Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: The Lost History of Stars
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.daveboling.com/
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RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Married.
EDUCATION:Attended college.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Journalist and writer. Tacoma News Tribune, WA, sportswriter.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Dave Boling is a writer and journalist based in Washington State. He has worked as a sport reporter for the Tacoma News Tribune. Boling has written or cowritten sports-related books, including Tales from the Texas Tech Red Raiders Sideline: A Collection of the Greatest Red Raider Stories Ever Told and Tales from the Gonzaga Bulldogs Locker Room: A Collection of the Greatest Bulldog Stories Ever Told. He has also released novels.
Guernica
In 2008, Boling released his first work of fiction, Guernica: A Novel. The volume is set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War, during which troops destroyed the Basque town of Guernica. Pablo Picasso famously created a depiction of the destruction in his painting of the same name. In an interview with a writer on the Book Club Forum website, Boling explained why he was drawn to writing about this historical event. He stated: “I married a Basque/American girl. … That provided a very thorough lesson in the fascinating Basque culture and history. After the terrorist attacks in 2001, I was surprised that nobody really traced the history of such atrocities back to the 1937 bombing of Guernica. To me, it seemed to be a sad oversight.” Boling continued: “In the spring of 2005, I decided I’d like to try my hand at fiction. As I considered topics, I liked the idea of using the bombing as the historical context for a novel of relationships. … I thought if I could embed some inspiring characters into that challenging environment, there might [be] a few things we all could learn from it. And that, hopefully, would raise the level of awareness of one of the great tragedies of the twentieth century.”
In the book, main characters include three brothers: Josepe, Justo, and Xabier Ansotegui. During the late 1800s, their parents leave them to fend for themselves on their farm. Xabier joins the priesthood, while Josepe begins working as a fisherman. Justo takes a wife and has a daughter with her. Justo’s daughter, Miriam, is known for her beauty and her skills as a dancer. She marries a friend of her uncle Josepe’s named Miguel Navarro. When Miguel has a conflict with local authorities, he decides that he and Miriam should move to Guernica. There, they endure the political turmoil and oppression by the government. They also come into contact with historical figures, including Picasso. Ultimately, their adopted hometown is brutally attacked.
“Enhanced by Boling’s knowledge of Basque culture, this is a convincing fictionalization of an infamous act of war,” asserted Gilbert Taylor in Booklist. A writer in Kirkus Reviews commented: “Except for a few too many popular-fiction clichés … this is a very good novel indeed—and a crucial reminder that genocidal folly is never as far away from us as we might wish.” A Publishers Weekly reviewer remarked: “Boling is skillful with characters and dialogue, possessing a great sense of timing and humor.” John Marshall, critic on the Seattle PI website, described the book as a “powerful debut novel.” Marshall also stated: “Boling’s Guernica … is an engrossing, dramatic family saga filled with engaging characters and resonant details of rural Spanish life.”
The Lost History of Stars
Boling focuses on another historical conflict in The Lost History of Stars: A Novel. The volume was released in the United Kingdom under the title The Undesirables. It tells the story of a family whose members endure the Anglo-Boer War. The parties involved in that conflict were the British and the Dutch settlers of South Africa, the Boers. The protagonist is Lettie, who is thirteen when the book begins. She, her siblings, and their mother are forced to leave their farmhouse. Soon after, the British burn it down and destroy the animals they owned. Lettie knows that other families have had similar experiences. She is sent with her family members to live in horrible conditions at concentration camps. There is little food, and the camps are rife with disease. Lettie survives the difficult time by reading and working at the hospital in the camp. In an interview with Deborah Kalb on the Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb website, Boling discussed his personal connection to the conflict. He stated: “My grandfather’s involvement, as a young British soldier, was the lure that caused me to research the Anglo-Boer War initially. That’s about the extent of it, though, since the nature of his duties during the war was lost in family history. But the early research led me to stories of the concentration camps the British established. … I was stunned by the stories.”
Referring to Boling, Michael Cart, reviewer in Booklist, suggested: “His informative and illuminating story is heartfelt and deeply affecting in its dramatization of a historic episode too little known.” A Publishers Weekly critic described The Lost History of Stars as “uneven.” However, the same critic noted: “The author does a convincing job of portraying the cruelty of the British towards their Boer captives.” A contributor to Kirkus Reviews commented: “The novel sheds much-needed light on the deaths of thousands of Boer civilians in these camps.” The same contributor called the volume “a valuable testament providing glimmers, however scant, of hope for humanity.” “This story will remain with you long after you have finished the book,” asserted a writer on the Historical Novel Society website.
Reviewing the U.K. version of the book, a critic on the Madhouse Family Reviews website remarked: “It’s a fictional account but one that was thoroughly researched through reading the published letters and diaries of people who were really there.” The same critic added: “Despite the tragedy and suffering that it portrays, it is ultimately an uplifting tale of survival against all odds and provides a fascinating insight into this lesser-known and rather inglorious period of British history.” A writer on the Louise Reviews… website opined: “The Undesirables is a wonderful book which brings to wider knowledge a shameful period of European and African history in a brilliantly readable fashion. Boling is a brilliant writer, I hope it’s not five years until his next book but if that’s what he needs to maintain such a high standard then so be it.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, August 1, 2008, Gilbert Taylor, review of Guernica: A Novel, p. 35; April 15, 2017, Michael Cart, review of The Lost History of Stars: A Novel, p. 35.
