I am so proud of my new knowledge about Canada, thanks to this month's book, "The Imposter Bride". Canadian author, Nancy Richler, introduced a part of Canada and Canadian history to me that I did not even know existed. You can read my review of this book in last week's Good Shopper Blog. I also have a book winner to announce at the end of this post!

Nancy Richler was born in Montreal, moved around for school, headed to Colorado and then,  in the mid-1980s, back to Canada. She says that she did not begin writing fiction until moving to Vancouver in 1988. She is now back in Montreal, and though "The Imposter Bride" actually takes place in Montreal, she was still living in Vancouver when she wrote it. She mentions on her website that writing "The Imposter Bride" helped to distill her memories and impressions of the Montreal of her childhood. I am so happy to have had a chance to interview Nancy and share it with you!

Good Shopper Blog: I admit, when I think of Montreal, I do not think about the large Jewish community that gathered there, post-Second World War. Do you find that you often surprise people with this history?
Nancy Richler: I'm glad to hear you learned something new about Montreal and its Jewish community from reading my book. That's one of the great pleasures of fiction for me. It can open a window onto a world I didn't know about before. Until the late seventies, Montreal was the pre-eminent Jewish community in Canada. It was already a large and lively community before the Second World war, and then the large influx of Holocaust survivors in the late forties and early fifties added another layer of cultural richness as well as a psychological complexity that I tried to capture in this book.

GSB: The layers and layers of this book - between Ruth's journey through growing up without a mother, to Lily's travels and Ida Pearl's story ... how did you weave it all together? It read beautifully.
NR: It took many years for all the layers to weave together. I started writing this book in 2004, but there were so many strands and levels to it that I had to be patient and allow it all to percolate. Finally, after about 6 years and many, many revisions, I was able to integrate the various layers and themes into a cohesive story.

GSB: I've read that The Imposter Bride includes settings from your own childhood growing up in Montreal. In fact, your own paternal grandmother immigrated to Canada for the purpose of marriage and, like Lily, was rejected on arrival. Are any of the actual characters in The Imposter Bride based on your family members or people that they had described?
NR: My characters all have aspects of people I've known but there's no one character that represents anyone real. (Although, family members and friends are all calling me now to tell me that they're sure I modeled a particular character on them!).

GSB: I found so many themes running through the pages, from loss and abandonment, to racism, poverty and Jewish history, to name just a few! When first planning the book, what was the main theme you wanted to share with the reader?
NR: I always start my writing with a character and situation that interest me. The themes then arise from the lives and situations I'm depicting rather than the other way around. In this case, the themes that you mentioned arose from the particular events that my characters experienced, from the historical and cultural settings in which they were living their lives.

GSB: What advice can you give hopeful Canadian authors, especially those that may have some very interesting family history to tell?
NR: My advice is to sit down and start writing, even if you only have an hour a day to devote to that writing. There's always a hunger for interesting stories, so if you can put in the time and work to tell your stories well, you'll eventually find a readership for your work.

I thank Nancy so much again for the opportunity to interview her. It was such a great experience!

Time to get ready for our next book from HarperCollins Canada,  "Forgotten", by Canadian author, Catherine McKenzie.

"Emma Tupper is a dedicated lawyer with a bright future. But when she takes a month-long leave of absence to go on an African vacation, she ends up facing unexpected consequences".

What a fantastic premise! For now, congratulations to "The Imposter Bride" winner, Kim Barrett! You will be receiving a copy of the novel "The Imposter Bride". Let us know what you think! I would love to discuss it with you!

To win a copy of our next book, "Forgotten", please answer the question at the end of our review, which will be published on Monday, May 21, 2012. The winner will be announced the following week. Good luck and thanks so much to everyone for participating! Don't forget to Like us at the Buy Canadian First Book Club on Facebook ! 

:: Books and images courtesy of HarperCollins Canada.