Inheriting memories
"What I was really investigating through the process of writing this, was what it meant to be an outsider carrying a lot of historical, cultural constraints. I was thinking a lot about what it meant that in many ways I inherited this family's story－what it meant that I wanted to write it and that I wanted to fictionalize it."
This thought process led her to frame the novel as a translation by an American named Lao K, who was also an actor in the story, translating something she was responsible for.
"I wanted it to be clear that translation can be very fraught. There's a personal piece to that－every translation is going to be owned by the translator. It's all about your own perspective and how you interpret those words."
At the same time, the translated work at the center of Empire of Glass－a story first told by the mother and later by the father－reflects Solimine's thoughtful fascination with the many layers of memories she encountered in the process of exploring the family's history.
"I had such a short period of time talking to Liming, inheriting Liming's stories directly from her. Then I had this added layer of inheriting them from her husband, and my own memory of her and what I wanted to believe that she was. When we rewrite other people's histories, what does that mean in terms of how they are told?"
Solimine is grateful for the recognition Empire of Glass has received, including being short listed for the 2017 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, an annual award presented by The Center for Fiction, a nonprofit organization in New York City, for the best debut novel.
As she brings her novel to audiences in China, including over March 24-25 at the Bookworm Literary Festival in Beijing, Solimine also looks forward to seeing her former host family－and passing on her special connection to China.
"Personally, this is my first visit to China with my daughter. I'm really, really excited about that. It's such a meaningful experience for us."
Contact the writer at jocelyn@chinadaily.com.cn