Kirkus Reviews, August 1, 2008, review of Guernica; April 1, 2017, review of The Lost History of Stars.
Publishers Weekly, July 7, 2008, review of Guernica, p. 37; April 24, 2017, review of The Lost History of Stars, p. 63.
ONLINE
Book Club Forum, http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/ (April 26, 2012), author interview.
Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb, http://deborahkalbbooks.blogspot.com/ (July 8, 2017), Deborah Kalb, author interview.
Dave Boling Website, http://www.daveboling.com/ (January 11, 2018), author website and author interview by Debbie Cafazzo.
Historical Novel Society, https://historicalnovelsociety.org/ (December 23, 2017), review of The Lost History of Stars.
Louise Reviews…, http://www.louisereviews.com/ (January 29, 2014), review of The Undesirables.
Madhouse Family Reviews, http://madhousefamilyreviews.blogspot.com/ (December 3, 2013), review of The Undesirables.
Seattle PI Online, http://www.seattlepi.com/ (October 20, 2008), John Marshall, review of Guernica.
TACOMA NEWS TRIBUNE FEATURE ON "GUERNICA"
"Debut Novel by Sportswriter Came to Life on the Sidelines"
By Debbie Cafazzo
Every writer’s muse is different. Some find it difficult to summon words from the keyboard without a cup of coffee at the elbow. Others require a cone of silence. Still others like to fill their head with tunes blasting from an iPod.
But Dave Boling, a sports columnist, does some of his best work surrounded by the chaos of competition – bands blaring, fans cheering, athletes shouting across the locker room.
“It’s a matter of discipline and focus,” says the 56-year-old Boling, who has been with The News Tribune for a dozen years. Working as a sportswriter up against tight deadlines, he says, gives him the ability to “wall out distractions.”
That ability explains – at least in part – how he was able to construct his first novel while on the road following the Seahawks, the Sonics and the Mariners.
He wrote portions of “Guernica” – a 361-page work of historical fiction set to debut Tuesday – in airports during layovers, on long flights and in hotel rooms. Instead of heading for the bar after a game to conduct a post-mortem with other sportswriters, Boling slipped back to his room and entered a world of family, fidelity, romance and survival set during the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s.
BASQUE CULTURE EXPLORED
“Guernica” tells the story of an extended family of Basques, a proud minority group with its own language and strong democratic traditions. The Basques have occupied the coastal areas and mountains of north-central Spain and southwestern France for centuries.
Why did Boling choose to write about the little-known Basques?
“Fresh out of college, I married a lovely Basque girl whose grandparents had come from Biscaya (in Spain) to herd sheep in the mountains of the American West,” Boling says.
His in-laws introduced him to the pleasures of spicy Basque food and red wine, and tried to teach him their folk dances. They also taught him about their strong familial allegiances and their long history of oppression.
Boling’s fictional family is anchored by patriarch Justo Ansotegui (pronounced WHO-stow an-SOT-a-ghee). Ansotegui is the strongest man in Guernica, with a beautiful daughter, Miren, who is beloved by the entire village, as well as by the newcomer who marries her, Miguel Navarro.
But the family’s strength – both physical and spiritual – is severely tested when their town is bombed by the Nazis.
The bombing of Guernica, which took place on April 26, 1937, was a sort of dress rehearsal for German air power on the eve of World War II. The Germans were in Spain supporting the Fascist army, led by Francisco Franco, who ultimately won control of the country and ruled as its dictator until the 1970s.
The bombing shocked the world and inspired Pablo Picasso, a native of Spain living in Paris, to create one of his best known paintings. Picasso’s disturbing black-and-white mural, “Guernica,” is a powerful icon, offering a stark statement on the horrors of war.
Boling believes more people are familiar with the Picasso painting of Guernica than with the historical tragedy that inspired it. He weaves the fictional story of the Ansotegui family with the story of Picasso’s painting.
Boling, along with many historians, sees the bombing of Guernica as an act of terrorism. He wants readers to make a connection between that long-ago atrocity and the modern world.
In “Guernica,” the Ansotegui family experiences great joy and heartbreaking sorrow. But by the story’s end, Boling hopes he has offered something more than raw emotion.
“Readers finish with a sense of hope,” the author says. “I hope they can apply it to what we’re dealing with on a daily basis.”
A PASSION FOR WRITING
Olympia author Jim Lynch has known Boling for years. Both once wrote for the Spokesman-Review newspaper in Spokane. But “until he told me about his idea for a novel, I don’t think we had one conversation that didn’t involve the Seahawks,” Lynch says.
Journalists often harbor dreams of putting their writing talent to work on a novel. But, says Lynch, “I’ve never heard one sound so passionate about wanting to tell one particular story.”
Lynch read Boling’s original draft of “Guernica,” expecting to see the usual rookie mistakes. But instead, what impressed him was “how fully imagined the story already was and how vivid and powerful its climax felt.”
Lynch offered a few suggestions on pacing and character development, then put Boling in touch with his agent. Weeks later, publishing rights were snatched up. “Guernica” will be published in the United States by Bloomsbury and in Britain by Picador.
