Q&A with Shirley Russak Wachtel

From my Q&A with Shirley Russak Wachtel, author of A Castle in Brooklyn: A Novel:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

I am so pleased with the title of my book, but it was not easy to settle on it. I originally called the book Jacob’s Castle since it is about Jacob, the central character, and his dream of building a home which he envisioned as a “castle.” However, upon collaborating with my agent and editor, we came up with a better title which quickly immerses the reader in the novel. Have you ever walked down a street in Brooklyn and noticed a castle? Hardly! The title, A Castle in Brooklyn, is ironic and piques the reader’s curiosity, yet it succinctly suggests the novel’s theme. After enduring a traumatic childhood during the Holocaust, Jacob dreams of building a home of his own in America, a land full of possibilities. For him, the home would be a castle. The reader will be curious as to how he...[read on]

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Q&A with Shirley Russak Wachtel.

--Marshal Zeringue