Today we talk about En Passant, a book by Ileana Stoica, published with our Publishing house Europe Books.
Europe Books had the pleasure of interviewing the author, Ileana Stoica, to get to know her better, what prompted her to the writing of her book En Passant, as well as how she chose the title of her book.
Below you can find our interview. Take a seat and enjoy your reading!!!
- What prompted you to write this book?
The starting point for “En Passant” was my own lived experience, layered with stories shared by friends, family – people I know well. The backdrop is the Financial Crisis of 2008, but the substance of the book are the personal crises triggered by it. Aside from collecting human stories, I did my research – I am a scientist by training, so I feel a visceral need to fact-check my stories. The broader context of the book is the observation that global crises present great opportunities. “Never let a good crisis go to waste,” has been famously said. These are not opportunities to fix the corporate system that led to the crisis, but rather to cover it up and carry on by changing the players and resetting the rules of the game. Regular people – and this is a story dedicated to the “unlikely heroes who live to fight another day” – are often casualties in these games, unless they understand what is being played and how, and fight the arduous, uphill battle to turn the tables around. It is not by chance that the main protagonist is named David: he has many Goliaths to face.
- How did you choose the title of your book?
“En Passant” is a chess move: it allows the pawn to move obliquely and make a capture in the process. Played over the board, “en passant” can be quite a surprise. Chess is a key theme in my book. There is a lightbulb moment towards the end when David, a passionate chess player himself, realizes that being a pawn on life’s chessboard is not that bad of a predicament, and can in fact offer some advantage. I won’t give away the rest of the story! So, there is the chess metaphor, but there is also the literal sense, “in passing”. David is a passer-by, not quite a spectator but not always a main actor. He comes and goes, moving between two cities, cultures, and worlds. Both Montréal and London are cities close to my heart, where I have lived important parts of my life. This position as in-betweener is one that I explore in depth in my memoir, “Where the heart Isn’t”. And finally, David is a Québécois and French is his native language; so, the title had to have a French sound to it!
- What are the main themes and messages of your book?
David’s story is one about finding new ways of being in the world after everything falls apart. It is a multi-layered story that examines power, abuse and trauma in everyday dynamics, in and outside the workplace. Describing abuse from a man’s perspective – transposing things in this way – was a great test for me as an author. Not much is said about young men and trauma these days, but we should open up the conversation. It is important not to normalise or trivialise these experiences, and certainly not to dismiss them as “office drama”. This is not a book about office drama; it is an analysis of abuse in its many forms: psychological, sexual, organisational. And finally, financial. The book tells a nuanced story. No character is all good or all bad. So, another message is that there is no black-and-white in life. In fact, I would say with pride that the only thing that’s black and white in my book … is the chessboard! Nevertheless, while characters are not inherently good or bad, they can and do act in harmful or helpful ways – and I make it a point to surprise and challenge the reader on this front. I do not offer easy solutions, nor do I launch into convoluted psychological explanations. However, there is the suggestion that some of these people have lost their faith when faced with such an enormous survival test as a global financial crisis. The timeless theme of faith – losing it, regaining it, conceptualising it – is one I really care about, and one I felt compelled to weave into David’s modern-day story.
- Was it difficult to transition from a memoir (“Where the Heart Isn’t” – your first book with Europe Books) to writing fiction?
In a memoir, the main lens is our very own. This comes easily to most of us, especially if we have spent years in introspection, getting to know ourselves. With fiction, I had to forgo my own lens and inhabit the minds of other people. It was not easy, this task I set myself, but I hope I did a good job breathing life and emotions into my characters. I particularly enjoyed working on the male characters, and it helped that all my life I have been surrounded by men. I have loved and admired some of them … but certainly not all! Each time, however, I sought to understand them – even those that ended up as “villains” in my book; particularly them. That’s not to say the female characters in “En Passant” are one-dimensional …As an author, I have zero judgement towards my characters, which I think is a good thing: the reader is free to form their own opinion. I also found, as I was writing this fiction book, that I am not a prescriptive author. Once I sketched the characters – using and melding bits and pieces of real-life people and of myself, as authors do – I let them inhabit their personalities and play their roles organically, with less and less interference from me as the story developed. I did not force myself to build intrigue or plot twists – I picked the story lines that unfolded naturally – but I sure was glad to be able to create an emotionally charged ending, one that will hopefully reward the attentive reader.
- Are you working on a new writing project you can tell us about?
As for my next book, my next project, I am not actively seeking one at the moment. The story will have to find me – but when it does, it will be centred around women and the female psyche. Freud assured us this is the hardest task of all – so maybe I can make a contribution?
Europe Books thanks the author, Ileana Stoica, once again for taking the time and answering our questions. We are really pleased to have walked alongside her on the editorial path that led to the publication of her book En Passant. We wish her the best of luck for her future works.
To you, my readers, I hope that the themes covered in this book will be for you food for thought to be treated with delicacy and with the correct attention they require.
So, my dear readers, all I have to say is to enjoy your reading!
Your Editor!