“We obviously publish quite a number of first novels,” says Charlotte Greig of Picador. “But this one certainly jumped out at me as something very, very special. The humor, emotion, the epic scale of it, the period of history it covers and the delicacy with which Dave writes about such traumatic times – all make it stand out above the crowd.”
The book also has publishers in Spain, Germany and elsewhere. Boling has been selected as a Barnes & Noble “great new writer,” whose book will be displayed in a place of prominence in the chain’s stores.
“Guernica” has already earned a favorable review from Kirkus. It also has been mentioned in the Los Angeles Times book blog. Boling’s publishers have him scheduled for book tours in the U.S. and Europe.
“Things rarely happen this fast in the publishing business,” says Lynch, whose first novel, “The Highest Tide,” was published in 2005. “Even the most successful authors usually endure years and years of revision and rejection.”
But Lynch says Boling’s secret was coming up with a story that
he was driven to write.
“It’s always surprising and exciting when you come across a first novel that is this accomplished,” says Kimberly Witherspoon, Boling’s agent.
What makes “Guernica” a standout, she says, is Boling’s ability to “find a perfect balance between human stories and authentic detail. You are drawn into these characters’ lives and what you learn about Guernica is effortless.”
Boling is humbled by his seemingly instant success. Three years ago, he started writing the novel as a challenge to himself – just to see if he could do it.
“In less than a year, I went from having a finished manuscript in my lap to finding an agent, to getting outrageous international deals, to having it published and in stores,” he says.
Boling has some ideas for more novels. But he says literary and financial success won’t lure him away from sports writing. He loves switching between newspapers and novels.
“I love the change of pace,” he says. “It’s like crop rotation. You get to write differently.”
QUOTED: "My grandfather’s involvement, as a young British soldier, was the lure that caused me to research the Anglo-Boer War initially. That’s about the extent of it, though, since the nature of his duties during the war was lost in family history. But the early research led me to stories of the concentration camps the British established. ... I was stunned by the stories."
Saturday, July 8, 2017
Q&A with Dave Boling
Dave Boling is the author of the new historical novel The Lost History of Stars, which takes place in South Africa during the Boer War. He also has written the novel Guernica. A sports writer, he is based in Seattle, Washington.
Q: You note that the inspiration for this novel came from your grandfather’s experiences during the Boer War. How did that lead to your writing the book?
A: My grandfather’s involvement, as a young British soldier, was the lure that caused me to research the Anglo-Boer War initially. That’s about the extent of it, though, since the nature of his duties during the war was lost in family history.
But the early research led me to stories of the concentration camps the British established, and the terrible conditions that led to the deaths of many thousand Boer children. I was stunned by the stories, and disappointed that so little had been written about this atrocity. It stirred in me a powerful sense of obligation to give readers a reminder of what happened.
Q: You write of your main character, Aletta, “She became my hero.” Why is that?
A: I love to create characters who can teach me things, like ways to survive in even the toughest of times. As a tenacious early teen, Aletta learned how to fight her own war, every day, with little acts of brave insurgencies against British injustices. She inspired me, never giving up her fight, never surrendering even an ounce of hope.
I guess I’ve been fascinated by the human capacity for finding strength and resilience in the face of the most inhumane conditions.
Q: What type of research did you need to do to write the novel, and did you learn anything that especially surprised you?
A: Research for any book-length project of historical fiction can be withering. I spent close to a month in South Africa, going to the sites of concentration camps, interviewing experts, and finding a stunning amount of “scene” material and background information at the Anglo-Boer War Museum in Bloemfontein.
Equally valuable were interviews with psychologists who helped me get a sense of the forces at play inside the mind of a young girl going through a transitional stage of life while in life-threatening circumstances. That amounted to exploring a very foreign geography for a male author already in the latter stages of middle age.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from the novel?
A: I wanted to examine the effects of war on the innocents. They give medals for the soldiers and hold parades in their honor, but nothing is done to recognize the terrible costs paid by the families and all those whose lives are forever changed by loss and hardship.
So many stories have been written about World War II and the Holocaust, but the cycle of wars has created so many other atrocities that seem to have been overlooked through time. I hoped this could be a reminder of that sad reality.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: After two historical fiction novels, I’m trying to veer in some different directions. I’ve got a third novel finished (a light, contemporary family drama) and two screenplays in the works (one finished and another in the early stages). I’m still researching a handful of other projects.
I like the idea of changing pace, and testing other writing “muscles,” although the publishing world doesn’t seem to embrace authors’ attempts to shift genres.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Just that I have come to appreciate the works of thoughtful book bloggers. Having been a journalist for nearly four decades, I’m saddened by cuts at newspapers that have almost eliminated the Sunday “Books” sections and regular reviews.
It makes it tough for authors to get word out and short-changes readers who had grown trusting of the advice of their favorite reviewers. Book bloggers have stepped in to mitigate some of those losses. And I’d say, on the whole, their work is very professional and insightful.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
QUOTED: "I married a Basque/American girl. ... That provided a very thorough lesson in the fascinating Basque culture and history. After the terrorist attacks in 2001, I was surprised that nobody really traced the history of such atrocities back to the 1937 bombing of Guernica. To me, it seemed to be a sad oversight."
"In the spring of 2005, I decided I’d like to try my hand at fiction. As I considered topics, I liked the idea of using the bombing as the historical context for a novel of relationships. ... I thought if I could embed some inspiring characters into that challenging environment, there might a few things we all could learn from it. And that, hopefully, would raise the level of awareness of one of the great tragedies of the twentieth Century."
