We chat with author Gabrielle Sher about Odessa, which is set in a powerfully imagined Russia at the height of the pogroms and follows a grief-stricken family who turn to ancient magic to bring their daughter back from the grave.
Hi, Gabrielle! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I think the most telling thing about me is that I never had a crisis about what I want to do with my life. It was always this. I got my bachelor’s, my MFA, and my PhD in creative writing. I teach creative writing. I read, I write. What can I say, I know what I like.
I’m the oldest of four sisters, who are the most amazing and beautiful women in the world. I think that has largely defined me as a person. I loved growing up with sisters. It’s one of the best parts of my life. We grew up in a haunted house, which was pretty cool. It was a refurbished old chapel, and it had a pulpit and a tiny door built into the wall that we think might have been a confessional. There were incidents of ghostly footsteps, screaming, and crying, which never seemed to scare us. My sisters and I played in the woods surrounding the house and the freshwater stream that ran through them. That place imprinted on my brain.
I have always loved scary stories. I’m really into horror movies (Jordan Peele, Robert Eggers, Mike Flannagan are the best in my opinion, but I also love bad horror movies). I like all kinds of metal music (especially women in metal, like Banshee, Poppy, and Spiritbox). I collect perfume (current favorite: Nosferatu by Heretic), vintage nightgowns, and lipstick (current favorite: Bohemian Cherry by Lisa Eldridge). My dog is my favorite person. I love antiquing and thrifting because I love strange objects with history. I married a massive nerd which is the most fun ever– highly recommend. We lived in Edinburgh in our twenties, which is my favorite city in the world. My favorite hobby is maladaptive daydreaming.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I was telling stories in my head before I could read or write. I was lucky enough to grow up in a house surrounded by nature, and I remember waking up every morning so excited to go outside and escape into my imagination for hours and hours. It has been clear to me from the time I formed consciousness that storytelling is what my brain loves. It wasn’t long until I discovered the magic of books. I became obsessed. Writing didn’t feel like a decision, just an inevitability.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
- The one that made you want to become an author: Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Your debut novel, Odessa, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Gothic, Jewish folklore, feminine rage
What can readers expect?
I think that every one of my family members cried while reading it, so I do have to apologize for that! It’s dark, it’s strange, and (hopefully) it’s hopeful, too. It’s about what women do with their pain and anger.
Where did the inspiration for Odessa come from?
It started when I was little, when my grandmother told me stories about our ancestors escaping from the Russian Empire and fleeing to America. One story in particular took hold of me and never let go. My grandmother’s grandmother escaped on her own. I could never stop thinking about how brave she had to have been to make that journey. Her story was always going to come out of me one way or another.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
Some of my favorite scenes to write were ones where Yetta goes to the woods. I got to really explore the beauty of the gothic, and nature became this grotesque feminine counterpart to the rest of the man-made setting of the shtetl and the city. I found myself wanting to go back there. The woods, scary as they were, felt peaceful and familiar to me.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
Absolutely. The biggest challenge for me was researching and writing about the pogroms. I had to take a lot of breaks. It was truly horrifying and pretty traumatic to read and write about such violence that my people and my family endured. The last thing I wanted to do was linger on those moments in the story, but at the same time I felt that looking away wasn’t the right thing to do either. By making the story about Yetta, about what she feels in the aftermath, I was able to focus on what mattered: her survival, her soul, her emotions. What really made me feel better, in the end, was writing about the relationships between women in the novel, and exploring the ways we love and support each other.
This is your debut novel! What was the road to becoming a published author like for you?
It’s definitely strange to finally be publishing after working toward this for basically my whole life. It’s kind of surreal to have the lifelong dream be happening around me. It’s also strange for me to have been writing privately for decades and to suddenly have my work become public. I don’t think I could have expected how that would feel. This story is so personal in so many ways, it feels like I’m putting my organs on display (in a good way).
What’s next for you?
I will always be writing. At first I resisted being put into a box, or having people expect something specific from me. Do I stick to my genre or try something totally different? I think I have to learn how to tune out the noise, retreat to my cave and write what I love and what makes me curious.
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up this year?
I never really expect what I’m going to read. I go through hardcore phases (recently it’s been sci-fi and fantasy) but I always come back to gothic as my true love. Right now, I’m in the mood to reread some favorites. Frankenstein, Beloved, Jane Eyre… it’s been too long. I’m also always keeping an eye out on new horror. Monika Kim, Nat Cassidy, and Laird Hunt have some new stuff coming out that I’m super excited for. One of my favorite things is reading horror in the summer, so I’m looking forward to that. It feels kind of wrong, so obviously I think it’s great.
