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Lalita Tademy
BIO
LALITA TADEMY is a former vice-president of Sun Microsystems who left the corporate world to immerse herself in tracing her family's history and writing her first book, CANE RIVER.
If you would like to know more about LALITA TADEMY visit lalitatademy.com.
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INTERVIEW
 January 5, 2007
Lalita Tademy, author of the critically acclaimed CANE RIVER, once again blends American history with stories of her ancestors in her latest book, RED RIVER. In this interview with Bookreporter.com's Stephen Hubbard, Tademy explains why she chose to fictionalize events from her family history rather than portray them in a work of nonfiction, and describes the challenge of writing a new book after the unexpected success of her debut novel. She also discusses some of the early roadblocks of researching the little-known catastrophe on which RED RIVER is centered, and reveals why she is considering trying her hand at contemporary fiction in the future.
Bookreporter.com: You blend genres. Why do you choose to write a mixture of your family's history and fiction rather than pursue the more pure biography form?
Lalita Tademy: Paradoxically, fiction sometimes lends itself to the delivery of difficult and emotional truth more easily than recitation of fact. For the story of my ancestors, I was much more interested in who they were, what made them able to endure such hardship, their drives, desires and motivations than the exact date that an event occurred. That was the rich vein that I wanted to tap in the telling of their stories.
BRC: In doing your research for RED RIVER, especially during your so-called "roots trips," did you ever encounter any discrimination, or feel that you weren't getting the help you needed in tracking down information?
LT: In the early days of my research into my family, in the '60s, '70s and even '80s, there were several instances of obvious reluctance to help me find records from the past. I have not encountered any of this same behavior in the last decade. Now when I ask for a particular record or document, I am sometimes brought documents I didn't even ask for, just "in case these might be helpful." Times change.
BRC: In your Author's Note on the final pages of RED RIVER, you seem to stumble on the Colfax massacre and begin to research it. Why is it, do you think, that such a major event has been so relatively unheard of all these years?
LT: I believe that there is an extreme reluctance by both individuals and countries to face uncomfortable issues without obvious solutions, particularly when they happened long ago. History is written by the victors, and at the time of the Colfax Massacre --- with its bloodshed and violence --- there was fear, pain and shame that many wanted to forget. Fortunately, the fact that the Colfax Massacre occurred is not something that the locals in Louisiana are particularly proud of in this day and age, but neither is it something most want to dwell on.
BRC: Aside from the one brief statement from your Aunt Ellen, did you find any historical records that confirmed your family's connections and/or involvement in the Colfax massacre?
LT: Another reason for writing RED RIVER as fiction was the lack of irrefutable evidence of what happened inside that Colfax courthouse. But, there appears in RED RIVER an official document compiled by the government that lists the names of over 100 men who died in Colfax on that day in 1873, and among those names is my great-great-grandfather.
BRC: How prominent was family storytelling in your house? Did you grow up with stories of "the old days"? And if so, do you think you would have ever pursued your family roots without having heard them?
LT: In California, I grew up with normal doses of stories about the old days, but on our family trips back to Louisiana, the storytelling intensified. Without these stories, I am not convinced that my curiosity would have been sufficiently stimulated to fill in the gaps and find out more.
BRC: With RED RIVER, you really bring to life the men of your family, and it results in a markedly different feel from CANE RIVER. Was it your intention to do this?
LT: My intent with RED RIVER was to tell a story, from a point of view that had been suppressed for well over 100 years. The different feel of the story reflects the simple fact that the point of view was male. I didn't write in this way to make the prose or the feel different from CANE RIVER; I wrote in this way because the story demanded it.
BRC: Was there any one moment when you held your corporate job that you suddenly felt you absolutely needed to stop and pursue your family history? What prompted that desire and the subsequent decision to leave your career behind?
LT: I didn't leave my corporate job to research or to write my family history. Ultimately, this happened, but when I originally left, I had no idea that the end result would be two historical novels. I left the corporate world after almost two decades because I was no longer energized by the work and felt there was something else I was meant to do. I wanted to explore what that "something" could be.
BRC: CANE RIVER was such a remarkable success for you. Did the overwhelming acceptance of that novel make RED RIVER easier, or harder, for you to work on?
LT: Harder. I had a very strong sense of what I wanted the work that eventually became RED RIVER to be, but there were significant pulls toward turning out another CANE RIVER. I am happy to say that RED RIVER, after much effort, time and rewriting, became the novel I originally imagined.
BRC: In all of your hours of research, is there any one person from your history that you've stumbled on who has just amazed you and inspired you more than others?
LT: If anyone, it would be my father, who was real, and not a figment of my creation.
BRC: Who are some authors who have inspired you?
LT: An eclectic bunch. Toni Morrison, Alice Hoffman, Harper Lee, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Jane Austen.
BRC: What's next for you? Is there more of this family history that you feel needs to be told, or will you shift your attention elsewhere?
LT: I believe that my historical fiction days are over, at least for now. I would like to try my hand at a contemporary novel, with the freedom to be totally from my imagination. And in my mother's words, it may just be time to "stop putting our family business in the street."
