* * *
“Through the years, writing has always been a central focus for me.”
* * *
Is there a book that most influenced your life? Or inspired you to become a writer?
As I said, I’ve always been drawn to writing, so I am constantly in awe of authors whose clever imagery and artful deployment of language far exceeds my own, writers such as John Steinbeck and Truman Capote and Ernest Hemingway. And Joan Didion, whose self-description sits on my printer and reads, “I am a writer. Imagining what people would say or do comes to me as naturally as breathing.” A statement to which I aspire in the humblest of ways. Relative to becoming an author of historical fiction, the captivating wartime novels of Leon Uris and Herman Wouk certainly inspired me. They are craftsmen, whose wonderful characters consumed their readers and thrust them into the World War II milieu. I aspire to their brilliance in the feeblest of ways. Scott Turow, a fellow member of the Illinois bar, is the master of legal dramas, and is a prime example of how to infuse a contemporary legal thriller with intelligent writing.
What was the inspiration for Saving Sophie?
It has so many subplots; I’d have to say that the creative ideas sprung from different sources. A few years ago I was involved in a complex escrow closing in which the funds to purchase the business were almost sent to the wrong bank. It occurred to me that a good mystery could be based on that misdirection. And I once spent six weeks trying a case in Honolulu (which is a far less exotic experience than you might think), where I became familiar with the Hawaiian legal environment. As to the central conflict, the Israeli– Palestinian struggle, my time in Israel and my involvement in several organizations motivated me to set Saving Sophie in the middle of that complex conundrum. It seemed to me to be a good opportunity to foment discussions about an impossible situation.
Your last book, Once We Were Brothers, dealt with a different aspect of the Jewish experience, the atrocities of wartime Poland. Can you talk about how you approached this subject matter of the Israeli conflict?
The Jewish experience in wartime Poland was dehumanization, slavery, and extermination. Those few that survived the camps were universally staunch Zionists. They wanted to go to Israel. Israel was their rebirth. I think it was a natural transition for me as well to go from submergence in Holocaust research and writing to stories of the Jewish experience in Israel, starting with the country’s formation to the present. When you mention the Israeli conflict—and we tend to think of it in present-day terms: the claims of the Palestinians, the West Bank, the settlements, the Green Line, the peace process—we have to keep it in proper perspective. This present-day struggle has been active since the days of the British Mandate, and I think it can be better understood from its historical perspective. That’s why I spent considerable time laying the groundwork in Saving Sophie.
Do you scrupulously adhere to historical fact in your novels, or do you take liberties if the story can benefit from the change? To what extent did you stick to the facts in writing Saving Sophie?
Scrupulous as possible. I try to present my historical environment as authentically as I can within the confines of a fictional piece. Obviously, the al-Zahani family is entirely a product of my imagination, so they could not have been involved with the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Mussolini, or any other figure. But the scenarios that played out around them are accurate. Thus the narrative about the Mufti Amin al-Husseini training and reviewing Bosnian troops for Hitler, for example, is factual. He wasn’t accompanied by grandfather Ibrahim, but he was a real figure and just as evil as I described him. The Hebron Massacre of 1929 is, regrettably, factual. The events which occurred during the British Mandate, the creation of the state of Israel, and the Arab–Israeli wars are all well documented. The descriptions of the geographic locales in which the characters play out their roles are based upon my personal observations and described as keenly as I am capable.
Can you take readers into the process of writing this novel? What challenges did you face in terms of plotting and structure, for example?
I do not write from an outline and I don’t always know at the beginning what will happen at the end (although I have a pretty good idea). My principle goal is to create strong characters with believable identities. They become real for me, and I can and do communicate with them every day. When I toss them into a devilish situation, I hope they will respond in a way that is true to their character. It may not be the way you or I would respond, but if I’ve done my job, their personalities will emerge in the crisis. Liam’s courageous decision to place himself in the crossfires of the Hebron operation, even though he wasn’t an operative or a soldier and had no skin in the game, as they say, and against Catherine’s wishes, is the only way his character should respond. Making sense of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict is a challenge that is, to all intents and purposes, insurmountable. I did not try to do that. I just set my story in the midst of embattled passions and let my characters and my readers think what they will.
Do you have a favorite scene from Saving Sophie—an incident or even dialogue that’s especially meaningful to you?
I have many favorite scenes, some funny, some intense, some reflective. I especially like the scene between Kayla and Liam the night before the al-Zahani exchange. It’s a moment of honesty—their guards are down. Secrets are shared. Nothing is hidden. Both are full of doubts, yet neither is hesitant about the assignment. On the humor side, I like the short scene at the airport ice cream shop before the group leaves Honolulu. It’s a touch of humor, but bittersweet because it is a point of embarkation and impending danger. I like the scenes in the shop of Jamal Abu Hammad. I wrote those scenes before I shared a cup of tea in a similar antiquities shop in the Via Delarosa with an Arab shop owner who I posited was the real Abu Hammad. I searched to find such a man in the Muslim Quarter to prove to myself that my descriptions of Abu Hammad and his shop were authentic and his personality was believable. And they were. It was indeed a pleasant afternoon.