Author Interview - Dave Boling
By Nollaig, April 26, 2012 in Author Interviews and Forum Visits
Nollaig Nollaig
Posted April 26, 2012
Dave Boling is the author of Guernica, a book that I recently received to review. Dave has been kind enough to answer some questions, to tell us a little more about the book, and his background.
Q. Can you tell us a little about your inspiration for Guernica, and how it came about?
A. I married a Basque/American girl when I was fresh out of college. That provided a very thorough lesson in the fascinating Basque culture and history. After the terrorist attacks in 2001, I was surprised that nobody really traced the history of such atrocities back to the 1937 bombing of Guernica. To me, it seemed to be a sad oversight.
In the spring of 2005, I decided I’d like to try my hand at fiction. As I considered topics, I liked the idea of using the bombing as the historical context for a novel of relationships. Sometimes when we see the worst of humanity, we also see its best in response. I thought if I could embed some inspiring characters into that challenging environment, there might a few things we all could learn from it. And that, hopefully, would raise the level of awareness of one of the great tragedies of the 20th Century.
Q. How would you explain your book in your own words?
A. It’s really a story of relationships … a love story — love of family, love of country, love of a way of life. It’s a story of courage and resilience in the face of tragic loss.
Q. Was Picasso’s painting something you already knew about, or did you discover the background during your research?
A. I knew about it, but I didn’t fully appreciate it until I studied the event that spawned it. For me, it was only once I understood the horror of the attack that I was able to fully see that the faces in the painting were the faces of the victims. Each time I see it now, I have a more difficult time getting away from it. I keep seeing more subtle elements that transfix me.
Q. Was it difficult to use some real people in the story, and yet give them partly fictional storylines?
A. Not really. Actually, in my initial version, Franco and Picasso were fully imagined characters; I spent a great deal of time researching their backgrounds, and trying to reconstruct the forces that led them to be the people they were. They were contemporaries with the fictional Justo Ansotegui, and the three – the military man, the artist and the common man – were intertwined until their lives reached new definition in the aftermath of the bombing of Guernica.
However, when I submitted my manuscript, it came it at over 600 pages. My agent (correctly, I’m sure) felt that would be difficult to market a book that long for a first-time novelist. So, I cut roughly 200 pages by eliminating almost all of Franco, most of Picasso and a great deal of the political background. That left Picasso in there by himself as a lean character who kind of pops up to provide some cultural context. Some critics have said that he seems a little extraneous. I’m tempted to tell them that I have about 200 pages of copy sitting in my computer they can read if they want more background.
Q. Are the fictional characters based on anyone?
A. Don’t they say there’s always a great deal of autobiography in any fiction? Sure. The way Miguel and Miren meet in the book was similar to the approach I used on the girl would became my wife. Her grandfather was a very strong and admirable Basque man named Justo (although he was not boastful and egotistical like the Justo in the book). Her cousins were in a Basque dance group, and I watched them do the Dance of the Wine Glass some 30 years ago. My grandfather came to America after having been a coal miner in Newcastle. His name was Charles Swan, and his sister was Annie Bingham – two names I appropriated for the book.
Q. How long did the book take to research and write?
A. It was about a year and a half from the first idea to the completion of the final version I submitted to agents. It seems pretty quickly now to have done 165,000 words in that time while also writing roughly 200 sports columns a year for my newspaper The Tacoma (Washington) News Tribune.
Q. This is your début published novel, what is your background, and have you written anything else?
A. As a newspaper columnist, I’m writing all the time. I think that provided the discipline I needed to finish the novel. This was my first try at fiction, though. I really decided I wanted to take it on as a personal challenge. I mostly wanted to see if I could do it. I could see that the newspaper business was entering a rough period and I figured it might be wise to seek out some alternatives – to hedge my bets.
Q. What are you working on now, can we expect another novel from you?
A. I had no idea how much time the promotions for the book would take. I expected I’d be done with the second one by the time the first one came out, but that was dreaming. Also, basically doing two jobs for the last few years has been a bit of a drain so I’m not pushing too hard at the moment. I have four or five ideas that I’m researching – mostly historical fiction, again – and I’m sort of waiting to see which one sprouts first.
Picking the topic is tricky. You might enjoy this story. As I researched topics, the one I liked the best examined the occupation of the Channel Islands by the Nazis. I was intrigued by the way those left on the islands were mostly women, and I saw great potential in examining the various ways they could have reacted to the occupation. Some would be in resistance, some perhaps collaborate or at least commiserate, and in the end, almost all were united in the same battle against privation. Since my first book was named “Guernica,” I liked the symmetry of making the second one “Guernsey.”
As I started really working on it, Charlie Greig, my incomparable editor at Picador, called me. “Ah, Dave, have you seen the book that’s come out and been very successful?” Of course, it was “The Guernsey Literary etc. …” Oh, was I happy that I hadn’t spent about two years working on a book with that topic only to have another come out and be so successful just before I could finish. It would have been an entirely different story, but I suspect it would have been hard to go to publishers at the time with a book in the same general time frame and circumstance.
