Barbara Josselsohn is an award-winning journalist and novelist who loves crafting stories about strong protagonists facing a fork in the road. Her novels center around second chances, family relationships and, of course, romance. She is the author of the Lake Summers series set in the fictional town of Lake Summers, nestled in the Adirondacks Mountains, which includes the books The Lilac House and The Bluebell Girls. Before joining with Bookouture, she published The Last Dreamer, a women’s-fiction novel from Lake Union Publishing, along with hundreds of articles and essays in major and regional publications about family, home and relationships. She lives just north of New York City and enjoys escaping to the beach or the mountains whenever she can. Other than writing, her biggest passion is her family: husband, her three kids, and her indefatigable shih-poo!
Book Blurb:
Italy, 1943. A castle once full of love and laughter is left in ruins by the Nazis, as three sisters are torn apart by one terrible mistake…
New York, present day. Broken by the loss of her beloved grandmother Annalisa, who raised her all alone, Mia is shocked when she finds an old letter sent from Italy in her belongings. Annalisa never told Mia about the magnificent, vine-covered castle on Isola di Parissi where she spent one long summer under the Italian stars. Or that she was accused of something terrible in the darkest days of World War Two…
Arriving on the stunning Italian coast just a boat ride away from Parissi, Mia is devastated to find the island closed to visitors. Desperate to find out what her grandmother was hiding, she finds dark and brooding local guide Leo, who promises to help her sneak in.
As they explore the crumbling castle surrounded by lush olive groves, Mia begins to fall in love with passionate Leo and the beautiful country he calls home. And soon they find handwritten notes hidden in the walls, which confirm her grandmother’s heartbreaking story. Annalisa arrived on the island with her two sisters but was forced to abandon them when the Nazis invaded.
Mia soon realizes that the accusation against Annalisa might be true, and that Leo has his own reasons for wanting to dig up her family’s past. The terrible mistake Annalisa made tore apart the island community. Will it force Mia to leave Leo, and Italy, forever?
An epic, heart-wrenching tale based on the incredible true story of an island at war. Fans of Lucinda Riley, Fiona Valpy and Victoria Hislop will be utterly gripped.
Book Buy Link: https://geni.us/b5Ph
Author Interview:
What literary pilgrimages have you gone on?
When my daughter was fifteen years old, she and I went on the most wonderful literary pilgrimage to Concord, Mass., home of an author we both adore, Louisa May Alcott. We first stopped at Orchard House, the family home where she wrote Little Women. The building is now a museum, and we were able to visit the bedroom where she worked away on her most famous novel, sitting at desk shaped like a half-moon that her father had built her.
Then we went to the nearby Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, where the Alcotts are buried, along with Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathanial Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau. Finally, we drove out to Fruitlands, a one-time experiment in communal living and the brainchild of Bronson Alcott (Louisa’s father) and other Transcendentalists. It wasn’t very successful, and the Alcotts lived there only seven months, but it did provide fodder for Louisa’s satirical novel, Transcendental Wild Oats.
Together, my daughter and I got know Louisa not just as an author, but as a daughter, sister, aunt, and early feminist. It was a wonderful mother-daughter getaway, a trip that we both loved, and will never forget.
Tell us the best writing tip you can think of, something that helps you.
When I’m struggling with a scene or feeling the pressure of a deadline, I often remind myself that storytelling is a privilege. It’s true! Stories are what connects people with one another. They’re how we learn about the world, ourselves, and human nature. I feel very lucky to be a novelist and spend much of my life sharing, reading, and inventing stories. When I remind myself of that, I always get a new spurt of energy and the motivation to work through whatever challenge I’m facing.
What are common traps for aspiring writers? Advice for young writers starting out.
It’s so easy for writers at any stage of their careers to feel self-doubt and believe that what they’re writing is simply awful. Writers are very hard on themselves! And I do think many aspiring writers give up on their projects for this very reason. My advice is not to dwell on destructive thoughts, but to keep focused on the page. And to remember that many of the skills required for writing a novel can be taught. So when you’re stuck, find yourself a writing community, a good teacher or coach, or even some great books that explore the craft of writing. I teach novel-writing classes, and one of the things I often tell my students is that nobody ever published a book that wasn’t written! So marshal your resources and keep those words coming!
