Well, it’s a book about first-generation Americans, those of a certain place and time; today’s first generation families have different stories to tell. The small town way of life, which no longer exists as it once did. We still have small towns, but with television and the internet they’re not the islands that they once were; they’re much more connected to the culture as a whole. We have lost much of our regionalism, those qualities that gave one part of the country a different texture from all the others. And there’s no getting it back.
Those are the first thoughts that come to mind. I don’t think about any of this stuff when I’m actually writing. It occurs to me later, when I’m looking at a printed page and the words no longer seem like mine. A kind of separation occurs, and it’s as if I’m reading a book written by someone else. And the book appears to have a theme.
How did you choose your setting?
To some extent Bakerton is modeled on Barnesboro, the town I grew up in, but it’s not an exact replica. It’s really a composite of towns I know in that part of Pennsylvania. Each mining town is unique, though its distinguishing features may not be obvious to people who don’t know the place well. Every town has its own landscape, its own ethnic mix, its own relationship to the mine operators. I invented a town so that I could have control of those variables.
What kind of research did you do for this novel?
I do my best research by talking to people. These conversations yield more than simple facts; they give me a feel for how people talk, what they remember, which events in their lives hold the greatest significance for them. Beyond that, I spend a lot of time looking at old newspapers and magazines—not just the headlines, but the advertisements. I care what people were wearing, what kinds of cars they drove, what groceries cost, what was playing on the radio. Some of this information finds its way onto the page, but most of it doesn’t. It’s my way of creating a world in my imagination, of making it real and vivid for myself.
What was your writing process like? How did the experience of writing this novel compare to that of your debut? What is life like now, as a full-time writer?
On a first draft I write every morning, at my kitchen table, by hand. I do later drafts at a computer, but I can’t imagine composing on one. It’s too easy, the words too cheap. There is something about the act of forming letters with a pen that makes me conscious of each word, and I write better sentences.
When I was writing Baker Towers, I felt a real sense of obligation to the region and the people who live there. It’s a part of the world that doesn’t get written about very often, and it was tremendously important to me that I do it justice, that I get it right. Baker Towers took three years to write, with occasional interruptions; I’d been thinking about this book for many years, before I even wrote Mrs. Kimble, but I wasn’t ready to tackle it. I think I sensed that I didn’t yet have the skills to write it.
Writing full time is monotonous and lonely, but it works for me. When I’m deep into a novel, the characters are much more real to me than anybody in my own life, and that’s necessary for me as a writer. Years ago, when I was writing mostly short stories, I could get by writing in the evenings or on weekends; but when I’m working on a novel, I really benefit from being able to work in long stretches. I write at home, in a quiet room with the curtains drawn. It sounds boring, and it is; but I can’t write unless the world in my head is more vivid than my surroundings are. I’m amazed by writers who can compose on airplanes or in coffee shops. Writing is hard for me, and it only works in a place where nothing can distract me.
Which authors do you most admire?
William Styron. Nabokov. Isaac Bashevis Singer, particularly his short stories. I’m in awe of short story writers, like John Cheever, William Trevor, Mavis Gallant and Alice Munro, who somehow give stories the weight and depth of great novels.
What is your favorite part of the book? Do you have a favorite character?
Looking back at the finished manuscript, I am most attracted to the opening sections of each chapter, which give a sort of panoramic view of the town. And I feel a great tenderness for all these characters. It pains me when bad things happen to them.
E-book Extra
Reading Group Guide
Baker Towers
A Novel
by Jennifer Haigh
Introduction
One of the literary world’s most luminous rising stars, Jennifer Haigh earned coast-to-coast raves and the PEN/Hemingway Award for her debut, Mrs. Kimble. In her second novel, Haigh not only meets but surpasses the expectations established by her first book. Combining extraordinary storytelling with a haunting meditation on the passage of time, Baker Towers traces the lives of three generations in a community that tenderly echoes the American experience.
In the coalmines of western Pennsylvania, Stanley Novak endured backbreaking work alongside scores of men just like him, immigrants or the sons of immigrants providing for their families in close-knit Bakerton, a town named for its mine. Bakerton is home to all five of Stanley’s children, though he will not live to see them reach adulthood. His widow, Rose, will watch their oldest son, George, become a soldier in World War II. Their daughter Joyce will join the military as well, hoping the Air Force can give her opportunities that working-class Bakerton could not. Their daughter Dorothy will take a job in Washington, D.C., where her fragile beauty and romantic ideals make her dangerously vulnerable. Their two youngest children will struggle to fill the empty emotions of growing up without a father while seeking a world far beyond his. But at each turning point in love or fortune or work, the siblings can’t forget the beacon of home.
Evoking a long-lost time and place with powerful precision, Baker Towers follows the Novak family through a mesmerizing circle of destiny. You’ll not soon forget their story.
Discussion Questions
Do the opening paragraphs depict Bakerton as an oppressive community, a utopia, or a combination of the two? Viewing the town itself as a character, how would you describe its biography?
Discuss the social distinctions embodied in the Novak family. What roles did society prescribe for Rose and Stanley, based on gender and class? Did their children lead more fulfilling lives than they did?
Do you attribute the differences between the siblings to temperament or circumstance? How was each one affected by Stanley’s death?
How would you characterize the author’s narrative style? What is the effect of her choices regarding scenery, storyline, and other aspects of the novel’s architecture?
Before meeting Rose, Antonio Bernardi had never seen an Italian wife on Polish Hill. In what ways has the American immigrant experience, and the character of immigrant communities, changed over the past century?
George’s parents named him after George Washington rather than calling him Stanley Novak, Jr. They wanted to emphasize the American, not Polish, aspect of his identity. What freedoms and restrictions are illustrated by George’s marriage, and his wistful love of Ev? What enables his son to embrace Bakerton?
What keeps Dorothy in Washington, D.C., in a life defined by repetitiveness and sterility for so many years? How does her definition of morality shift throughout the novel? What does her perception of the world reveal about her perception of herself?
Joyce’s intellectual drive is accompanied by a strong dose of practicality. Do you view her as the family’s savior or as a wet blanket? Why do so many of her efforts go unappreciated?
Is Sandy the antithesis of George, or a reflection of him? Does either brother remind you of Stanley?
What does Lucy convey about the nature of hunger, and the nature of beauty? What is the significance of her eventual role as healer?
The tragic mine disaster shapes the novel’s conclusion, leading to the image of Amish settlers arriving in Saxon County. What dies along with Eugene Stusick and his co-workers? What allows something new to be reborn in this community?
Who are the novel’s most prosperous characters? How do
you define prosperity in your own life? What family legacies have shaped your dreams?
Mrs. Kimble also conveyed a theme of illusion versus reality. Compare the ways in which that theme plays out in both novels.
Also by Jennifer Haigh
Mrs. Kimble
Credits
Cover design and image by Honi Werner
Copyright
EPub Edition © DECEMBER 2004 ISBN: 9780061738661
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
BAKER TOWERS. Copyright © 2005 by Jennifer Haigh. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition © DECEMBER 2004 ISBN: 9780061738661
Version 01112013
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Haigh, Jennifer, 1968–
Baker towers / Jennifer Haigh.—1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-06-050941-4
FIRST EDITION
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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