Today I have author Michelle Cohen Corasanti here to tell us about her book The Almond Tree.
So why don't you tell us about yourself and when did you start writing stories?
I witnessed something, over twenty years ago, that affected me so deeply that despite all my best efforts, I could no longer repress it. I remember the exact moment I decided to become a writer. I had just started reading Khaled Hosseni’s book, The Kite Runner. I was lying on a lounge chair, by the pool, at the Setai hotel, in South Beach, sipping a cosmopolitan. I was on vacation with my husband and twins. I didn’t have a care in the world until Amir, the protagonist, said that the past can’t be buried, that it finds the means to claw its way out. And like Amir, my past found a way to call me. And there I was face-to-face with my worst nightmares and my greatest failures. One might say a defining moment. And I decided, that I wanted my children to know, that I had seen injustice and that I would try to do something about it. And so I wrote the story that had been inside of me for so long.
I grew up in a Jewish home in which German cars were boycotted and Israeli bonds were plentiful. Other than the blue-and-white tin Jewish National Fund sedakah box my family kept in the kitchen and the money we would give to plant trees in Israel, all I knew was that after the Holocaust, the Jews found a land without a people for a people without a land. And the Jews were always persecuted for no reason.
I went to Israel in high school to get some freedom from my strict parents. I was looking for fun. Unfortunately, I became like the witness who saw too much. It was very apparent that everything I had been taught was a lie.
When I returned to the US seven years later, I wanted to devote my life to bringing about justice and peace there. After ten years of college, degrees in Middle Eastern studies and law school, I met my husband and jumped ship. I just saved myself. The Kite Runner gave me the idea of how I could achieve my goal because he taught me that a writer could reach into people’s hearts and change them forever.
What is The Almond Tree about, and how did you come up with the idea?
The Almond Tree recasts the Palestinians in Israel and Gaza, a people frequently in the news, but often misrepresented and more misunderstood’ I think the author Les Edgerton described my book well. In his words:
Ichmad’s story is a big-hearted story of a small Palestinian boy who learns to survive in a brutal environment and doesn’t simply endure, but emerges from the fire with the wisdom gleaned from the example of a father who has taught him that all men have value, even their enemies. A tale of innocence moving through a vicious world, compassion learned against an environment of daily horrors, and wisdom forged through a boy’s journey through a life we would never wish upon our own children.
The book’s universal message of resilience, hope and forgiveness will hit home with anyone who has faced adversity. I try to show the human side of the conflict and explore themes of redemption, family sacrifice and the benefits of education and tolerance
I got the idea for the book from a Palestinian I met when I was at Harvard. He was doing his post-doctorate there with a Noble Prize winner and his Israeli professor and I just saw how strong the Palestinians and the Israelis were when they worked together. That’s where I got the seed of the story.
Who is your favorite character and why?
The protagonist, Ichmad Hamid because against all odds, he goes on to achieve greatness.
What was the hardest part about writing this book?
Writing the Jewish American human rights activist was the hardest part. With hindsight, I can say I tried to make her into everything I wished I could have been and failed to be. I couldn’t give her any flaws. No one liked her and so I was forced to shorten her role.
How long did it take you to write it?
When I decided to write my novel, I thought I would finish it in three months. I already had the seed for the story. Seven years, twenty-one writing classes and 6 editors later, I completed the task.
What is your favorite scene in this story and why? If you have more than one favorite, then just pick one.
My favorite scene is when Ichmad realizes that in saving himself and his family, he left his people behind and he tries to shine a light as bright as he could on his people.
Where can people find your book?
It’s available on amazon, barnesandnoble.com and most on-line venues as an e-book and a paperback and some select stores.
Do you have anything else you'd like to say or add to this interview?
Thank you so much for the interview
You're welcome. It was a pleasure chatting with you.
Okay, I think I’m going to post this now. I had briefly mentioned this post in my last one and thought I should go ahead and post it. Oh, in my last post I had said if I were President, I wouldn’t meddle in other country’s affairs. I still stand by that; however, if another country was bombing one of our allies, like what Germany did to England, then I’d get America involved.