Q. Do you enjoy reading? Which are some of your favourite authors and books?
A. For as much as I love to read, I found I could not read anybody else while I was writing my own fiction. I found that somebody else’s style was creeping into my work, and after I finished reading one book, the style of the next book I was reading kept leaking out. It seriously affected the “voice” of my prose. I had to stop. Once I finished my editing, I dove into the pile of books that had risen on my bedstand.
Q. Are there any books that you think everyone should read?
A. Oh, goodness. In addition to new books, I have a core of favorites that I recycle through on a regular basis. Most of them I consider classics. But there are two strands, the serious and literate: Hemingway, Steinbeck, Faulkner, etc. And then those who can dress their commentary and insights in humor or biting perspective: Salinger, Vonnegut, Brautigan, Robbins.
I think what I like best are novels with strong characters whose integrity stands up to great challenges, and who have a degree of indignation over social injustices. And if I had only one book to take on a desert island, it would be “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
Interview by Michelle
December 2008
QUOTED: "His informative and illuminating story is heartfelt and deeply affecting in its
dramatization of a historic episode too little known."
The Lost History of Stars
Michael Cart
Booklist.
113.16 (Apr. 15, 2017): p35.
COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
The Lost History of Stars. By Dave Boling. June 2017. 352p. Algonquin, $25.95 (9781616204174).
Think of concentration camps, and the mind goes to WWII, but Boling dramatizes their presence in South
Africa's Second Boer War (1899-1902). Operated by the British, the camps claimed the lives of 27,000
Boers, a heartrending 22,000 of them children. It is in one such camp that 14-year-old Lettie and her Boer
family find themselves after the British destroy their farm. The camp conditions are deplorable and
dehumanizing, each day presenting a new horror. But then Lettie meets a young British soldier named
Tommy, and, though it's forbidden, they gradually become friends, but what good can come of that?
Meanwhile, vicissitudes continue: Lettie's little sister dies while her younger brother withdraws into
himself. Will things ever be the same, even when the war ends, as it must? Boling provides context for his
setting-rich story by employing flashbacks that, though informative, tend to impede the momentum of the
plot. But, nevertheless, his informative and illuminating story is heartfelt and deeply affecting in its
dramatization of a historic episode too little known here.--Michael Cart
YA: This crossover novel could have easily been published as YA, and teens will likely find it both
informative and compelling. MC.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Cart, Michael. "The Lost History of Stars." Booklist, 15 Apr. 2017, p. 35. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A492536176/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=958b4224.
Accessed 22 Dec. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A492536176
QUOTED: "uneven."
"The author does a convincing job of portraying the cruelty of the British towards their Boer captives."
12/22/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1513995362112 2/6
The Lost History of Stars
Publishers Weekly.
264.17 (Apr. 24, 2017): p63+.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Lost History of Stars
Dave Boling. Algonquin, $25.95 (352p)
ISBN 978-1-61620-417-4
In his new novel, Boling tries to do for the Boer War what he did for the Spanish Civil War in his previous
novel, Guernica, but with uneven dramatic results. The year is 1900 when 13-year-old Lettie, her siblings,
and her mother are removed from their family farm in South Africa by British soldiers and taken to a
concentration camp for Dutch settlers. Lettie's father, grandfather, and older brother are off fighting with a
Boer commando. In the camp, deprivations are many and things are especially hard on the young children,
many of whom succumb to various diseases. Lettie maintains her spirits by keeping a journal and by
recalling her life on the farm, especially going out at night with her grandfather to watch the stars. She also
slowly becomes friendly with a British soldier. Tommy Maples, who is sickened by the way his countrymen
treat the Boers. He gives her a copy of David Copperfield and introduces Lettie to the solace of great
literature. Nothing good, though, can come of this relationship, which ends on an unsurprisingly tragic note.
While the author does a convincing job of portraying the cruelty of the British towards their Boer captives,
as well as the perspective of the Boer warriors and their kin, there is a certain narrative predictability that
prevents the story from landing fully. Lettie, though, in her resilient nature might remind readers of another
young South African protagonist, Peekay of Bryce Courtenay's similarly inspiring The Power of One.
(June)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"The Lost History of Stars." Publishers Weekly, 24 Apr. 2017, p. 63+. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A491250785/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=8185c58d.
Accessed 22 Dec. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A491250785
QUOTED: "The novel sheds much-needed light on the deaths of thousands of Boer civilians in these camps."
"a valuable testament providing glimmers, however scant, of hope for humanity."
12/22/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1513995362112 3/6
Boling, Dave: THE LOST HISTORY OF
STARS
Kirkus Reviews.
(Apr. 1, 2017):
COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Boling, Dave THE LOST HISTORY OF STARS Algonquin (Adult Fiction) $25.95 6, 6 ISBN: 978-1-
61620-417-4
The Anglo-Boer war of 1899-1902, as witnessed by an adolescent Boer girl.If history is written by the
victors, this may explain why so little is known about the travails of the Boers, Dutch colonists of South
Africa, against the British. The novel begins when 13-year-old Lettie is turned out of her family's farmhouse
along with her mother (known mostly as Moeder), younger sister, Cecelia, and brother, Willem. The farm is
burned by British soldiers and the family's livestock is killed; such dispossessions are perpetrated again and
again by the British, who aim to displace the Boer farmers to mine their territory for diamonds and gold.
