My novel Chasing Sylvia Beach shares the story of a young woman captivated by another era and what happens when she unexpectedly gets the chance to visit Paris, 1937, a place she’d only dreamed of. (Yes, very much like Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris!)
But even romantic dreamers need facts to breathe life into a story. I had to do solid research to take my readers all the way to Paris approaching the end of its heyday. I needed more details about bookseller Sylvia Beach’s world.
Many writers love research, but I’m no scholar. I didn’t know where to start searching. While I am able to delve in once I find a source, unearthing new material isn’t my forte.
Worse, in 1999 when I first began writing this book, research was a whole mostly analog. To contextualize this long-ago era, I didn’t yet have a personal computer or an email account. There was no Google and no abundant jungle of information to tap at a click.
Saving me with its vast abundance of information, the Internet blossomed as a treasure trove for researchers. Over the twelve years it took to write Chasing Sylvia Beach, I developed a multi-pronged approach in order to depict a historical period accurately.
If you’re writing a historical novel, you may consider some of the seven methods I used to show Paris, 1937, in all her fading glory.
In-person research
I took many trips to Paris, visiting Odéania, the name Sylvia and Adrienne gave their Left Bank neighborhood. I walked the streets, ducked down alleys and sniffed around second-hand bookshops. I’d squint to edit out the contemporary noise and hubbub, inspired by Leonard Pitt’s Walks in Lost Paris, which showed before and after pictures of the city.
Films
Paris is proud of its past and French nostalgia made it easy to find Paris-related media. Forum des Images, located in the center of Paris, is an archive of the films featuring the city of Paris.
On several visits, I viewed archived footage from this era and saw clips like this. Seeing animated images helped me to relate more immediately to the people in this era.
Stock photos
The city of Paris also hosts an extensive archive of Paris photos that I accessed online. From thousands of images, I generated my own gallery depciting people at the time (1937) and in the places (the Sorbonne, the Luxembourg Garden, the Latin Quarter and St Germain).
Staring at these images and writing immediately after inspecting them helped me hone my observation and description skills. Paris en Images has a huge database of photos of the city of Paris.
Conversations with masters
It never hurts to look at good examples of historical fiction for inspiration. You may be able to strike up conversations with the authors, as I did.
I had the good fortune to correspond with spy novelist Alan Furst about how he accessed Paris in the past. Interviews and conversations with Noel Riley Fitch, John Baxter and a Parisisan named Alexandre who survived the Nazi Occupation of Paris all helped me delve deeper into this city’s past.
Paris booksellers were often willing to talk about the era and pointed me toward other books or resources that helped my quest.
Archived material
If the subject of your historical novel was a real person, there may be museums or archives devoted to that person. Because of a generous grant from the Alliance française of Denver, I was able to spend a week in Sylvia Beach’s archives.
I used every penny of the $1,000 to travel to Princeton, New Jersey, where Sylvia’s archives are held in the Special Collections of Princeton University Library. I managed to slip this experience into my novel, so you can read about it in detail there.
Touching Sylvia’s things and visiting her grave was a profound experience that deeply impacted the story and added a layer of emotion I couldn’t have accessed otherwise.
Books
Of course it was a book that got me into Sylvia Beach in the first place. Here’s the bibliography that helped me write my novel.
Cultural immersion
My friend, journalist Lys Anzia invited me to consider the gestalt of the era. She urged me to listen to music of the era, read up on the political climate, investigate social and cultural mores of the period. I also found myself inspecting fashion, transportation and writing tools (fountain pens and typewriters) to ensure accuracy.
Trying to access another era calls for persistence and thoroughness. You’re attempting the impossible and know that you’ll never fully get there.
But you do the best you can, fueled by your intense desire to see, feel and know what it was like to inhabit another era.
I gave Lily Heller, my character, this chance to visit Paris, 1937. And she thanks me for it, as well as for what it leads her to.
What helps you do historical research? Was research easy for you or a challenge?
Ooh, my favorite topic ever! Research is a bit…too fun, as in it is the perfect procrastination tour for this almost-historian. I found the Internet extraordinarily helpful in my endeavors, especially the ability to look at library collections and finding aids without leaving my desk. It made the hours at the actual library and perusing books available on ILL much less strenuous.
You’re right, Erin, the Internet is beyond helpful for research like this. For me it was cool to see more and more become available over the last ten years.
I personally wouldn’t call research fun but I’m glad you do!
Thanks for commenting!
Thank you so much for sharing this Sylvia. Fascinating stuff…
I LOVE the research stage and can gather, gather, gather ad infinitum. Getting down to the writing is the hard bit…
Jenny x
Jenny,
It’s funny how many people love it! I don’t, but I learned how to get better at it.
And integrating it into the writing is definitely a challenge! I assume you saw this post about how the inner critic can take over:
https://www.originalimpulse.com/blog/inner-critic-hijack-book-research/
Thanks for commenting and enjoy your research – and writing!
Hi Cynthia, I just had a flash: I saw a whole book in this post that I would love to read: seven chapters about a writers journey to her book. Every method you describe must be packed with stories and people. You spend so much time not only getting material but experiencing a lot of stories as well.
I can´t wait to get my hands on your upcoming book.
Take care, 🙂
Martina (from Germany)
Thanks, Martina! I love those flashes!
I’m writing a series here called Claim Your Authority. It’s my coaching approach to writing a book. Alongside, I’m writing these posts about the novel and its process.
I was wondering how they might be integrated – this story of me writing my novel is my process for claiming my authority.
It’s all pieces and possibility now, but I appreciate your interest in the specific stories. It’s my hope to share more of them on this blog!
Did you subscribe to my salon at http://www.chasingsylviabeach.com ? That way you’ll get news sooner about how to get your hands on the novel!
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