The Secret of the Nightingale Palace by Dana Sachs is an astoundingly beautiful portrayal of the ties that bind us and the secrets that unravel us. Bookfinds was delighted to interview Dana about her stunning work.
Tell us the story behind the story. How did THE SECRET OF THE NIGHTINGALE PALACE come to be?
The novel follows two intertwined stories, one that takes place close to the present and another that takes place during World War II. In the contemporary story, Goldie Rosenthal and her adult grandaughter, Anna, drive across the country to return a collection of Japanese art to its owner, who gave it to Goldie for safekeeping during the war. The first seeds of the novel came from the simple fact that I fell in love with a collection of art that I saw in my local museum here in Wilmington, North Carolina. It’s a 19th century book of Japanese woodblock prints that contains pieces by two different artists, Ando Hiroshige and Kunisada II. Until I saw the prints, I didn’t know anything about these artists, but I loved them instantly and wanted to find out more. Because I had already begun to explore the idea of a novel about a grandmother and grandaughter driving across the country together, I put the collection of art in the car with them. I had several reasons for doing that. First, objects have histories and I sensed that the story of how Goldie acquired this art could be interesting. Second, Goldie and Anna have very different reactions to these pictures, and the differences in their reactions could reveal a lot about who these two women are as human beings. Finally, I found the art itself so mysterious and spectacular that I wanted to share it with the world.
What was the most challenging aspect of writing THE SECRET OF NIGHTINGALE PALACE?
The character of Goldie, the grandmother, is based on my own grandmother, Rose, but Goldie’s story is not Rose’s story. I did take a few details from Rose’s life—youngest of ten children, Jewish, from Memphis, a lover of beautiful things—but I invented almost everything else. So, the challenge lay in taking inspiration from a real person but creating an original story. When I put Goldie into a situation, I would ask myself, “What would Rose do now?” and usually I’d find an answer. And my grandmother, who just turned 101, was also an endless source of ideas. I remember talking on the phone with her once and she said, “I just had a meeting with myself and I decided that I’m not going to do that.” Her phrasing said so much to me about her independence and determination, so I made sure that, somewhere in the novel, Goldie “had a meeting” with herself as well. I worked for a long time as a journalist, and I continue to write nonfiction, so this kind of reporting felt very natural to me, and brought me closer to my grandmother at the same time.
What is the message you want readers to take away from your book?
There’s a chemistry that happens when a person reads a novel and I do believe that the experience of the book—the combination of the words on the page and what we each bring to it as individuals—is unique for each person. I love hearing people’s reactions to the novel because their reactions can say a lot about their own lives. Some people have spoken to me about how the novel made them rethink their relationships with their own grandparents or grandchildren. Others have shared with me their love of Japan, or San Francisco. I’ve heard stories of the Japanese internment camps and the injustice that our own citizens suffered at the hands of the government. I’ve also been particularly moved to hear from gay readers who tell me that the novel touched them as well. I love that the story can touch people in such a wide variety of ways.
Describe your writing schedule. Do you outline? Any habits?
I would like to be able to say some firm thing like, “I write three hours every morning without fail,” but it wouldn’t be true. As a mom, I try to work around my children’s schedules, getting as much done as I can during the day before I have to rush out the door to pick them up at school. I will say, though, that I tried something different with this novel. I participated in National Novel Writing Month (nanowrimo.org), which challenges you to write an entire 50,000-word novel in 30 days. Doing that, I managed to write the first draft of The Secret of the Nightingale Palace very quickly. For me, that was a fantastic thing. Even though it still took me another five years to finish the book, having a first draft meant everything. It gave me the foundation for the story, which I could build on after that.
What books are on your nightstand? What are you currently reading?
I love this question and I love to hear other people answer it as well. My nightstand, to be honest, is a ridiculous pile of books and there are more on the floor by the bed. Here’s a selection: Barbara Pym’s A Few Green Leaves. (This novel has been sitting by my bed unread for the longest time. Pym died in 1980. I’ve read all but two or three of her books and adored every one of them. I hate the idea of finishing all her novels, though, so I keep putting off reading the rest of them. This one sits by my bed in anticipation of the moment I can’t wait any longer.) Christopher Isherwood’s Berlin Stories. (I joined Twitter last year and someone recommended it there. Isherwood’s writing is beautiful and seemingly effortless. That beauty, combined with the horror of the setting in 1930s Germany, makes this collection devastating. I am so glad for the recommendation. Can I say that it proves the value of Twitter?) Daphne de Maurier’sFlight of the Falcon (Sometimes you can find the most amazing things in old bookstores, but this book, unfortunately, is not one of them. I can’t seem to get through it.) Rebecca Lee’s Bobcat and Other Stories. (The only problem I have with Rebecca Lee’s writing is that there isn’t enough of it. Each sentence is a jewel, each story a universe.) Oh, and finally, though it’s not on my nightstand, I’m listening to Jane Austen’s Emma in my car. I’ve read Emma so many times already, but I’m up for any outing these days just so I can listen to it.
Which authors inspire you?
I love a lot of different writers, but they don’t all inspire me in terms of my own work. Some that do, however, are (in no logical order) Ann Patchett, Somerset Maugham, George Eliot, Helen Simonson, Kiran Desai, George Bishop, Jr., and Holly Goddard Jones, a young writer I only discovered this year. These are very, very different writers, but they have one thing in common—they each make me want to sit down and create stories of my own.
What have you learned from this experience?
Other than a small section in my first novel, If You Lived Here, I had never attempted to write historical fiction. Half of this novel takes place in San Francisco in the 1940s. There were some challenges to going back in time, to be sure, but basically I just loved it. Part of the joy of writing fiction is getting to experience other lives vicariously, so I got to be a shop girl in a luxury department store during World War II. Because the point of view in those sections of the novel shifted, I also got to be a lovesick Japanese-American antique dealer and a gay man trying to live a double life. My background in nonfiction meant that I already knew how to do the necessary research for this kind of writing, but the experience itself taught me how to find a balance between incorporating historical material into the text and, also, keeping the story moving. Readers want some information about fashion designers of the 1940s, for sure, but they don’t want a dissertation.
What is your advice for aspiring writers?
When I was younger, I wasted a lot of time with my own insecurities. It took me a long time to write a whole book because I didn’t really believe that I could write a whole book. So, I would say that you shouldn’t be held back by lack of confidence. On the other hand, use your insecurities in a positive way. They should make you work harder to become a better writer. There is something very healthy in being able to tell yourself honestly, “This isn’t good enough.”
What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?
My grandmother became a widow nearly 30 years ago and she has never had a boyfriend since. She had lots of suitors and friends, but was never interested in being romantically involved with another man. Socially, she’s always been terrifically busy, though. I asked her once, “What do you do if no one invites you out?” She immediately responded, “I call up my friends and invite them out. You have to make your own party.” That was great advice and I’ve tried to follow it ever since. In my novel, Anna is struggling with her own widowhood, trying to figure out how to make her way in the world. Goldie tells her, “Make your own party.” I think it’s advice that everyone should live by.
What are you working on now?
I have two novels in my head right now and I’m trying to decide which to focus on first. One takes place in Budapest and follows the family of an American diplomat who is beginning to lose his mind from dementia. The other book is about a North Carolina teenager who stows away in the U-Haul of his former science teacher and ends up in Memphis. I imagine that both of those stories sound a bit odd when I describe them to you right now out of context, but I’m desperate to write them both.