Now, I will begin my post.
I love history and been wanting to do a post on why Hitler did what he did. I was warned this was a touchy subject and not to do a post on it because the wound has yet to heal, and probably never will. But I see no harm in trying to understand it.
More than six million Jews were slaughtered during World War Two. Every time I think about that, even now, I feel sick to my stomach, and my eyes start to water. I’m not Jewish, but that doesn’t matter. What happened to them was and is unconscionable, and I want to know how a human being could do that to another one. I realize, throughout history dictators around the world had committed atrocious acts toward their people. Even the church had done some horrific acts toward human beings. They thought they were doing the right thing. But it wasn’t the right thing. How could anybody burn another human alive and think it was the right thing to do? How could somebody even do that? And how could others take part in such a hellish and violent act?
I don’t get it.
Maybe if I broke it down, we could get some insight on why Hitler did what he did. But before I go any further, let me just say, what Hitler did was unjustifiable. It was sick and twisted, and nothing in the world could excuse him or the Nazis for what they had done.
Germany had lost World War One and Hitler believed it was because of the Jews. The Treaty of Versailles held Germany responsible for the war and placed huge military restrictions on them. There were also territorial changes where Germany lost control over its colonies, and reparations where Germany had to pay the Allies. I believe the total sum was around 226 billion Reichsmarks. In 1921 it was reduced to 132 billion Reichsmarks, but that was still a lot of money. So Germany’s economy took a huge hit in the Great Depression and was struggling to stay afloat. While the Germans were struggling and jobless, the Jews were prosperous and held prominent positions. With critical and damning eyes, Hitler took notice and felt the Jews were taking opportunities away from the Aryans.
So did this alone cause Hitler to have a deep-seated hatred toward Jews? I think there was more to it than that. I think he hated Jews long before World War One, but the events of World War One and what had followed afterwards may have solidified in his mind the Jews were an evil race and needed to be annihilated.
I had read, and this is all speculation, that Hitler’s beloved mother died of cancer, and he blamed her Jewish doctor for her death. He believed the doctor had given her a treatment that ultimately killed her. He was also denied entry to the Vienna Academy of Fine Art by a Jewish professor. If those two incidents are true, I wonder if they were what triggered Hitler’s hatred toward Jews. It seems like he blamed the Jews for everything bad that had happened in his life, and used them as a scapegoat for all the wrong doings in his life and country.
So how did Hitler sway Germany, to support his agenda? Well for one the Germans resented the harsh actions that were taken against their country after World War One, and Hitler in his charismatic speeches pointed a sharp finger at the Jews for Germany’s misfortunes. Anti-Semitism was already prevalent at the time, which made it easier for Hitler to demonize the Jews, and gain a foothold in the heart of Germany. He thought the Jews were communists and used that as part of his propaganda machine as well. I think he had manipulated his way into power with promises to lift the yoke off the German’s necks and to deliver them into an Elysium. I also think, not all the Germans knew or believed about the death camps, and what Hitler and the Nazis were actually doing to the Jews. But then again, how could they not know? That’s not for me to judge though. I wasn’t there, so I don’t know. I do know, after the war, Germans were forced to see what Hitler and the Nazis had done, and they were horrified when they saw the corpses of Jews that were callously slaughtered, stacked together in a mountainous pile like pieces of garbage.
I could go on and on about this, but then this post would be like twenty pages long. I just want to know what could have driven a person to commit such brutal acts, because I don’t understand it. And I know there are still Nazis out there who share the same ideals as Hitler, and if that’s how they feel, so be it. I have my own personal beliefs and wouldn’t want anybody to encroach on them. I also know there are whites who hate blacks, and blacks who hate whites, Muslims who hate Christians, and Christians who hate Muslims, and so forth. It has always been that way. I just hope we’ve learned something from World War Two and there will never be another Holocaust again. I also hope maybe someday we can stop all this hate and learn to live together in peace, learn to self govern, and take personal responsibility for ourselves and actions. There are a lot of things I hope for, but sometimes I wonder if hope is just a waste of time.
.png)
