An evening with Tatjana Soli, author of The Lotus Eaters

This past Thursday was a big night for Books, Babes and Bordeaux, one of my book clubs...we were going to have our very first call-in from an author. We had chosen "The Lotus Eaters" as our January selection based on my gentle encouragement, and were thrilled when the author, Tatjana Soli, agreed to chat with us about it.

Normally, our book club meets at a local restaurant and generally imbibes in a bit of wine (hence our name). This time, in order for us to have access to a speakerphone and little background noise, we met at Marianne's house, and we all brought appetizers and wine. The highlight was Marianne's Vietnamese Egg Rolls, and Heather's Banana Bread with chocolate chips! Side note: this worked out so well, we are meeting at someone else's house next month.

Before Tatjana called in, we chatted about the book. It was universally loved overall, although we all agreed that the book required you to be diligent through the first chapter or two. Once we were past that, we couldn't lay the book down. One member wanted more from the ending, and a couple others questioned whether Helen (the main character) ever truly loved either of her men. We all agreed that Vietnam, the country and it's people, burst into life with Tatjana's talented prose.

Then the focus was on Tatjana, and what she had to say. She was extremely easy-going, forthright, and honest. She charmed us all. Here are some of the things we discussed:

Her muse for the book: Tatjana spent much of her young life around soldiers on military bases. Many of them left for Vietnam and never came back, others came back with horrific stories. There was a whole mystique to these men and their experiences, and the seeds were sown.

Her inspiration for the character of Helen: There were two well-known female photographers in Vietnam that Tatjana researched to find a basis for Helen. The first was Catherine Leroy, a French-born photographer whose pictures graced the covers of Life and other publications, many of them winning awards.

The second female photographer that inspired Tatjana was Dickey Chapelle, who started her career in WWII as a war correspondent, and ended with Vietnam, when she was tragically killed by shrapnel.






















Inspiration for Helen's iconic photo: For those of you who have read the book, Helen was officially recognized for her photography after she endangered her life by capturing the execution of a seemingly harmless old man. This photo was a tip of the hat to the famous Eddie Adams photo that all of America has seen:

















Say what? Did you know that Tatjana has never visited Vietnam? Which was shocking to all of us, since her imagery in the book is so vivid and intense. While she had been originally scheduled to make the trip, it was cancelled because of a family emergency, and never re-booked. Tatjana instead relied on the pictures in her mind's eye taken from photos, film, and her imagination. She nailed it though, according to the Vietnam Vets who have read her book.

On the journey: Tatjana was steadfast in her mission to write this book. The road was not easy however, and it took approximately 10 years to progress from idea to publication. She endured a couple of years of research, alot of writing, and re-writing, hearing that the book would never fly, and was turned down by everyone. "Women don't want to read about war (???) and men don't want to read about a female photojournalist." She thought it was never going to happen. It has to make her feel justified when someone like Tim O'Brien actually blurbed her!

Any talk of a movie? Not so far, according to Tatjana. She didn't want to hazard a guess on casting. I couldn't seem to get past the movie "The Killing Fields", and with my computer in hand, pitched Sam Waterston as Darrow and Haing S. Ngor as Linh. But who would play Helen? Most of us thought Helen Hunt might work, although she isn't aging well. As you can see, by this point, we were having way too much fun! I personally think this book would be a phenomenal movie.

Current projects? Tatjana is currently working on a book about a citrus farm in Southern California, tentatively named "The Wilding Tree", due Spring 2012. Our book club will be the first in line.

Tatjana's favorite books? It is always fun to hear what amazing writers are reading. She immensely enjoyed both "Housekeeping" by Marilynne Robinson and "Wide Sargasso Sea" by Jean Rhys. She also recently discovered and adored "A Visit From the Goon Squad" by Jennifer Egan. We were so influenced by her passion for these books, we decided that the February book club pick would be "Housekeeping".


Overall, it was a wonderful evening, and we were all very appreciative for the time and energy that Tatjana gave to our group of readers, considering how busy she is with her book tour. We all agreed that it is one thing to read a book, but another thing completely to get the author's perspective, and enjoy her warm personality and passion for her subject.

If you haven't yet read "The Lotus Eaters", you need to make this a priority. I even placed it on my top reads of 2010. I guarantee, you will not be disappointed!