Part two 'Marked up excerpts from Willow by Julia Hoban"

I hope your enjoying this look into "the behind the scenes" of Willow.  (to read part 1 go HERE) Here are a few more excerpts (in italics) followed by Julia's notes (in italics bold).

Here Julia explains why she felt particular phrase was important to the story.

Excerpt: "But maybe her earlier tears have no implications beyond their immediate and obvious meaning. She was affected by her mother's letter to the housekeeper, by the small reminder that once her welfare was paramount in someone else's world, and for whatever reason, she was able to process that feeling without the alchemy of cutting." (pg 304 hardcover)

Julia: My editor and I debated whether the word alchemy made sense here, but ultimately we both felt that it perfectly expresses what cutting has meant to Willow. It IS an alchemical process. Just as alchemy turns lead into gold, cutting turns emotional pain into pysical pain.

This is a very powerful scene - Willow watching her brother David cry, knowing that in some way she has caused this pain for him. She's watching from the stairs and David cannot see her. Below is an excerpt, followed by Julia's explanation on why she chose third person to tell Willow's story.

Excerpt: "It occurs to her that finally, there is someting that she can do for her brother................"
"She can sit and watch him, bear witness to his pain. She can force herself to sit through this, live htrough every sob with him, without resorting to the one thing that has protected her from feeling such pain herself" (pg 254 hardcover)

Julia: And here is another example of why I believe the novel had to be in 3rd person. Go back and put that section in the first person. It's quite a bit different isn't it? This scene is supposed to show how much Willow loves her brother, how she would do anythign for him. it is quite a selfless act, but put it in the first person, and it becomes horribly self centered and self congratulatory.

A sweet and pivotal moment between Guy and Willow that shows just how great he is.

Excerpt: "I want a book," Willow blurts out finally. She supposes that this answer makes as much sense as any other. "Bullfinch's Mythology. I want my father's copy.'
Guy nods slowly, as if this makes perfect sense. He doesn't say, as someone else might, that she can walk into almost any bookstore and buy a copy, he doesn't say that he knows that she already owns a copy, that he's seen her wit it any number of times, or that he can lend her his own. Instead her just turns and says: "Okay then, looks like I'm the one who's going to have to find a car to borrow." (pg 272 hardcover)

Julia: This gets to me - this total and complete acceptance. he's going to help her, no questions asked. And by the way, in case you were wondering, going home is the fateful decision.

Okay - One more and this is basically Julia's description of what the book is about and she says it much more eloquently than I ever could.

Julia: On the face of it Willow is a story about grief, and the ways in which people process grief. But it is really a story about the redemptive power of love. It is about the love of books, the love of family, and a very special love that develops betwen Willow and Guy, a love that allows our heroine to start her journey toawrds healing.

So that's it! I hope you enjoyed the "directors" cut of Willow. It is such a beautiful story and I'm so lucky to have been able to read what went into the writing of this book. I would also like to thank Julia Hoban who not only made the winning of this book an amazing experience but has also turned out to be a fantastic person and friend! Also, thank you to Lauren and Chelsea who run the auctions. You both do an amazing job!

If you enjoyed reading the mark up's please check out  Leave A Mark Auctions and bookmark it now so your ready when the auctions start up again in August! They offer books from a variety of genres and the winning bids have been as low as $20 so there's a chance for everyone win! You get to own a one of a kind item that will have special meaning to you.

For a chance to win Willow click HERE

     Buy the book: Willow

Marked up excerpts from Willow by Julia Hoban

The following are excerpts (in italics) from Willow followed by author Julia Hoban's notes (in bold), from my "marked up" copy that I won at the Leave A Mark Auctions. For more information click HERE

*Tristes Tropiques is the book that first brings Willow and Guy together and it is very important to the story. Here is the excerpt from the book followed by Julia's reason (in bold) for choosing it. (refers to pg 10 hardcover)

Excerpt: "Do you know this book? I mean, have you read Tristes Tropiques before?" he asks as he takes it from her hands.
"Yes, a couple of times, actually," Willow says after a few seconds. She closes her eyes for a moment and pictures her parents' study with its wall of books. Tristes Tropiques, third shelf, second from the left.

Julia:  "Tristes Tropiques is in fact one of the most important anthropoligical works of the 20th century. But that isn't why I chose it. I chose it because I feel that the title has so much resonance. Even if you didn't take French in high school and don't know that "Tristes" means sad, it still comes across. So much so that when it was translated into English the pubs decided not to translate the title. It's very evocotive, don't you think?"

*The reason Julia chose the names Willow, Guy, David, Cathy and Isabelle. (pg19 hardcover)

Julia: "What kind of of images or qualities would most people associate with a name like Willow? I think the most likely adjectives would be along these lines: delicate, graceful, supple, frail, vulnerable yet strong, lovely.....as for Guy, I wanted a name that gave the idea of an everyman, but an exceptional everyman.
David - I think it is a very soild name....I can see a David shouldering all the burdens that David has to deal with. As for Cathy and Isabelle, can you guess? they are my little homage to the two main characters in Wuthering Heights, one of my favorite books in high school!"

