I was honored to have Katherine Vaz, the 29th Harman Fellow at Baruch College, as the guest reader for a very special reading of her soon to be published new novel, Below the Salt, on the evening of October 23rd. It was a peaceful evening of joy and reunion. Miss Vaz seemed to be enjoying herself as she conversed with her friends and perhaps new acquaintances before the reading. Clad in an elegant yellow dress, she gave off an aura of grace and friendliness.
Katherine Vaz – Credits to Baruch College
After a light snack, the room seemed to be filled with anticipation for Miss Vaz’s reading of Below the Salt, a book that she had been working on for the past eight years. Her previous works followed a similar theme of mother, love, sadness, and share Portuguese ancestry; and so it was no surprise that this book, Below the Salt, and the one we read, Our Lady of the Artichokes and Other Portuguese-American Stories, also shared those themes. Below the Salt is set during the Civil War period, a time of tumult and breaking bonds between families in the North and South. The breaking of bonds, shared sadness and music are but some of the magic ingredients that help shaped the tragic yet loving story of John Olives, the protagonist. Although the pace of the reading was slow, it gradually gained momentum. The story’s tension and beauty vacillates as Miss Vaz builds the context through her firm voice, increasing speed during tension and slowing down as climax approaches.
Miss Vaz’s use of metaphors of music and songs add a spectacular effect to her story. Particularly in the beginning, John and his mother are starving in prison as they are not given food. Having nothing but air for her son to eat, John’s mother offers her son a kind yet cruel reality, “We’ll eat some songs, John …, eat the chattering of little birds.” More to John’s cruel fate, he was ultimately separated from his mother after being both rescued by Americans from prison. And when John finally found a lover, Mary, Civil War broke out and he had to leave to war. The battle scenes were incredibly detailed and the realities of war, all too vivid. Due to starvation, he ate a man and a horse. He couldn’t escape reality by eating songs like he did with his mother. And when he returned after the war, Mary was already engaged to another man.
John’s tragedy seemed to be boundless and too real; yet at times, it feels like a fantasy. That is the magic of Miss Vaz’s novel. She is able to tie closely through vivid descriptions and soothing metaphors to create a sense of magical realism. Of course, as she explained after the reading in the questions and answers section, she did not come up with those metaphors and descriptions on a whim. She did a lot of research that focuses on what might apply to the characters and their personality/history, sitting in libraries and living in the towns that John was in. She, however, was hesitant to write this novel. She playfully explained, “I don’t want to do that much research.” But before she knew it, she was reading and writing a lot about her topic; after a year, she finally found the determination to write the novel. To future aspiring writers, she told us that her motto was, “No one knows where to start, simply put anything down.” To start, it’s about finding “the heart of the material and character.”
In the questions and answers session about Our Lady of the Artichokes, it was clear that stories greatly impacted Miss Vaz’s life and writing style; she grew up hearing stories about saints, religious rituals and death. Some of the stories included a particular practice of Latin Catholicism where people were allowed to be angry at status if something bad happened and should thank the statues by decorating them if it helped them. Hence, she integrated those stories into her book. It made perfect sense then that the book, Our Lady of the Artichokes, was composed of several stories about.
Cover of Katherine Vaz’s book, Our Lady of the Artichokes.
This was the first time I attended a public reading of a book. Frankly, I used to think all public readings were boring because it made me think of lectures. Katherine Vaz’s reading, however, spirit away that thought. The detail and meticulous effort dedicated to her works is admirable; her enthusiasm and pace of reading made the story of Below the Salt extremely enjoyable.