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INTERVIEW
May 25, 2001
Lalita Tademy is the new patron saint of passionate and curious sorts. Always interested in her heritage, Tademy quit her job as a top executive at a Fortune 500 company, and threw herself into an "obsessive" two-year journey researching her family lineage. CANE RIVER, an epic debut novel spanning four generations of African-American women, is the product of that journey. Join Bookreporter.com's Jamie Engle as she talks with the Tademy about the shocking family truth she uncovered, the misconceptions she had of certain ancestors and more.
TBR: What sparked your interest in researching your family's history?
LT: Among the many stories I had heard about my roots in Louisiana, the stories about my great grandmother Emily especially fascinated me, but puzzled me more and more as I got older. There was such a contradiction between the "elegant lady" that my mother and her brothers described and the image I began to piece together of a snuff-dipping, homemade wine-drinking, fun-seeking dancing diva of a woman from the backwoods of Louisiana. I found myself wanting to know which one of these memories was true, what made her the way she was, and how she was raised. I began to have a growing need to try to figure out who Emily's mother was, and the dynamics of their relationship, and then I was hooked. The beginnings of a two year obsessive search started quite small.
TBR: CANE RIVER presents many complex issues and blends historical fact and family lore into a very readable epic. What was the one thing you knew you had to include in the novel?
LT: The love match between my great grandmother Emily and my great grandfather Joseph, a Frenchman who emigrated to Louisiana from the south of France after the Civil War. Several of the earlier relationships between my female slave ancestors and the fathers of their children were forced, but against great opposition, Emily and Joseph lived openly in Joseph's house and raised their children together. This was very unusual. They couldn't legally marry, but it was clear through letters and court testimony how much Joseph loved their children, including my grandfather, giving them both his last name and land.
TBR: What was the most surprising thing(s) you found in the course of your research?
LT: Certainly the most unexpected finding was the Bill of Sale recording the purchase of three generations of my ancestors in 1850 because the owner of the plantation in Louisiana on which they lived had passed away. They were not sold together, and the family was ripped apart. This was the breakaway document that allowed me to push the family tree back another 50+ years.
TBR: In the Author's Note, you mention a fascination with Emily for years, but that you had trouble reconciling her preoccupation with color and your mother's judgment of Emily being "an elegant lady, like Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy." After all the research and writing this novel, how do you see Emily now?
LT: My feelings for my great grandmother have changed. I always "saw" her through a twentieth century eye, and a very judgmental eye at that. Going back to inhabit her character in the writing of the book forced me to see her in the context of the time and place where she was born and raised, with all of the constraints and predisposition's that implies. Skin color bias was a reality in Louisiana, and many times greater opportunity was afforded to those who looked closer to white, in both the black and white community. My great grandmother had many wonderful qualities, including the ability to generate joy in her life and in the lives of others around her, and she is remembered fondly by not only my family, but even in new family stories people have related to me lately as I travel around the country.
TBR: You mention Emily's mother, Philomene, visiting you in dreams, urging you to tell their stories and to understand the different generations and the complexities of their lives. "It defies description in words, this bond I have with Philomene and her ability to reach across four generations to me with such impact." She was a strong presence during the writing of CANE RIVER. Now that the novel is complete, do you feel her presence as strongly?
LT: I feel Philomene in a very different way than during the writing of the book. She and I are more at peace, and her presence is less commanding. During the writing process, I really felt the weight of the possibility of letting her down, of not being able to tell the stories in a way she would approve. Now she is simply a part of me.
TBR: How do the previous generations influence your family now? Has CANE RIVER heightened that influence?
LT: In my travels around the country to promote the book, I've met more extended family members than you can imagine. Sometimes we have to go as far back as the 1700's to make the link, but it makes for interesting conversation. More currently, within my immediate family, we have discussions about traits and attitudes, talking, for example, much more freely about how stubborn we all seem to be, or comparing the differences in our own life strategies.
TBR: In 1995, you quit your job at a Fortune 500 high technology company to pursue your family research full time. At that time, did you know you were going to write a novel about your family?
LT: There was never even the vaguest hint that I would write CANE RIVER, or anything else for that matter. At the time, I felt there was something else I was supposed to do, but I didn't know what it was. I gave myself one year to figure out what pulled me out of a career I had prepared my whole life for, and initially started doing genealogy research because suddenly I had 60 to 80 extra hours a week to fill. Only when powerful stories started to tumble out of the research did I feel the need to capture them in a long-lasting way in a book.
TBR: Do you have plans for future novels?
LT: I am halfway through the first draft of my next novel now. As difficult as the writing process is, I am actually eager to be able to get back "to the cave" and finish writing that one.
TBR: What books do you have on your summer reading list for this year?
LT: These have been out awhile, but I've fallen behind in my reading, so bear with me: BLUE LIGHT by Walter Mosley; IN THE TIME OF BUTTERFLIES by Julia Alvarez; A GESTURE LIFE by Chang-rae Lee; DEATH OF VISHNU by Manil Suri; and ON HER OWN GROUND by A'Lelia Bundles.
TBR: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us!
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