- What inspired you to write “The Black Eagle Inn”?
The book is loosely based on stories and
tales from wider family members and acquaintances in the generations before me.
I was also fascinated by the idea of how a nation could possibly redeem itself after
the Holocaust? How do people and their attitude change? I was born in 1970. In only 25 years how
could a country evolve from a suicidal monster to a modern state? Film and
television and what people said and how they felt during the 70s inspired the
lives and characters of my protagonists.
I live in the UK and not a week goes by
without someone mentioning WWII in a conversation with me. As I am also
frequently confronted with semi-comical stereotypes of Nazi-esque Germans I
wondered more and more about the milestones in post-war German history and how
they transformed the nation to the way that I knew it.
- Who is your favourite character in the book? Tell us more about it.
I’m afraid I love almost all of my
characters, the good ones and the bad. I believe we all have good and bad in
us, and many of my characters redeem themselves over the course of the book,
despite a dark past. I can’t spoil the book for you by mentioning names, but
some of the older generation make a fantastic transformation and I loved them
for it.
If I have to choose one (so
unfair!) then Maria would be the obvious choice because she is always
cheerful and happy - until she has to stand up for herself. Then she goes all
the way, brave and honourable, despite her path being difficult and new.
- What is the biggest challenge for you in writing this book?
Sticking to the time line in this book was
very difficult. Choosing characters and their exact age to fit with the
relevant political changes was not a problem in my previous books, which
covered a much shorter time span.
- How do you pick your titles?
That varies. I always liked the family name
of a very close friend of mine and the idea for “The Luck of the
Weissensteiners” came to me while I was writing a scene in the book where luck
was a rather questionable term for what was happening.
“Sebastian” is a wonderful name in my
opinion and has some family connection. It is meant to honour one of my
grandfathers, who I think could have lived in Vienna of that time, very
happily.
“The Black Eagle Inn” was originally titled
“The Farm in Heimkirchen”. The accidentally named restaurant however turned out
to be more prominent in the story and the name has a symbolic meaning because
of the Eagle on the flag of the Federal Republic of Germany.
- What is your current project?
My current project is a book about
Alzheimers: how it impacts on the partner and the daughter of the woman
suffering from the disease - at a time when their life undergoes some
unexpected drama and unwanted attention. It is contemporary and a little more
quirky. The working title for the book is “A Time to Let Go”.
- If you would write a different genre you have never written, what would it be?
I have a half ready draft in my drawer for
a humorous murder mystery. With all the heavy drama that oozes out of my pen I
would love to make people laugh for a change, but I have serious doubts I can
get them to. Maybe if I threatened them with a gun.
- If you interviewed yourself, what question would you ask, and what would you answer?
What was your main message with this book?
I have an ambiguous relationship with
Germany, not having lived there for half of my life. I agree with some of the
stereotypes and criticisms but get defensive and hurt by others. Like any
society or country, Germany is a work in progress and I tried to portray the
struggle within and to show to the people outside how I perceive the on-going
move forward.
After having written one book on the
terrors that came from WWII, and one that showed the world before it, it seemed
the appropriate way to finish the trilogy.
The
Luck of the Weissensteiners (Three Nations Trilogy Book 1)
In the sleepy town of Bratislava in 1933 a
romantic girl falls for a bookseller from Berlin. Greta Weissensteiner,
daughter of a Jewish weaver, slowly settles in with the Winkelmeier clan just
as the developments in Germany start to make waves in Europe and re-draws the
visible and invisible borders. The political climate in the multifaceted
cultural jigsaw puzzle of disintegrating Czechoslovakia becomes more complex
and affects relations between the couple and the families. The story follows
them through the war with its predictable and also its unexpected turns and
events and the equally hard times after.
But this is no ordinary romance; in fact it is not a romance at all, but a powerful, often sad, Holocaust story. What makes The Luck of the Weissensteiners so extraordinary is the chance to consider the many different people who were never in concentration camps, never in the military, yet who nonetheless had their own indelible Holocaust experiences. This is a wide-ranging, historically accurate exploration of the connections between social location, personal integrity and, as the title says, luck.