The Boer men have all left to fight. The women and children are herded into concentration camps and, in
crowded, flimsy tents, are essentially left to starve and die of the diseases that flourish in close, unsanitary
quarters. Moeder is incensed at Lettie's beloved aunt, Hannah, who, thanks to her husband Sarel's surrender,
is housed in better conditions. The Boer mothers are leery of the camp hospital, resorting instead to folk
remedies: these fail to save the life of Cecelia, who wastes away from malnutrition. Risking Moeder's
censure, Lettie befriends a young British guard, Maples, who shows her kindness, including giving her a
volume of Dickens and a prized potato, which is devoured by Lettie and her tent-mates. Volunteering at the
hospital, Lettie works alongside Tante Hannah as a nurse's aide, as does Uncle Sarel, who takes on the
grisliest tasks in atonement for his desertion. The novel sheds much-needed light on the deaths of thousands
of Boer civilians in these camps. Boling (Guernica, 2008) occasionally lapses into sentimentality and overly
reverent portrayals of the Boers as salt-of-the-earth Bible-thumpers, although in one instance Maples
reminds Lettie that the Boers drove the Zulus out in order to become peaceable landowners. A valuable
testament providing glimmers, however scant, of hope for humanity.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Boling, Dave: THE LOST HISTORY OF STARS." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Apr. 2017. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A487668710/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=b8f337c3.
Accessed 22 Dec. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A487668710
QUOTED: "Enhanced by Boling's knowledge of Basque culture, this is a convincing fictionalization of an infamous act of war."
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Guernica
Gilbert Taylor
Booklist.
104.22 (Aug. 1, 2008): p35.
COPYRIGHT 2008 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
Guernica.
By Dave Boling.
Sept. 2008. 384p. Bloomsbury, $26 (9781596915633).
A family saga set against the destruction of the Basque town of Guernica in 1937, Boling's debut follows
the Ansotegui clan: eldest son Justo works a farm; middle son Josepe fishes; and youngest son Father
Xabier tends to parishioners in nearby Bilbao. Vignettes of their youths glimpse their settling into their
vocations, while scenes of Justo's marriage to Mariangeles give way to the story of their dance-loving
daughter, Miren. Her warmth and twirling skirt snare the marital attention of Miguel Navarro, and they,
their own daughter, Catalina, and other Ansoteguis find themselves subjected to the maelstrom depicted in
Pablo Picasso's frantic artistic indictment of Guernica. (Boling grants cameo scenes to Picasso and the
German air commander.) Mutually devastated by the apparent deaths of their wives and daughters, Justo
and son-in-law Miguel improve their previously tense relationship, while author Boling cultivates a subplot
with a somewhat melodramatic but definitely Lazarus-like conclusion that restores some happiness to the
family. Enhanced by Boling's knowledge of Basque culture, this is a convincing fictionalization of an
infamous act of war.--Gilbert Taylor
Taylor, Gilbert
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Taylor, Gilbert. "Guernica." Booklist, 1 Aug. 2008, p. 35. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A183983500/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=7ce9cf55.
Accessed 22 Dec. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A183983500
QUOTED: "Except for a few too many popular-fiction clichés ... this is a very good novel indeed—and a crucial reminder that genocidal folly is never as far away from us as we might wish."
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Boling, Dave: GUERNICA
Kirkus Reviews.
(Aug. 1, 2008):
COPYRIGHT 2008 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Boling, Dave GUERNICA Bloomsbury (Adult FICTION) $26.00 Sep. 1, 2008 ISBN: 978-1-59691-563-3
The 1937 firebombing of the Basque town of Guernica is the central event of this ambitious first novel from
Seattle-based journalist Boling.
Boling has had the good sense to write under the influence of the Hemingway who gave us A Farewell to
Arms and For Whom the Bell Tolls, and the result is a moving tale of courage and resilience that celebrates
the history of an embattled culture while depicting in persuasive detail the communal and representative
experiences of a single extended Basque family. It begins with the Ansotegui brothers, who grow up as
shepherding farmers after their widowed father abandons them. Ruled by elder sibling Justo, a patriarch
even in adolescence, they go their separate ways: Second son Josepe becomes a fisherman, youngest Xabier
a priest. When Spanish rebels foment civil war and undertake to humble the pride of the independent
Basques, the Ansoteguis are drawn back into conflict and choice, most crucially affecting Justo's beautiful
daughter Miren and her husband Miguel (a fishing companion of Josepe's), a beautiful blind woman (Alaia)
whom Miren befriends and--most surprisingly--Father Xabier, drawn into politics as a consequence of
friendship with his communicant Aguirre, president of the Basque nation. Boling juxtaposes their ordeals
with German preparations for the bombing (a "test" of Nazi firepower as much as an act of solidarity with
Franco's forces), and after the carnage (horrifically described in searing narrative fragments), the
experiences of relief workers, Allied pilots and various others. The Ansoteguis' indomitable will to live is
memorably symbolized by the beloved Tree of Guernica--a commanding image shown in Pablo Picasso's
eponymous mural, whose conception and creation are also part of this absorbing story.
Except for a few too many popular-fiction clichs (e.g., its women are quite improbably gorgeous and
valiant), this is a very good novel indeed--and a crucial reminder that genocidal folly is never as far away
from us as we might wish.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Boling, Dave: GUERNICA." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Aug. 2008. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A182178496/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=e5de1194.
