I was always told I should never show my writing to friends because, as friends, they'd never give me honest feedback. Friends will tell you they loved your book even if they haven't read it. I didn't, however, follow this advice. Instead, I agreed to have my book club read my new novel, TATIANA, as its monthly book choice. At least that way, they'd have to read the book.
At the start of our book club meeting, I urged everyone to be as candid as possible about her feelings. I sat and took notes and resisted, as much as possible, defending my literary decisions. Here, I share their criticism with you and also discuss some of the problems I faced in writing TATIANA. (If you have the book, but haven't yet read it, you might wait to read this blog.)
Killing Off the Heroine
My readers didn't like having Tatiana die at the end of the book. They didn't like feeling depressed by her death and accused me of torturing them. Now, I killed off Tatiana for an important literary reason -- if she hadn't died, the book would have been too schmaltzy. Also, the truth is that most women with fairly advanced ovarian cancer die after a few years. I felt I had to be fair to the real victims. (My friends were happy to learn that the actual woman on whom I based the story, and who had a disease other than ovarian cancer, is fully alive today.)
What About the Men?
While my readers were generally happy with my female characters, they were not very happy with the males. One friend commented, "The men were treated badly." They found the men too one-dimensional and the one male they liked -- the Russian doctor Stas -- presented too briefly. They couldn't understand why the heroine Judith was involved with her partner Paul in the first place. I found this criticism justified. I wasn't really interested in the men when writing the book. They were there to illustrate aspects of the women's characters and, unfortunately, they came over that way.
My readers also felt cheated by the male-female relationships. They wanted more sex -- unfortunately, I have a terribly hard time writing erotica. They wanted more psychological tension in the couples' relationships. I feel if I had done that I would have distracted my readers from the heart of the novel, namely, the women's interactions with Tatiana. Still, I accept the criticism that the men were too underdeveloped.
The Women's Stories
My readers generally approved the women characters and found their stories convincing and compelling. They found the minor characters needed more elaboration. They're probably right, although that would have made the book a lot longer.
What my readers liked best was my portrait of Tatiana. They felt her to be genuine, very Russian, and a wise, insightful, heroic woman. That made me feel good. It should also make my friend Valentyna, the model for Tatiana, feel honored.
Turn It Into a Film
My reading group concluded that TATIANA would make an excellent film. They don't expect films to go into character in depth as they expect in novels. Rather, they're pretty much happy with a satisfyting cinematic story. Of course, I'm ready to turn the book into a film. Meryl Streep, would you like to play Tatiana?
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I invite my blog readers to comment on TATIANA. If you haven't yet read it, you can get a copy from me or the online booksellers. I welcome your HONEST feedback, but please deliver it gently.
