What Do You Learn When You Write A Novel?

By Barbara Josselsohn

A few short months ago, I published my eighth novel, THE FORGOTTEN ITALIAN RESTAURANT, the third in my World War 2 series. It’s about two “lost” souls – Callie, a 33-year-old woman dealing with present-day grief, and Emilia, a ninety-three year old woman who has yet to come to terms with bitter memories from the time she spent as a child In Italy anticipating the approaching Nazi onslaught. I spent much of the last year getting to know these two characters, who can only fight their internal demons when they open themselves up to one another. When I finally got to writing, I felt I knew everything I needed.

And yet, as I discovered, there were more lessons ahead!

Let me explain. As I was writing this book, a story from the past that kept making its way into my head. It was a story I’d overhead my mother telling a friend when I was about nine years old. According to my mother’s account, my parents were on their honeymoon, driving from New York to Montreal, and they were heading along a stretch of Canadian farmland when their car soared off the road and landed upside-down in a ditch. Mom recalled how once the car had stopped rolling, she and my father rolled down their windows (luckily, car windows were not electric back then), and some French-speaking farmers helped them slide out of the car. “Not a scratch on either of us!” my mother laughed to her friend.

She then went on to talk about other things, as if this were not a big deal—just one of those wacky things that happen sometimes in life. Later, she told me that the farmers rolled the car back over, and before long she and my dad resumed their trip. 

For a long time, I couldn’t believe how casual my mom was about the whole thing. But while writing Restaurant, I slowly came to realize that my mother’s way of processing the story was a form of self-protection. She’s the kind of person who hates being afraid of anything—so she found a way to make this event more of an adventure than a near-catastrophe. 

That’s when I began to consider that so much of our lives are what we make of it—how we tell our stories after the fact. Of course, we can’t change events, and we are all entitled to our negative emotions. But there is something to be said for trying out different outlooks and seeing if they might fit. While mother’s story helped me dig deeper into the emotional journeys of my characters, it has also showed me how to process my own memories in a healthier way (and appreciate my mom’s attitude toward life a whole lot more!). And perhaps I never would have learned this if I hadn’t be writing a book! 

Also during the writing of Restaurant, as well as the two earlier books in my World War 2 series, I found myself often thinking of “the aunts.” That’s what we called Bessie, Ida and Rose—my father’s three elderly aunts. Ida was the glamorous one, with snow-white hair swept high on her head, while Bessie and Rose had short, grey hair kept in place with ample amounts of hairspray. There had been a fourth sister—Sarah, my paternal grandmother—who died when I was very young. So my dad had a special place in his aunts’ hearts. 

I don’t know much about the aunts’ early years, but I do know that they came from Eastern Europe, and when I was little, they all lived in separate apartments in a brick apartment building in the Bronx. Rose and Ida were widows, while Bessie was married to Benny—although with no husbands of their own, Rose and Ida were as eager to fuss over Benny at holiday dinners as Bessie was. I remember how they’d  all rush to his side with another serving of brisket, more potatoes or carrots, or a second slice of chocolate cake even before his plate was empty.

We ate lots of holiday dinners in Bessie and Benny’s tiny apartment when I was young. There were always many relatives of all ages there—close and distant cousins, I was told. To provide a seat for everyone, Bessie and Bennie would “extend” their regular dining table by adding multiple folding tables end-to-end, through the dining room and almost all the way to the front door. Though I was very young, I knew that serving food was how the aunts showed love—and watching us all eat the dishes they’d fixed was their greatest joy.

Now, I’m not as wedded to the kitchen as ‘the aunts” were. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I have sometimes found meal planning a chore! But the connection I’m now so aware of between food and love has affected me deeply. It intensified the food scenes in Restaurant – particularly the scenes that take place during the darkest days of World War 2, when food was scarce and people needed to scrounge for ingredients to keep their loved ones nourished. And it also made me recognize what a privilege it is to nourish others. I’ve been accumulating lots of great soup and stew recipes and look forward to rich aromas and hearty flavors filling my kitchen and my family’s bellies this winter! 

So what do you learn when you write a historical novel – and often when you read one, too, I believe?

You learn a lot about characters, about plot, and about history for sure.

But equally important, you learn a lot about yourself!

Have you ever learned a new lesson about yourself after writing or reading something? If so, please tell me about it! You can reach me at BarbaraJosselsohnAuthor@gmail.com. I’d love to know!

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Barbara Josselsohn’s newest book is The Forgotten Italian Island, a sweeping multigenerational story centered around the Nazi occupation of northern and central Italy. It is a follow-up to her best-selling Secrets of the Italian Island and The Lost Gift to the Italian Island. Barbara is also the author of five previous novels. She teaches novel and essay writing at Sarah Lawrence College and other venues and is a member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association. Her next historical novel, set in southern France during the  series, is scheduled to release next summer. When she’s not writing, Barbara enjoys ballet, yoga, reading, and spending time with her family, and is the proud pet-parent of a rescue pup named Albie! For more information, you can visit her at www.BarbaraJosselsohn.com or follow her at Facebook.com/BarbaraJosselsohnAuthor or @BarbaraJoss (Instagram).

THE FORGOTTEN ITALIAN RESTAURANT, Barbara Josselsohn

Italy, 1943. The girl rushes down the winding streets, tucking the handwritten menu into the wicker basket and thinking only of the code hidden on the delicate paper. Will anyone forgive her for what she’s about to do to save the man she loves?

Present day. Arriving in sun-drenched Caccipulia, Callie grips the faded restaurant menu in trembling hands. Found hidden in her family home, she is certain it will lead her to the truth about her grandmother’s life in Italy during World War Two. Why did her Nonna run away from this beautiful small town, never to return? Lost and alone in the world, could it help Callie understand who she is?

Local café owner Oliver’s dark brown eyes light up when he sees the menu. During the war, one brave family secretly fed desperate Jewish families hidden in safe houses through the village. Callie’s heart soars at the thought that her own dear grandmother was involved.

Diving into the town’s history during long walks down cobbled streets, Callie begins to feel at home under Oliver’s soft gaze. She wonders if she could build a life here with him. Until they push aside magenta flowers on a monument at the heart of the village, and uncover a secret that changes everything…

A grave mistake was made one dark night as the Nazis stalked the village, putting the whole town in terrible danger. When Callie finds out what her grandmother did, will it change the way Oliver feels about her? Will she stay and right the wrongs of the past, or be forced to leave Italy too, just like her Nonna?

A heartbreaking love story that will sweep you away to sun-drenched Italian vineyards to watch hope and bravery prevail in the darkest days of war. For fans of Kristin Hannah, Victoria Hislop and Fiona Valpy.

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