Accessed 22 Dec. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A182178496
QUOTED: "Boling is skillful with characters and dialogue, possessing a great sense of
timing and humor."
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Guernica
Publishers Weekly.
255.27 (July 7, 2008): p37.
COPYRIGHT 2008 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Guernica
Dave Boling. Bloomsbury, $26 (384p) ISBN 978-1-59691-563-3
Examining the Spanish Civil War and the town that was famously firebombed by the Germans on the eve of
WWII, this multigenerational family saga begins with the three abandoned Ansotegui boys, struggling to
survive on the family farm at the end of the 19th century; younger brothers Josepe and Xabier become a
fisherman and a priest, respectively, while the eldest, Justo, marries and raises a stunning daughter named
Miriam. Charismatic, beautiful and the best jota dancer around, Miriam attracts the attention of Miguel
Navarro, who winds up moving them to ill-fated Guernica after a run-in with the Spanish Civil Guard.
Meanwhile, in nearby Bilbao, Father Xabier waxes political with real-life future Basque president Jose
Antonio Aguirre, striking up an invaluable friendship. Boling's portrait of the Guernica tragedy is vivid, as
is his illustration of the Basque people's oppression; wisely, he sidesteps elaborate political explanations that
could slow the family drama. Boling is skillful with characters and dialogue, possessing a great sense of
timing and humor, though some historical cameos feel forced (especially Picasso, who pops up throughout),
and some plot twists can be seen from quite a long way off. (Sept.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Guernica." Publishers Weekly, 7 July 2008, p. 37. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A181365640/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=e262997c.
Accessed 22 Dec. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A181365640
QUOTED: "This story will remain with you long after you have finished the book."
The Lost History of Stars
BY DAVE BOLING
Find & buy on
By September 1900, the Anglo-Boer War has been fought for a year. Members of the Venter family are Afrikaners trying to protect their land from British invaders. Living on their farm are adolescent sisters Lettie and Cecelia, along with their little brother, Willem, and their mother. The children’s father, grandfather, and older brother are soldiers in the Afrikaner army, who are away fighting the British. Eventually British soldiers arrive at the farm, burn the buildings, and transport the family to a concentration camp, where they, along with many of their friends, are constantly under the threat of starvation and disease. Lettie keeps a journal of their experience while befriending a young British soldier guarding their encampment.
This novel of survival under harsh conditions is told from her young girl’s perspective. Prepare to be immersed in the story. Boling has based his novel on his grandfather’s experience as a camp guard for the British Army during the war. He portrays the women’s strength in dealing with life-and-death struggles and their loss of freedom while trying to provide a home for their family. This story will remain with you long after you have finished the book.
QUOTED: "It's a fictional account but one that was thoroughly researched through reading the published letters and diaries of people who were really there."
"Despite the tragedy and suffering that it portrays, it is ultimately an uplifting tale of survival against all odds and provides a fascinating insight into this lesser-known and rather inglorious period of British history."
Tuesday, 3 December 2013
Book review : The Undesirables - Dave Boling
If I say the words "concentration camp", I've no doubt that, just like me, you'll instantly think of the Nazi death camps of World War II. The Undesirables deals with an earlier war though, and one that I was largely unfamiliar with - the Boer war that took place at the turn of the twentieth century between the British Empire and the Dutch settlers in South Africa. The Undesirables was the name given by the British to the wives and children of the Dutch rebels, rounded up and removed to mass concentration camps where they were kept in barbaric conditions, with very little food and no attempt to maintain even minimal standards of hygiene. (I was shocked by the photo of the almost skeletal little girl who died in one of the concentration camps on the Wikipedia entry for the Boer Wars.)
The story begins in the relatively idyllic and peaceful setting of the remote Venter Farm in Orange Free State. We are introduced to young teen Aletta Venter, who enjoys teasing her big brother Schalk, listening to Bina, the native help, singing her work songs, sharing special moments looking at the stars with her Oupa and helping her Moeder look after her younger siblings, Willem and Cece. This childhood innocence is brought to an abrupt end, however, when the men go off to fight and British soldiers roll up, burn down the house and slaughter all the livestock as they watch, threaten the women and children then round them up and take them to a concentration camp.
Seen through the still-childlike eyes of Lettie, we discover the horrors and hardships of life in the camp. Disease and malnutrition are rife - the author reveals the poignant statistic in the introduction that the Second Boer War killed more children in the concentration camps than soldiers in combat on both sides - but the stoic Boer women and children never complain and just "keep on keeping on", to borrow a phrase from a later war. There are some truly heart-rending moments, such as when Lettie and her family are overjoyed to get their hands on one potato to share between the whole family, but they still share it with the other occupants of their tent. Life in the camp brings out the best and worst in people and we can but marvel at the resilience of human beings in such atrocious conditions.
The book touches on the fates of many different sub-groups of residents - the British soldiers, some of whom don't agree with the policies used by the British Empire, the British nurses trying to staunch the rampage of death and suffering, the "tame Boers" who refuse to fight, the "Hand-Uppers" who surrender to the British for better living conditions in the camp and are treated with the utmost contempt by the rest of the residents, or even worse "the Joiners" who defect and start to fight for the other side. It's a fictional account but one that was thoroughly researched through reading the published letters and diaries of people who were really there, which just makes it even more poignant.
