Janet Skeslien Charles is the author of the international bestselling book, Moonlight in Odessa, her debut novel in 2009. She also works with the American Library in Paris as the programs manager.
Where were you born and where did you grow up?
I was born in Conrad, Montana, and grew up in Shelby, Montana, a farming community on the Hi-Line.
When and why did you move to Paris?
I have lived in Paris since 1999. Like many people, I came here ‘for a year.’ I never thought of it as moving here, it would have seemed too definite, too daunting. It was easier to get a nine-month teaching contract and say, ‘We’ll see what happens…’
Before you moved to Paris you lived in Odessa and taught school there. Tell us what that experience was like.
From 1994-1996, I was a Soros Teaching Fellow in Odessa, Ukraine. It was a great experience. I enjoyed working with the teachers and students. We were completely cut of from the world because there wasn’t yet Internet and phones didn’t work very well. A gorgeous city with French and Italian architecture, Odessa is situated on the Black Sea. People describe Odessa and Odessans as very friendly, unpredictable, and sensual.
Your debut novel Moonlight in Odessa was a bestseller and highly praised. What led you to write the book and were you surprised at the results?
Two of my dear Ukrainian friends married Western men they didn’t know to escape poverty. I spent time with these friends and their husbands and was shocked at how the husbands spoke to their wives. I wanted to write about this experience.
I was surprised that the book sold in over a dozen languages, but happy that so many people from different cultures and backgrounds could relate to Daria, the main character, and her quest for happiness.
Each year over 16,500 women, who meet men through international matrimonial organizations such as loveme.com, enter the U.S. on three-month fiancé visas. In a recent article in Glamour magazine, a Ukrainian ‘email-order bride’ explained that her American husband paid $20,000 in travel and agency fees. It is a huge business. When Publishers Weekly reviewed my book they wrote, ‘The teetering dance between humor and heartbreak burns through this tale that takes place at the intersection of love and money, East and West, male and female,’ which is exactly what I wanted to show readers about the matchmaking industry.
When writing the book did you travel back to Odessa? Did living in Paris give you distance while writing it?
I did return to Odessa, mainly to see my neighbor, a caring pensioner with lavender hair and a twinkle in her eye. I based my character Boba on her. When she died, I didn’t want to return.
A large portion of the book is set in the U.S. and is from a foreigner’s point of view. Living in Paris definitely gave me the distance to look at my own country through someone else’s eyes.
You work with Shakespeare & Company and The American Library. Tell us what you do with both organizations.
I came to France to teach English as a Second Language. Although I loved my students, I spent more time running between schools and lessons than I did in the classroom. In 2004, I decided to take a year off to write and found that I was isolated. In hopes of meeting like-minded people, I started a writing workshop. Sylvia Whitman kindly allowed me to use the upstairs library at Shakespeare & Company. Each week, I met with university professors, journalists, students, nannies, writers, administrators, tumbleweeds, and bartenders who also had stories to tell. I felt lucky to meet so many fabulous people and great writers. In 2009, Anna Pook, one of my students, took over the workshop, and I am happy to say that the writing community created in the class still flourishes.
In October of 2010, my friend Ann Mah, who had been the Programs Manager at the American Library told me that she was resigning in order to write full-time. I decided to apply for the job. The Library is an incredible, dynamic place. I have loved every minute of being there. Part of my job is organizing the Evenings with an Author series. It is a pleasure to hear a different writer speak about their experiences and ideas each week. As a writer, I find it very inspiring. It is a treat to meet new people, from the regulars who come each Wednesday to the people just passing through town. The evening programs are free and open to the public, and I encourage anyone who loves to read or write to come the Library.
Are you working on a new novel and if you are, please tell us what it’s about.
I am working on another novel set in Ukraine. Time will tell what it is about.
Who are your favorite French authors and favorite French books?
I love The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. Encyclopédie capricieuse du tout et du rien by Charles Dantzig is a book that you can open at any page and read for fun. Page 25: A list of the most beautiful roads in the world. Page 497: A list of writers that other writers don’t like.
I’d love to hear your readers’ suggestions concerning books.
If there is one writer living or dead you could invite to dinner, who would it be, what would you prepare, and what would you serve to drink?
I would invite my friend Emma Jane Kirby, who was the BBC correspondent here for several years. She has a wicked sense of humor and the best take on France of anyone I know. I admire her so much. We are the same age but she has read twice as much as me and has worked all over the world. We’d have what we always do, our favorite, un Kir Royal, champagne with crème de cassis. Food optional.
Paris has had and still has many American writers living here. Why do you think that is?
That’s a good question. It is easy to rent an apartment short term or long term. Easy to get into the rhythm of this life. Easy to come and to go. And maybe because of the Lost Generation, there is an idea that it’s easier to write a novel here – more inspiration, more passion, more wine, better food. But I think that it is a myth.
You met your husband soon after you moved here. Please tell us how that happened.
My husband and I met at the airport Charles de Gaulle on my first day in France.I helped a French teaching assistant when he arrived at the University of Montana. He stayed in my apartment, and I helped him find his own place and deal with the paperwork that comes with starting a new job in a new country. When Stéphane learned that I was going to France, he asked his brother to help me get settled. His brother came to the airport to pick me up.
What do you prefer about Paris?
The Village Voice and the Red Wheelbarrow bookstores. People who are passionate about books. The five weeks of vacation time that workers receive whether they are CEOs or cashiers. The trains. The cheese. The metro. The lush gardens. The small cafes.
Thank you, Richard! What a treat to be able to share a little bit of life with you and your readers.
Click here to order Moonlight in Odessa from Amazon
In addition to my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, we now offer Eye Prefer New York Tours, 3-hour walking tours of New Yorkís best neighborhoods including Soho, Meatpacking/West Village & Tribeca. Tours cost $195 for up to 3 people and $65 for each additional person.Come take a bit of the Big Apple on an Eye Prefer New York Tour!
Come experience my blog ìliveî with my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I lead. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.Tours cost 195 euros for up to 3 people, and 65 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris. www.eyepreferparistours.com
New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotteís professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.
Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday
Minimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.
Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.
Wonderful interview with Janet!
Posted by: robert | April 27, 2011 at 03:37 PM