*This is from the first time Willow has a conversation with Guy - about Tristes Tropiques, followed by Julia's explanation about how this book is about a love of books. (pg 56 hardcover)

Excerpt: "Still, as she watches him leave, she can't help feeling a small pang. She thinks that he must be the only person she's met in the last seven months who didn't say something stupid or insensitive about the fact that her parents are dead.
And the only one she has talked about Tristes tropiques with too"

Julia:  I said that in some ways this book is about the love of books themselves. this is one of the manifestationsof that: that to some extent Willow has started to bond with Guy through talking about books. And more specifically, she has bonded with him over abook that was very special to her parents.

*Julia wanted Guy to have spent time abroad and chose Kuala Lumpur - here is the reason for choosing that local and the problems that came from that choice. (pg 132 hardcover)

Julia: My husband and I always joked about eloping to Kuala Lumpur, so KL it became. The joke was on me though, because I thought it would be fun to have Guy speak a few sentences in Maylay. Only after a little research I found out just what a strange and convoluted language it is! The literal translation of  "I love you" in Maylay is "I have tumbled into your liver" Yes! You ead that correctly! So I decided to forgo the sentences in Malay.

I hope you will come back tomorrow to read more marked up passages from Willow. It's been really difficult to pick just a few! Hopefully even if you haven't read Willow - you won't be too lost and are still able to get a feel for the story - or at least enjoy the technical aspects of the writing process. For those of you that are already fans, what did you think? Did the excerpts with Julia's comments add insight to the book for you?

Click HERE for a chance to win a copy of Willow!

REVIEW: Willow by Julia Hoban

Seven months ago, on a rainy March night, sixteen-year- old Willow’s parents drank too much wine and asked her to drive them home. They never made it—Willow lost control of the car and her parents died in the accident. Now she has left behind her old home, friends, and school, and blocks the pain by secretly cutting herself. But when Willow meets Guy, a boy as sensitive and complicated as she is, she begins an intense, life-changing relationship that turns her world upside down.

YA Fiction

REVIEW:
I have gone over this review in my head so many times. Willow is one of my all time favorite books and I want my review to express all the things I feel about it but that’s impossible. So here’s my attempt at doing this book justice.
After Willow’s parents (anthropology and archeology professors) die in a tragic car accident in which Willow was driving, she begins cutting herself as a way to deal with the pain. It’s a way to punish herself and for her to have control of the overwhelming emotions engulfing her. She’s now living with David (her brother) and his wife and baby. David won’t discuss their parents or the accident that left him as her guardian and she is too aware of the pressure her being there is putting on this young family.
School is no better. She knows everyone is watching her, the girl who killed her parents, and she avoids people at all costs to avoid the questions that will surely follow. Until one day when she meets Guy while working in the University library. He needs help finding Tristes Tropiques – her father’s favorite anthropology book. He makes her uncomfortable…. he makes her feel.

“Their gazes catch and for a moment she feels herself respond the way any normal girl would if she were standing next to a cute guy. She’s a little flustered, a little embarrassed, and a little attracted too. Willow steps away from him, as far as she possibly can. She can’t deal with anything like this right now”

Guy finds out about her secret and at first he is a reluctant hero. Not sure exactly what to do with this knowledge, but feeling responsible he reaches out to her. He really is the perfect “guy”. He tries to understand her pain but he also challenges her, protects her, accepts her and he simply loves her.
Through Guy’s love Willow is able to begin to heal herself and her relationship with her brother. It’s not an easy road but bit by bit she’s at least willing to take the chance.
Julia writes Willow’s story in third person (present tense) narrative and because of this choice we are able to feel Willow’s despair watching David struggle with his new responsibilities, feel her desperation to cut to escape the pain and also to feel the hope when Guy enters her life, helping her to take those first tentative steps to healing.
If you are shying away from reading Willow because of the subject matter – don’t. Almost everyone has experienced a sense of isolation or embarrassment in high school and developed coping mechanisms to deal with it. While this story is about a particular set of circumstances, the death of Willow’s parents - her cutting, it’s really about how we all deal with the pain in our lives. It could have just as easily been about overeating, anorexia, or bullying. It is ultimately a book about love and hope, not cutting. I found myself smiling many times and cheering Willow on.
It’s also about romance. As Willow and Guy bond over their shared love of books, she is able to open up to him and to others because of him. They have a tender, powerful and redemptive relationship. Here’s a quote from later in the book and you can see that it’s quite different than the one I chose earlier. Here Willow is speaking to Guy: "But I like to talk to you. Because I can ask you anything, tell you anything, and no matter what I say to you, I know it will be alright” So beautiful!
I recently read a quote by author Denise Jaden (Losing Faith) “Sometimes the power of love doesn’t just change us, it changes our perception and our entire world” and it is so true of this relationship.
Willow is not always an easy read, but I promise you it is uplifting and well worth the effort.

This is a stunning novel by Julia Hoban and I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

Rating: 5 out 4. I know that’s not possible but it’s my blog!

Buy the book: Willow

WILLOW EXTRAS!*My interview with Julia Hoban: HERE

*Excerpts from Willow with notes by Julia: Part 1 , Part 2