The characters are well-portrayed, particularly the British soldier Maples, who it is easy to hate, until we remember that he is only 19-years-old and has no desire to be there at all, having enlisted just to win the favour of his girl back home. He seems to embody the concept that in war, there are no real winners, only losers.
Despite the tragedy and suffering that it portrays, it is ultimately an uplifting tale of survival against all odds and provides a fascinating insight into this lesser-known and rather inglorious period of British history.
star rating : 4.5/5
QUOTED: "
The Undesirables is a wonderful book which brings to wider knowledge a shameful period of European and African history in a brilliantly readable fashion. Boling is a brilliant writer, I hope it’s not 5 years until his next book but if that’s what he needs to maintain such a high standard then so be it."
The Undesirables
29 January 2014 by Louise Leave a Comment
the undesirablesPublished: 2014
Author: Dave Boling
A great look at our horrific history
4
A few years ago I was involved in a fabulous book club and we were given the opportunity to review Dave Boling’s Guernica for The Richard and Judy Book Club, this was back in the day when they were still on television. We were all sent a shiny hardback copy of the book to read in advance of our on-screen debut. It was the first time I was sent a book by a publisher and I loved it. Unfortunately I was struck down by a migraine on the day of filming and was unable to join the rest of the Tome Raiders to extol its virtues to the nation (I have no idea why we had to have a name but that’s what we came up with). I was thrilled when almost five years later Picador Books sent me Boling’s second book The Undesirables. This was my opportunity to redress the balance and let the world know my opinion of Boling’s work.
Like Guernica, The Undesirables takes us back to a past conflict and its impact on “ordinary” people. This time it’s the Boer War and how the lives of Afrikaan civilians are ripped apart by the arrival of British troops. Teenager Aletta Venter lives a happy life with her family on their farm when the British invade South Africa. The men go off to fight while the women try to maintain a semblance of normality, until their farm is razed to the ground and they are taken to a concentration camp where they are held in truly inhumane conditions. Through Lettie’s innocent eyes we see the horrors of the camp system, the tensions between family members who have chosen different paths and how friendships can form across the barbed wire fences.
Holocaust Memorial Day was commemorated on Monday of this week and it’s impossible to read The Undesirables and its depiction of the first concentration camps without thinking of the Nazi development of the British invention. Boling’s writing is horrifically evocative of the conditions the women and children endured, I recoiled in horror at a number of scenes. Having said that nothing was written which was exploitative or shocking for the sake of shock value – the merit of having a young narrator.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of The Undesirables for me was how thought-provoking and challenging I found it. Lettie constantly referred to South Africa as “our land” and expressed her anger at Britain’s imperialist tendencies without any irony. The Dutch were themselves invaders, taking the land from the native Africans and fighting to keep it for themselves. Boling also looks at the experiences of the Boers who surrender to the British in order to save their property from destruction. Can we really condemn them? Would we do the same? And can we hate the young British soldiers like Maples who are guarding the camps? It’s a wicked thing they are doing but are they wicked people?
The Undesirables is a wonderful book which brings to wider knowledge a shameful period of European and African history in a brilliantly readable fashion. Boling is a brilliant writer, I hope it’s not 5 years until his next book but if that’s what he needs to maintain such a high standard then so be it.
QUOTED: "powerful debut novel."
"Boling's Guernica ... is an engrossing, dramatic family saga filled with engaging characters and resonant details of rural Spanish life."
'Guernica' puts sports columnist Dave Boling in the international spotlight
By JOHN MARSHALL, P-I BOOK CRITIC Published 10:00 pm, Monday, October 20, 2008
Dave Boling, left, sports columnist for the Tacoma News-Tribune, interviews Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren after a recent practice. Holmgren liked Boling’s historical novel so much he passed it along to his wife and daughters. Photo: Andy Rogers/Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Photo: Andy Rogers/Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Dave Boling, left, sports columnist for the Tacoma News-Tribune, interviews Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren after a recent practice. Holmgren liked Boling’s historical novel so much he passed it along to his wife and daughters.
Forget the quiet writer's garret. Dave Boling's powerful debut novel was written in hotel rooms, on airplanes and in crowded concourse waiting areas, often when its author was covering sports events.
"I think I wrote half the novel at Gate C21 during layovers at O'Hare Airport in Chicago," Boling said.
The novel's unlikely gestation is hardly the only thing that distinguishes it.
The usual debut novel has the author's personal experience thinly disguised through altered dates, places and names. Boling's debut could have reflected his dozen years as a sports columnist at Tacoma's News-Tribune, or playing center on the University of Louisville football team.
His goal was grander. He focused on an infamous event in 20th-century history -- the bombing of a Basque village during the Spanish Civil War, a slaughter of civilians remembered mainly for inspiring one of Pablo Picasso's most celebrated paintings.
Boling's "Guernica" (Bloomsbury, 361 pages, $26) is an engrossing, dramatic family saga filled with engaging characters and resonant details of rural Spanish life. The fierce pride and independence of the Basque people is captured in its pages, as are their cultural traditions.
To the author's amazement, "Guernica" is on its way to becoming an international sensation. Already a best-seller in Spain, where Boling did a recent book tour, the book is being published in 11 countries, with a British edition coming in February.