Jenna Blum Reading
Jenna Blum reads from her first novel entitled Those Who Save Us. Blum discusses the historical background of her book, which takes place in Nazi Germany during World War II. She claims that she “wanted to explore the fact that people are very rarely villains and are very rarely heroes; their behavior is composed of grey shades and they fall somewhere in between.” Blum goes on to discuss how her unique ancestry contributed to her novel, as well: she has both Jewish and German ancestors.
During a question and answer session, Blum describes the trips she took to Germany with her mother, aiming to explore the “schizophrenic nature” of the country. She also points out that her time in Germany helped her pick up on how Germans communicate and relate to each other. Blum goes on to describe her work with Steven Spielberg’s Shoah Foundation, where she performed oral history interviews with Holocaust survivors. She explains that often times the interview marked the first time these individuals had shared their story--many had found that when they had first arrived in America people were not receptive to their stories about the war.
In: "Live from Prairie Lights" Audio Archive | Fiction
Authors: Jenna Blum
Date Recorded: May 05, 2004
Works Read: Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum
Program: Live From Prairie Lights
Format: reading
Contributors: Introduction by host Julie Englander.
Topics: Shoah Foundation, WWII, Nazi Germany, historical research