Since the publication of her first novel, "The Book of Ruth," in 1989, Jane Hamilton has been Milwaukee's own literary star. Although she lives in Racine County, Jane has been a regular face around Milwaukee which she visits regularly and in whose bookshops she has always been a favorite for her riveting, almost gothic, Midwestern novels. When Oprah Winfrey selected Jane's "A Map of the World" AND "The Book of Ruth" as on-air book club selections, Jane's national success was assured.
Her latest book, "Disobedience," hits shops in mid-October. Recently, Jane took a few moments to chat with OnMilwaukee.com about her books, life on her apple orchard and Milwaukee.
OMC: With your success in the literary world, have you ever considered moving out of southeastern Wisconsin for more cosmopolitan hotspots?
JH: No! I love where I live, (although it's getting very crowded and if the neighboring village does not soon install stop lights I may have to consider moving to a hotspot to avoid getting killed crossing the street.) Cosmopolitan hotspots are terrific places to visit, but living in a small town with no night life makes it very easy to work and read and think without feeling that you're missing something important.
OMC: Do you get to Milwaukee very often? What do like to do when you're here?
JH: I come to Milwaukee once a week for music lessons, to shop at Beans & Barley for exotic food that I can't get at home, and to visit friends. Milwaukee is one of those great unheralded cities, I think -- a place that's our best secret.
OMC: We're excited that Milwaukee gets a few mentions in the new book. Have you considered setting a book in the city?
JH: Not at the moment, but you never know.
OMC: You live on an orchard west of Racine. Are you actively engaged in working on the orchard or does writing take up too much time to allow that?
JH: I don't do orchard work any more -- unless there's a crisis. Writing and driving my children around and managing the household are fulltime jobs.
OMC: All of your books are set in the upper Midwest. Do you think there is something special here that infuses your stories or are the settings simply a function of your familiarity with them?
JH: I've lived in the Midwest all of my life -- and I'm sure there is something special here -- I think there's truth in the fact that midwesterners of course generally speaking are more open and jolly than our New England ancestors, a little more cautious and polite than those of the group that went farther west. If I left the Midwest I'd write about to keep it alive in myself and because I'd miss it grievously. As long as I'm here I imagine that it will sustain me.
OMC: Your books have always been favorites of reading groups, a social grouping that seems to have been on the rise in the past few years. In "Disobedience," Henry says that "It is no secret that book clubs are formed so that women can quickly dismiss the novels they have sworn to read, moving on then into their real subjects, inexhaustible topics such as their midlife crises, their incipient menopause, mother hood, their own repressive mothers, and finally, settling down to their favorite agenda item, marriage and men." Without trying to get you in trouble, is this Jane Hamilton's view the book club dynamic or is it Jane Hamilton's view of men's view of book clubs? Or neither?
JH: There are all kinds of book clubs. This particular book club is observed, remember, from the point of view of a 17-year-old boy. I had a lot of fun trying to look at the world through the eyes of an adolescent boy, standing on its head what I, as a middle aged woman, think of as normal. Although I don't have a bookclub if I did I'd be in the same kind of club Beth Shaw was in, I'd be right there speaking my two cents about all the topics Henry makes fun of, and I'd be dead earnest. I have no intention of pontificating on book clubs in general -- rather, my interest was in looking at all of the world through Henry's eyes.
OMC: Your first two books were the stories of women. But the last two have been told by men. Was this a conscious effort to try and avoid being pegged as a "women's writer" or were the stories best served this way?
JH: It's just the way the story came to me, through Henry.
OMC: As a matter of fact, "Disobedience" has the odd quality of being a story about a woman, told by a man. Henry may be the narrator, but it doesn't feel as much like his story as it does his mother's. Did you consider having Beth tell her own story?
JH: As Beth says, her story "is an old story." My interest in telling this story, in making it a little fresher, was finding out what the child knows and thinks when his parent is disobedient. And although the facts are about his mother, I think that through the telling the story becomes more and more about Henry.
OMC: What about Kevin? I think some may view him as weak because one gets the sense that he knows about his wife's infidelity and doesn't act the way we'd expect he would, if he has that knowledge. On the other hand, he appears quite smart and forward-thinking, allowing the affair to take its course and allowing his wife to work it out for herself. Do you think there are people out there that can relate to this unusual character?
JH: I don't know who can or can't relate to any of the characters. That's not my preoccupation when I'm writing the book and afterwards there's nothing I can do about it so it's a moot point. I think Kevin has a certain degree of selflessness as well as helplessness in the face of his wife's obsession. I wouldn't be surprised if there are people like him in this world, although I suspect they are rare.
OMC: How do you see Kevin? Caring? Weak? Stupid? Perhaps having an affair of his own, which might explain his actions? The only completely sane character? Completely insane?!
JH: I doubt he has an affair of his own. I think he's a good and noble person, and therefore a little boring when it comes to writing about him -- this, after all, is Henry's problem -- he admires his father but can't devote a book to him.
OMC: Were you pleased with the film version of "A Map of the World"? Do you feel it captured the mood of the book and told the story in a similarly moving, dynamic way?
JH: I had no expectations -- a movie is an entirely different medium, after all, and I was not expecting it to capture the mood because the mood in a book is set up by language. How can a movie do the same? As it turned out, the screen play was thoughtful and earnest and the writers incorporated a lot of my dialogue -- what a surprise, let me tell you, that was. I thought Sigorney W. was a terrific Alice, I loved the music, I was so pleased that the movie did not sugar coat the characters or the ending and I'm indebted to the Scott Elliott, the director, for his understanding and compassion for the characters.
OMC: Have the other books been optioned for films? Are any in pre-production or currently being made?
JH: No. The Book of Ruth option expired and I did not want the "Short History" to be optioned because In a film you'd get only a small part of the story.
OMC: Which do you think would make the best film? Why?
JH: I'm not the person to say. I have no idea. I don't write the books for films and in general I'm not a fan of movies that get made from novels.
OMC: Do you have an event planned in the Milwaukee area to coincide with the release of "Disobedience"?
JH: I'll be at Schwartz's on Monday Nov. 27 (at the Mequon location. She'll also visit Schwartz's new Racine shop on Wed., Nov. 1.
