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Dear Ms. Crowley,
My name is Esther Fell, and I am the proprietor of A-Z Books in Soho. We at the store loved your latest novel, Call It Good. It is my understanding that you are not doing a traditional book tour, but we would be honored to host you for an author’s talk and book signing. London is not so far from Cambridge, after all.
If you are interested, please respond with some dates and times that would work for you, and we will set a date. Either way, thank you for writing this brilliant book.
Sincerely,
Esther Fell
A-Z Books
Dear Ms. Fell,
Despite my distaste for author events, my publisher insists that I answer you— something about A-Z being a “London institution." So: no. Consider yourself answered, and I can get Lucy off my back.
By the by, I recommend changing up your form letter for inviting authors to something that at least makes them suspect you may have read the book, instead of empty platitudes that could have been said about anything. Just a thought. Free writing advice, even.
Crowley
Dear Ms. Crowley,
Thank you for your response. I am, of course, disappointed that you will not be joining us, but I am horrified to have given you such a faulty impression of my reading!
On a reread, I can see how my email came off as generic. That was the edited-down version, as I did not want to come off too strongly with overwhelming effusive praise for a book I feel I have been waiting for my entire life, but I do see how I went too far in the other direction.
First of all, Call It Good is a literary masterpiece. To take a subject as well-mined as the Garden of Eden and find new nuggets of meaning, to take one of the oldest stories we have and make it fresh, to take such a familiar story and continually surprise me with the twists and turns— It was phenomenal. I was hooked by the end of the first page, and there were several spots where I had to put the book down to reflect on a particularly poetic or moving sentence. And having the whole thing narrated by a semi-reliable Lilith— just brilliant.
Naturally, living in a culture so heavily Christian, one rather expects Christian interpretations of texts to be prevalent, but it was so deeply refreshing to read a take on the Garden of Eden without the slightest hint of the doctrine of original sin, one so deeply rooted in Jewish theology, midrash, and understandings of the story. I know some of your reviewers were alternately upset or pleased at your “inventiveness” with the demonology, but I was delighted to recognize many of them from the Talmudic source texts. (Which is not to say you were not inventive! Just that I am so very tired of Christian versions of demons when they could be excited about giant frogs who live in cabinets and teach you the entire Torah if you take care of them properly).
All of that said, the real reason I wrote such an admittedly bland opening email is that I was afraid of revealing rather too much of myself than is appropriate in a professional setting. As a lifelong lover of books, I am a staunch believer in the principle that books ought to be both mirrors and windows, providing insight into one’s self and others. I had long resigned myself to partial mirrors in literature, only reflecting this or that piece of me, until I read Call It Good. To read a book, quite literally an origin story, both so deeply Jewish and deeply queer, spoke to a hunger in my soul I had never expected to be satisfied. Lilith’s resentment of Chava slowly transforming into affection, and then into love, is not the love story I would have expected, but it was one that I needed.
Sincerely,
Esther
Dear Ms. Fell,
Well. That certainly was no form letter. Thank you for your kind words. Unlike my earlier books, written for a broad audience, I wrote Call It Good for myself, above all, as the story I wish I’d had when I was young. I am gratified to know that it meant something to you, as well.
I’ve attached a list of dates that would be possible for a book talk at your store. Don’t think you’ve convinced me to change my mind or anything— Lucy (my publisher) was very insistent.
Regards,
C