Ask the Author: Karin Tanabe
Answered Questions (10)
Karin Tanabe
Thank you for flagging! This is the second time this has come up. My publisher tried to get it removed, but clearly we need to try again. Appreciate it! -Karin
Karin Tanabe
Hi Mariia, many thanks for the question! I think when writing becomes something you do a lot of, maybe weekly, maybe daily, and you really enjoy it, then you're a writer. Getting published is of course lovely, but it doesn't make you a writer. I think I was a writer way before I was published, because I did it every day and enjoyed what can be a very lonely process. As Rilke said so well, "Works of art are of an infinite loneliness." But one writers find energy and fulfillment in. Take care.
Karin Tanabe
Hi Susanna,
We haven't sold Italian rights yet, but fingers crossed! And many thanks for your question.
Karin
We haven't sold Italian rights yet, but fingers crossed! And many thanks for your question.
Karin
Karin Tanabe
Hi AnnMarie,
I'm so glad you enjoyed the book! Sorry my answer on this is so late and thank you for your insightful question. The book is a work of fiction but there are a lot of real historical facts peppered in. There was indeed a Hitler youth camp in Wisconsin (Grafton to be exact) and a Nazi party in the US called The Bund. Here is an interesting link that helped me!
https://www.npr.org/sections/npr-hist...
Thanks again for your comment!
Karin
I'm so glad you enjoyed the book! Sorry my answer on this is so late and thank you for your insightful question. The book is a work of fiction but there are a lot of real historical facts peppered in. There was indeed a Hitler youth camp in Wisconsin (Grafton to be exact) and a Nazi party in the US called The Bund. Here is an interesting link that helped me!
https://www.npr.org/sections/npr-hist...
Thanks again for your comment!
Karin
Karin Tanabe
Hi Christine,
That's so great to hear! Thank you for the five star reviews and I'm thrilled you enjoyed both books. I was definitely nervous when I made the leap to writing historical fiction, but I'm so glad I made the switch. I used to be a reporter and the research aspect really speaks to that part of my brain. My fifth book will definitely be historical fiction again. I hope to keep writing about little known stories that inspire me and hopefully others!
Karin
That's so great to hear! Thank you for the five star reviews and I'm thrilled you enjoyed both books. I was definitely nervous when I made the leap to writing historical fiction, but I'm so glad I made the switch. I used to be a reporter and the research aspect really speaks to that part of my brain. My fifth book will definitely be historical fiction again. I hope to keep writing about little known stories that inspire me and hopefully others!
Karin
Karin Tanabe
Hi Betty, yes! Please send me an email at karin@karintanabe.com to set it up. Looking forward to chatting.
Karin
Karin
Karin Tanabe
Hi May,
Thanks for your question and I'm so glad you enjoyed the book. Anita's story is such a fascinating one. I wasn't familiar with it when I was at Vassar, but when I learned about it in adulthood, I immediately thought it had to be told.
Quotes! I definitely have some favorites. On page 24, the following still sticks out in my mind:
"She could not protest. So she sat, nodded again, and went through the motions she had perfected through so many years of practice. And inside her thin shirtwaist, her heartbeat took off like a deer in the woods."
I like this particular line because it shows early on how practiced Anita is when facing racism. Part of passing was certainly being a great pretender, which she is, but it also shows how much she is impacted by the words of her peers, hence her heart taking off. I also still remember sitting in a library writing this phrase and wanting to find the perfect way to describe Anita's heartbeat. It took a few revisions, but that jolt of a startled deer I think describes it pretty well.
On page 173:
"Negro or not, you've been top of your class again and again. So no, you are not a coward. That school, those people, they are the cowards."
I like this line said by Bessie because it really reminds Anita that she is the brave one, the smart one, and that it's the policies that she has to get around by passing that are wrong.
On page 209, it's a short line, but I like it because it really reminds me of Edith Wharton, whose writing was a big inspiration for me for the New York scenes of the book.
"The faces in New York change, but the last names seldom do."
Thank you for posting!
Thanks for your question and I'm so glad you enjoyed the book. Anita's story is such a fascinating one. I wasn't familiar with it when I was at Vassar, but when I learned about it in adulthood, I immediately thought it had to be told.
Quotes! I definitely have some favorites. On page 24, the following still sticks out in my mind:
"She could not protest. So she sat, nodded again, and went through the motions she had perfected through so many years of practice. And inside her thin shirtwaist, her heartbeat took off like a deer in the woods."
I like this particular line because it shows early on how practiced Anita is when facing racism. Part of passing was certainly being a great pretender, which she is, but it also shows how much she is impacted by the words of her peers, hence her heart taking off. I also still remember sitting in a library writing this phrase and wanting to find the perfect way to describe Anita's heartbeat. It took a few revisions, but that jolt of a startled deer I think describes it pretty well.
