Interview with Ruta Sepetys
When given the opportunity to chat, virtually, to Ruta Sepetys, we jumped with a resounding yes. Her titles are highly recommended and brilliantly written. Readers of her work may not realise just what lengths Ruta goes to for authenticity, historical accuracy and understanding of the emotions involved with the events in her books.
With her new title, I Must Betray You, coming this month, we wanted to ask some questions about her writing process, style and research. We had to remember to take notes at one point as we were just lost in the conversation and sad to see the hour had passed by in the blink of an eye.
In researching ideas for questions, we all jumped in with some ideas and it was a 3 page list but again, as it was so conversational some questions were answered simultaneously. What many of us really were keen to delve into was the timing and amount of research conducted before the book and its story could take shape. Impressively, Ruta does not shy away from the copious amount of reading, interviewing and building of the framework. She spends one full year reading as “history gives the framework”. She knows it is important to have good working knowledge so she can ask the right questions when the time comes. With I Must Betray You (2022), Ruta conducted close to 100 interviews. These can take up to 3 years and require the utmost respect and sensitivity. She builds in time to capture the emotions and has a coded form of shorthand.
After these interviews, the writing can finally be the main focus and this too, can be time consuming. The Fountains of Silence took 7 years to write. It was so inspirational to hear of the dedication to her books and the people represented within the pages. Ruta spoke of challenges of bias when interviewing as well as the potential of being judgemental or controversial when interviewing opposing sides to the story.
Ruta writes with a mix of thrills, romance and mystery woven throughout the narrative and she always plans to have these. Her topics are full of hardships and tragedies so she is keenly aware of writing a balance of hope and heart in. Her stories are full of all. Ruta spoke of “a heart hop” moment, one emotional or powerful moment that would absolutely be included in the book. Many of these came from interviews and real people speaking about their own experiences and lives, however, they are composites of elements from different interviews. Awareness of the sensitivity of readers and interviewees, Ruta would combine elements to create a character. This also protects the anonymity of those she interviewed.
Of course, being readers, we couldn’t help but ask about her own reading experiences as a child. She admitted to loving books as a child and understanding that books were an escape and magical. The first book she finished alone was James and the Giant Peach.
Something that really stuck with us as we were chatting was her quote, “knowledge of the past = context of the present”. To read and understand the issues, events and emotions in her books is to understand the courage, heart and hope of those involved. In I Must Betray You, these people took to the streets unarmed. That heart, that courage, was the birth of democracy.
Ruta knows the power of a reader and hopes that they will find a connection and an understanding of history from her books. She has written 5 critically acclaimed books and is a winner of the Carnegie medal.
It was an honour to speak with her and we wish we could have had longer but look forward to welcoming her back to the blog very soon.
I must betray you is published by Hachette and is available from the 4th of August.
