I heard the funny, humane, smart voice of an educated woman.
I very carefully read her books and heard, underneath the voice of triumph, the moment of loneliness, and the desire for love.
Photos and newspaper articles about Keller papered the walls of my study. I even drove to her former house in Massachusetts where I paused outside her home, imagining her life there—during her affair with Peter Fagan—and beyond.
The letters between Keller and Peter Fagan were burned in a house fire, but the rich documentation of Keller’s life allowed me to bring her life alive in Helen In Love.
3. What made you choose Helen Keller's only love affair to write about?
RS: The answer to that question is complicated, but one reason can be found in Helen’s own writings. In her mid-‐life memoir Midstream, she writes very briefly about her love affair with Peter Fagan. To the love affair she devotes a few paragraphs: her words, in those paragraphs, are almost apologetic in tone. She shows her mixed emotions at having kept the affair a secret from her mother, her teacher, and the world that so admired her when she writes, “I am a human being, with a human being’s frailties and inconsistencies.” That quote is such a heartbreaking plea to be seen and accepted as, after all, merely human.
4. How did you become a writer? Was there a person or situation that prompted you to start writing?
RS: I became a writer because I believe in the power of the written word. Stories and novels tell complex truths that bring us out of ourselves and show us the world. I wanted to have the process of writing at the center of my life, so I have made choices all along the way to keep writing, no matter what.
5. What tips do you have for aspiring writers?
RS: First, it is an honor and a gift to be able to write. So make time—and space—for that gift every day. Even if it’s for an hour, set a timer, sit down, and write. Then do that again the next day, and the next.
Second, find some fellow writers with whom you can share your work. In Boston, where I live, we are blessed to have Grub Street, Inc, a fabulous center for writers. But even if there isn’t a center like that in your town, meet some fellow writers for coffee once a week. Share your drafts. Dare to share your dreams. Dare, and dare again, to make that book you dream of a reality.
Now start. And keep going. There’s nothing like it in the world.
6. What's next for you?
RS: When I cook I always save the leftovers to make another dish. In writing, it is the same thing. I did so much research for Helen In Love that I am now compiling the parts I couldn’t use for a children’s book.
Helen Keller Speaks Up shares with young readers Helen’s life as an activist. Children will see Helen standing up for the rights of African Americans, speaking up to keep the United States out of war, and fighting for the rights of women in the United States and around the world.
Perfect for schools, libraries, and families, the picture book encourages children, families, and schools to think of and do one thing to make the world around them a better place.
Thanks so much for dropping by today and answering some questions for me Rosie!
This was a really beautiful novel that brought the actual person of Helen Keller alive for me. Like most others, what I know of Ms. Keller was learned from school, books, and documentaries. We don't really hear much of her personal life or about some of the amazing things she did - like advocate against war. With this novel, the author brings Helen Keller alive before our eyes and we get to know her on a very personal level. Since the book is told from Helen's point of view, the reader gets the added benefit of reading Helen's private thoughts and emotions. We experience her turmoil, her love, her pain and grief. The novel is wonderfully written with vivid details and creative descriptions throughout. I was swept away into the story early on and was easily immersed into Helen's life for the duration of the book. This is one of those novels that will have you thinking about things - or in this case history and people - very differently than you did before reading. Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction as well as those who love general and literary fiction.
*A huge thanks to the people at Penguin books for sending me a copy for review!*
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