If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
I would tell myself not to be afraid to get started. I was a journalist before I turned to novel writing, and while I enjoyed working on a newspaper, my heart always longed to write fiction. Still, it took me many years to develop the confidence to do so – and I’m sorry for all that wasted time! Writing novels has enriched my life in so many ways—it's made me a more appreciative reader, taught me lessons about life and human nature, and perhaps most wonderful, paved the way for me to form life-long friendships with some of the greatest people in the world. I don’t know where I’d be without the writer-friends I’ve met made through classes, readings, and even online forums. For these reasons, I would tell my younger self not to delay!
How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?
I think that publishing my first book gave me some helpful validation. At that point, I allowed myself to approach writing as a real profession. I felt more comfortable spending long days at my computer, setting aside some space in the house that was mine alone for writing, and even purchasing a new, roomy desk I’d had my eye on. In retrospect, I really didn’t need to have published a book to consider myself a true writer. Live and learn!
What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?
All my life, I’ve always wanted to visit Hawaii. It seemed the most exciting and interesting place, and it had been on my bucket list for as long as I could remember. So I was thrilled last fall when the money I’d earned from writing help pay for a wonderful Hawaiian vacation with my family. Hawaii was as wonderful as I’d imagined—and it felt great to know that my novels helped make that wonderful vacation a dream come true.
What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?
For me, the most difficult part of my process is the beginning. It’s funny how much you learn about yourself when you become a writer. One of the things I learned was how hard it is for me to start a project, because the enormity of what’s ahead can be overwhelming. Page one—what a scary place that is for me! I try to be good to myself when I’m starting out a new book by reminding myself that it’s okay to go slow, it’s okay to make changes, it’s okay to write just one page in a day if that’s all I can do. And the good news is that page one always leads to page two—a much more comfortable spot to spend a little time!
Tell us about your novel/novels/or series and why you wrote about this topic?
My upcoming release, SECRETS OF THE ITALIAN ISLAND, is about a present-day granddaughter living in New York who travels to a remote Italian island to uncover the hidden pieces of her grandmother’s life. I wanted to write this story so much, because there are many aspects of my own grandparents’ lives that I still don’t know. As I wrote, I kept thinking about those who came before me. I dedicated the book to my grandparents and my great aunts—I wish I could have known them better.
What is your favourite line or passage from your own book?
This is my favorite passage:
“She was glad to be here, on this beautiful terrace in this still, dark night. Because sometimes darkness wasn’t avoidance, she thought. Sometimes it was the gateway to a place you’d never been before. And sometimes that place was exactly where you wanted to be. Sometimes life really was an Isola della Notte Brillante—even if just in your imagination.”
I loved writing these words – with the reference to a fictional place known as the Island of the Brilliant Night—because they reveal a type of courage my protagonist is seeking. There’s a lot in the book about light and the absence of light, about things that are seen and things that remain hidden because they’re too painful to consider or too hard to find. I wanted so much to write a story where the night reveals many beautiful things – things perhaps you’d never see in the brightness of day!
Tell us your favourite quote and how the quote tells us something about you.
My favorite quote is one that’s been attributed to Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, John Gardner, and maybe others too. It appears in slightly different ways, but the gist is that in the history of all literature, there have only been two stories every written: a stranger comes to town and a person goes on a trip.
I love this quote because essentially it says that a unique plot isn’t the key to a great story. In fact, according to this quote, a unique plot doesn’t even exist! To my mind, the quote conveys that what matters in literature is what the individual author brings the plot: how an author’s thoughts and memories, visions and fears, and dreams and desires combine to tell a story uniquely. I love that: the idea that what we bring to a plot—and not the plot itself—is what can make a novel singular and spectacular!
*****
Thank you, Barbara, from The Historical Fiction Company, for stopping by to answer our questions. We wish you much success and congratulations on "Secrets of the Italian Island"!!
Dee Marley
HFC CEO