Sandra Freels
Author Interview - Sandra Freels
Author of Anneke Jans in the New World
In 1630, Anneke Jans leaves her home in Amsterdam to immigrate with her husband and their two small children to New Amsterdam (today's New York). When Anneke's husband dies, leaving her with five children to support, she next marries Everardus Bogardus, the flamboyant minister of the Dutch Reformed Church on Manhattan. With this marriage, Anneke joins the elites of the colony—but when the colony’s director provokes war with the region’s American Indians and her new husband emerges as the head of the anti-war opposition, she also finds herself in the midst of political turmoil. As difficulties mount, she must rely more than ever on her quick wits to protect herself and her growing family.
Based on real events, Anneke Jans in the New World tells the story of an ordinary woman who lived an extraordinary life.
Author Interview - Sandra Freels
Author I draw inspiration from:
For many years I taught Russian literature at Portland State University. I would never compare myself to the Russian greats, but after a lifetime of reading and discussing their works, I cannot help but think of them as I write. In a perfect world, I would combine the absurdity of Nikolai Gogol's Dead Souls with the sweeping scope of Lev Tolstoy's Anna Karenina and the incisive brevity of Anton Chekhov's Lady with a Lapdog— impossible, I know, but one can always dream.
Author Interview - Sandra Freels | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
I can and do read just about anywhere, but my very favorite place is sitting with my feet up on the couch, ideally with a cat or two on my lap. I often hear people bragging about how their dogs force them to go on long walks through ice and snow. My cats force me to sit by the fire and knit.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
I'm going to opt for Alexei Karamazov from Fyodor Dostoevsky's "Brothers Karamazov." Alyosha is a kind and caring person, and once he gets over the shock of being trapped in a mechanized box with a twenty-first century American, I imagine he'll be able to keep me from panicking. Then, depending on the length of our ordeal, I would love to ask him more about his wacky brothers, Ivan and Dmitry.
Author Interview - Sandra Freels | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
I have always wanted to write fiction but never believed that I could. Then, in 2020, during the lockdown, I came across the historical figure Anneke Jans and realized that I wanted to tell her story in a more compassionate and comprehensive way. I started typing and, to my own surprise, wrote an entire first chapter. That was my aha moment when I knew that I really wanted to bring this book to completion.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
I love them all. Books that I want to keep forever, especially ones that depend on illustrations, are best in hardback. Trade paperbacks that are durable and easy to read are great for everyday use, and ebooks are perfect for airplanes or doctors' offices. I don't normally listen to audiobooks because I'm too easily distracted, but there are times when they're indispensable. In the dread year 2020, I had emergency surgery for a detached retina. During the two-week recuperation period when I had to lie facedown on a massage table moving my eyes as little as possible, I listened to all of Elly Griffiths's Ruth Galloway series. In happier times, when I was studying Italian, I used to download both an ebook and an audiobook of something like Natalia Ginzburg's Lessico famigliare so I could listen and read at the same time. More recently I did the same thing with Emily Wilson's translation of The Iliad with gorgeous narration by Audra McDonald because I wanted to savor the cadence of the translation.
The last book I read:
I read two terrific books recently—The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey and The Art of a Lie by Laura Shepherd-Robinson. Chidgey kept me off balance until the very end, and even though there are no scenes of extreme violence, sometimes the tension was so great that I had to close the book and look away before continuing. Shepherd-Robinson also kept me guessing, but her work is much more lighthearted. I am envious of her command of period costume detail.
Author Interview - Sandra Freels | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
I enjoy the physical act of writing. I keep a journal, and I still send handwritten greeting cards just because I have fun writing them. For anything longer, of course, I turn to the computer. Handwritten texts move from left to right. You can cross a word out or insert a word with a caret, but basically everything you write stays on the page. With word processing, you can start in the middle of an idea and then embroider around it until it seems just right. And then go back the next day and embroider some more because nothing is ever perfect.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
I think I could be good friends with Dolly Oblonskaya from Lev Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. Many readers dismiss Dolly as dull and conventional, but she is smart and observant and loyal. She makes a choice to stay with her philandering husband, and she is the only one of Anna's friends who is true to her to the end. I think Dolly and I might have a lot to say to each other.
Author Interview - Sandra Freels | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
I had a long and happy career as a professor of Russian, never dreaming that I might also someday become a novelist. If now I could have a truly fanciful career for which I am not at all suited, I would be a professional musician, ideally a fiddler.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
I'm a huge fan of comfort and functionality in women's clothing, but I also adore hats, so i'm going the choose the 1930s—the golden age of millinery fashion.
Place I’d most like to travel:
I've always wanted to visit Prague. I've lived at times in West Germany and in the USSR, but I've never experienced Central Europe, which to me always seems so beautiful and welcoming.
My signature drink:
Willamette Valley Chardonnay.
Favorite artist:
My favorite performing artist is Bonnie Rideout. Her CD "Scottish Fire" was my introduction to fiddle music, and I treasure it to this day.
Number one on my bucket list:
Until recently, I would have said "to write a novel." Now, I'm working on a sequel to "Anneke Jans in the New World," a fictionalized biography of Anneke's daughter Sara, and my grand ambition in time is to complete a trilogy.
Anything else you'd like to add:
I hope your readers come to love Anneke as much as I do. I have posted discussion questions on my website and am always happy to meet with bookclubs—either in person or virtually.
Find more from the author:
About Sandra Freels:
Sandra Freels
Originally from Indiana, Sandra Freels majored in Russian at Indiana University and then completed a PhD in Slavic Languages and Literatures at Stanford University. The author of three textbooks, for many years she headed the Russian Program at Portland State University. An interest in genealogy led Sandra to the Council Records of New Netherland and the delicious stories of the people who once lived there. She claims descent from Anneke Jans and sixteen other major and minor characters in her debut novel, Anneke Jans in the New World. Sandra at present lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband Joel and their two cats.
