Family Stories: Fact or Fiction

For those following this blog, you may remember an earlier post that spoke about writing our family stories. As I said then, our families have untold situations, secrets, fascinating characters and events that others would truly be interested in.

This was made clear to me as I finished a new book "The Operator" (by Gretchen Berg). 

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel (clearly labeled as such on the cover). The author's development reinforced my like/dislike of certain characters. The story takes place in the early 1950s and my knowledge of that time is that we were still somewhat limited as a society by what was seen and heard on tv and radio and what newspapers published. The story unfolds in a way that makes sense when we consider the time it is placed in. As I got to know each of the characters in greater detail, their actions also made sense, however misguided I thought they might be.

My subconscious, as I read, understood this was an imaginary story told in an entertaining way.

I always complete a book with the Author's Notes and Acknowledgements. Doing so helps me understand much about both the author and their story.

Spoiler Alert:

I was surprised to learn on reading her notes that the story is 'loosely' based on her grandmother's story. Berg doesn't elaborate on what parts of this tale of characters in a small community are true. Even so, I could picture her finding the (real) newspaper article and spinning it into this unique tale.

Well done, Gretchen Berg. Your first book and a home run!