But this is no ordinary romance; in fact it is not a romance at all, but a powerful, often sad, Holocaust story. What makes The Luck of the Weissensteiners so extraordinary is the chance to consider the many different people who were never in concentration camps, never in the military, yet who nonetheless had their own indelible Holocaust experiences. This is a wide-ranging, historically accurate exploration of the connections between social location, personal integrity and, as the title says, luck.
On Amazon:
http://bookshow.me/B00AFQC4QC
On Goodreads: http://bit.ly/12Rnup8
On Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1bua395
Sebastian
(Three Nations Trilogy Book 2)
Sebastian is the
story of a young man who has his leg amputated before World War I. When his
father is drafted to the war it falls on to him to run the family grocery store
in Vienna, to grow into his responsibilities, bear loss and uncertainty and
hopefully find love.
Sebastian Schreiber, his extended family, their friends and the store employees experience the ‘golden days’ of pre-war Vienna and the timed of the war and the end of the Monarchy while trying to make a living and to preserve what they hold dear.
Fischer convincingly describes life in Vienna during the war, how it affected the people in an otherwise safe and prosperous location, the beginning of the end for the Monarchy, the arrival of modern thoughts and trends, the Viennese class system and the end of an era.
As in the first part of the trilogy, “The Luck of The Weissensteiners” we are confronted again with themes of identity, Nationality and borders. The step back in time made from Book 1 and the change of location from Slovakia to Austria enables the reader to see the parallels and the differences deliberately out of the sequential order. This helps to see one not as the consequence of the other, but to experience them as the momentary reality as it must have felt for the people at the time.
Sebastian Schreiber, his extended family, their friends and the store employees experience the ‘golden days’ of pre-war Vienna and the timed of the war and the end of the Monarchy while trying to make a living and to preserve what they hold dear.
Fischer convincingly describes life in Vienna during the war, how it affected the people in an otherwise safe and prosperous location, the beginning of the end for the Monarchy, the arrival of modern thoughts and trends, the Viennese class system and the end of an era.
As in the first part of the trilogy, “The Luck of The Weissensteiners” we are confronted again with themes of identity, Nationality and borders. The step back in time made from Book 1 and the change of location from Slovakia to Austria enables the reader to see the parallels and the differences deliberately out of the sequential order. This helps to see one not as the consequence of the other, but to experience them as the momentary reality as it must have felt for the people at the time.
On Amazon: http://bookshow.me/B00CLL1UY6
On Goodreads: http://ow.ly/pthHZ
On Facebook: http://ow.ly/pthNy
The
Black Eagle Inn (Three Nations Trilogy Book 3)
The Black Eagle Inn is an old established
Restaurant and Farm business in the sleepy Bavarian countryside outside of
Heimkirchen. Childless Anna Hinterberger
has fought hard to make it her own and keep it running through WWII. Religion
and rivalry divide her family as one of her nephews, Markus has got her heart
and another nephew, Lukas got her ear. Her husband Herbert is still missing and
for the wider family life in post-war Germany also has some unexpected
challenges in store.
Once again Fischer tells a family saga with
war in the far background and weaves the political and religious into the
personal. Being the third in the Three Nations Trilogy this book offers another
perspective on war, its impact on people and the themes of nations and
identity.
On Facebook: http://ow.ly/pAX3y
On Goodreads: http://ow.ly/pAX8G
On Amazon: http://bookshow.me/B00FSBW2L6
Short
Biography:
Christoph Fischer was born in Germany, near
the Austrian border, as the son of a Sudeten-German father and a Bavarian
mother. Not a full local in the eyes and ears of his peers he developed an
ambiguous sense of belonging and home in Bavaria. He moved to Hamburg in
pursuit of his studies and to lead a life of literary indulgence. After a few
years he moved on to the UK where he is still resident today. ‘The Luck of The
Weissensteiners’ was published in November 2012; 'Sebastian' in May 2013.He has
written several other novels which are in the later stages of editing and
finalisation.
This interview is fabulous! I really enjoyed learning about Chris and where he got his inspiration. I like that he got ideas from his family stories. Books about this time period are always fascinating for me, so I have added these to my list. Thanks for sharing! :)
ReplyDelete~Jess