Is there any material that you wrote that never made it to the final draft? Can you tell us about it?
Oh, yes. Definitely yes. My original manuscript had substantially more historical data—dozens of pages about the history of Israel and the West Bank, pages about Lawrence of Arabia and the Ottoman War, pages about the turmoil during the British occupation, pages about the prelude to the Six Day War and much more detail about the 1948 and 1967 wars. It was all left on the cutting room floor. In truth, it turned out to be too much detail and a distraction from the story. But I’m a historian at heart and I err on the side of inclusion.
Are you currently working on another book?
I’m very proud of my third novel, currently named Karolina’s Twins. I’m back to the Holocaust. Karolina’s Twins is inspired by the true story of a beautiful, courageous woman who I met during the Once We Were Brothers book tour. She grew up in a small town in western Poland. As a young teen, she hid in her attic when the Nazis broke into her home and grabbed her family. She survived on her own in the ghetto of Nazi-occupied Chrzanow, was sent to the Gross-Rosen slave labor camp, and ultimately escaped from the Auschwitz death march. In the novel, now seventy years later, she hires Catherine Lockhart and Liam Taggart to fulfill her promise to find two little girls lost during the war. Karolina’s Twins is in its final polishing stage and should be published in 2016.
A Selection of Photographs
The following photographs were taken by the author during his visits to the region. Captions are his own.
Palestinian Hebron
The Abraham Avinu Synagogue in H2 Hebron, where Liam and Kayla meet their Mossad contact.
The Hebron Memorial for Shalhevet Pass, the baby murdered by a sniper during the Intifada.
The Tomb of the Patriarchs, where the bride is murdered.
This is a scene which I found quite disturbing but emblematic of life in violent Hebron. It depicts a family outing to the Ma’arat HaMachpelah, the Tomb of the Patri
archs—the mother, father, and three young children out for the day visiting a holy shrine—and conspicuously strapped on the father’s back is his TAR-21 automatic assault weapon, carried much as you or I might take along an umbrella.
Jerusalem
The antiquities shopkeeper and me at his shop in the Via Dolorosa.
(Photo taken by my wife.)
Recommended Reading
For more information about the subject matter and related themes addressed in Saving Sophie, the author suggests the following books for further reading.
The Prime Ministers
Yehuda Avner
My Promised Land
Ari Shavit
A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Mark Tessler
Battleground
Samuel Katz
Myths and Facts: A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict
Mitchell G. Bard
History of the Jews
Paul Johnson
Hebron Jews: Memory and Conflict in the Land of Israel
Jerold S. Auerbach
Reading Group Questions
1. How did Jack confront the conflict between his legal and moral principles and his desperate need to rescue his daughter? Was Jack too quick to trust people? Was that his character flaw?
2. Having washed his hands of Alina, why was al-Zahani so possessive of Sophie, the child of the union he despised?
3. Do you fault Jack for overruling the judge and giving the al-Zahanis liberal visitation? Would you have done the same?
4. What do you think would have become of Sophie had she not been rescued?
5. How did Arif al-Zahani perceive and process Sophie’s exclusion from Jamila’s playgroup?
6. What do you think drove Liam and Catherine to suspect a lack of commitment? Do you think there was a moment of indecisiveness?
7. Given the history of the region and how many times the land has changed hands, what is your feeling about al-Zahani and his group’s claims for exclusive possession of the country as “Sons of Canaan”?
8. Do you think at the critical moment that al-Zahani was prepared to sacrifice Sophie?
9. How does the prospect of fame and wealth of a professional basketball career create a surreal world of impossible expectations for young athletes? Are you critical of Violet McCord?
10. What would you do with a child who shows gifted talents? Does the lure of success encourage parental exploitation?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
RONALD H. BALSON is a Chicago trial attorney, an educator, and a writer. His practice has taken him to several international venues. He is also the author of the international bestseller Once We Were Brothers. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Map #1: Modern-Day Israel
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Map #2: British Mandate of Palestine
Map #3: Palestine: U.N. Partition Plan (1947)
Map #4: Hebron
Acknowledgments
A Reading Group Gold Selection
About the Author
Also Available from Ronald H. Balson
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
SAVING SOPHIE. Copyright © 2015 by Ronald H. Balson. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by Michael Storrings
Cover photographs: alleyway © Eldad Carin / Shutterstock; man © Stuart Brill / Trevillion Images
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-06585-8 (trade paperback)
ISBN 978-1-250-08129-2 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-7286-8 (e-book)
e-ISBN 9781466872868
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First Edition: September 2015