On page 173:
"Negro or not, you've been top of your class again and again. So no, you are not a coward. That school, those people, they are the cowards."
I like this line said by Bessie because it really reminds Anita that she is the brave one, the smart one, and that it's the policies that she has to get around by passing that are wrong.
On page 209, it's a short line, but I like it because it really reminds me of Edith Wharton, whose writing was a big inspiration for me for the New York scenes of the book.
"The faces in New York change, but the last names seldom do."
Thank you for posting!
Karin Tanabe
Hi Karen,
Thanks for reaching out and I hope you enjoy the book. How cool that you are a diplomat's daughter! It is very interesting what happened to the diplomatic communities from the Axis powers after Pearl Harbor. They were interned almost immediately but not in camps like their non-diplomatic counterparts were. They were sent to hotels in Virginia and West Virginia and were treated pretty decently, but still their freedom was very limited. A really interesting book that I read in my research was Bridge to the Sun by a Japanese diplomat's American wife.
As for a sequel, one can only hope! No plans now, but I would love to write one.
Take care!
Karin
Thanks for reaching out and I hope you enjoy the book. How cool that you are a diplomat's daughter! It is very interesting what happened to the diplomatic communities from the Axis powers after Pearl Harbor. They were interned almost immediately but not in camps like their non-diplomatic counterparts were. They were sent to hotels in Virginia and West Virginia and were treated pretty decently, but still their freedom was very limited. A really interesting book that I read in my research was Bridge to the Sun by a Japanese diplomat's American wife.
As for a sequel, one can only hope! No plans now, but I would love to write one.
Take care!
Karin
Karin Tanabe
Hi Dorie,
Thank you very much for your smart questions and for reading the ARC of The Diplomat's Daughter. Much appreciated! (Just want to note that there are some small spoilers ahead for those who haven't read the book yet.)
There were 11,500 German nationals and American citizens of German descent in American internment camps during WW2. Here is an article, if you'd like to read more about it, from a great source on internment during the war.
http://encyclopedia.densho.org/German...
As for China, about 18,000 European Jews came to Shanghai in the late 30s and 40s seeking refuge. They were primarily from Germany, Austria and Poland but other European countries as well.
I chose River Hills as I wanted a town near Milwaukee as most of the Germans who were interned were from the Midwest, with many from Wisconsin. In my research, I also found that some children did end up going to orphanages in Milwaukee when their parents were arrested so I knew I wanted a town near there. I chose River Hills because it looked beautiful and affluent, and I wanted my character Christian to come from that sort of background. I myself have never been to River Hills or the surrounding towns, but it looks lovely!
As for how much of the novel is based on facts, most of it is fiction, but I did try to stay true to the events of the time. As you know, the Japanese-Americans and German-Americans did face unjust internment. Both diplomatic communities were also interned until they sailed home. As for Shanghai, under Japanese rule it was a refuge for European Jews, though there was a ghetto. And Karuizawa in Japan was, and is still, home to a large foreign population, especially during the war when many foreigners were sent there by the Japanese government. That is probably the least known historical fact in the book and something I found very interesting and wanted to highlight.
Thank you very much for your smart questions and for reading the ARC of The Diplomat's Daughter. Much appreciated! (Just want to note that there are some small spoilers ahead for those who haven't read the book yet.)
There were 11,500 German nationals and American citizens of German descent in American internment camps during WW2. Here is an article, if you'd like to read more about it, from a great source on internment during the war.
http://encyclopedia.densho.org/German...
As for China, about 18,000 European Jews came to Shanghai in the late 30s and 40s seeking refuge. They were primarily from Germany, Austria and Poland but other European countries as well.
I chose River Hills as I wanted a town near Milwaukee as most of the Germans who were interned were from the Midwest, with many from Wisconsin. In my research, I also found that some children did end up going to orphanages in Milwaukee when their parents were arrested so I knew I wanted a town near there. I chose River Hills because it looked beautiful and affluent, and I wanted my character Christian to come from that sort of background. I myself have never been to River Hills or the surrounding towns, but it looks lovely!
As for how much of the novel is based on facts, most of it is fiction, but I did try to stay true to the events of the time. As you know, the Japanese-Americans and German-Americans did face unjust internment. Both diplomatic communities were also interned until they sailed home. As for Shanghai, under Japanese rule it was a refuge for European Jews, though there was a ghetto. And Karuizawa in Japan was, and is still, home to a large foreign population, especially during the war when many foreigners were sent there by the Japanese government. That is probably the least known historical fact in the book and something I found very interesting and wanted to highlight.
Karin Tanabe
Hi Pamela! I'd love to! No sequel in the cards yet, but fingers crossed. Keep in touch!
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