Today we talk about Alone Together, a book by Sanja Pregl published with our publishing house Europe Books.
Europe Books had the pleasure of interviewing the author Sanja Pregl to get to know her better, what was the moment that prompted her to the writing of her book Alone Together, as well as how she defines her writing style.
Below you can find our interview. Take a seat and enjoy your reading!!!
- What was the moment that prompted you to the writing of your book?
The moment that prompted my writing oft this book was very sudden. A friend of mine has a stroke. Some of our mutual friends declared his wife as a hero to stay with him for the whole time through the process of healing and further on, the other group of friends congratulated her that she finally made it – she won – she tied him on herself forever. When I realised, on this specific moment, how people see and process the same event, action and other people in so different ways, how they interpret the situation in their own manners, the idea of the book come to me in a second. This was the trigger for my story however the only connection to the real event was the stroke that the main character suffers from.
- What can you briefly say about the main characters of your book?
The relationship between two people is defined by the degree of proximity. It does not matter what the nature of this relationship is. The content of the novel begins with the main male character Jure. The husband, lover and brother who suffers a stroke. While he lies in a coma, three women are finding out how close they were to him. The first one is his wife Marja (me), the second is his lover Andreja (you) and the third one is his sister Urška (she). The closeness of each of them is in complete contrast to the attitude seen and experienced by the surroundings. The wife is aware of it, the lover suspects it, and the sister does not have the strength to admit it, at least for a while. The main male character Jure was not the right man in any of these relationships. He did not stand by his wife in her moment of emotional pain. He could never go with his lover because he was unable to speak honestly to his wife. The sister did not have in him the figure of a big older brother who would give her the strength to break free to stand on her own two feet.
- What is the message you would like to convey?
People live past each other even though we are siblings, sons and daughters, parents, lovers, partners, spouses. We only know each other as much as we talk to each other and as much as we want to open up to the other. Therefore, we can perceive and understand the same events and stories in completely different ways. Many of us decide to make changes in our daily lives based on stories of someone else’s experience. The very same story that is transformative for us, may not be interesting or contain any life changing elements for others. I want my stories to open eyes and let people thing about their lives and start to live at least a bit nicer to others and a bit happier for them.
- How would you define your writing style?
I would define my writing style as very simple at the first glimpse: short sentences, not many big words, use of a simple language. However…Words are bricks of stories. As a house built just of bricks does not become a home, the same goes with words in a story. All the spaces in between the words are the reasons that magic happens. What appears as an empty space is the possibility that makes a difference to the reader. Because of empty spaces, readers are given the opportunity to understand stories in their own way. Each one of us understands and feels the story at least slightly differently to another’s understanding. The story affects us with its narrative, carefully chosen words and the spaces in between words. What appears to be emptiness is very important. Because of the spaces between the words, not each story affects every one of us in the same way. Space in between words in a story connects with everything that is abstract in our thoughts. If you looked inside your head when you think, you would find not only words but also images, colours, abstract shapes, pictures and hints of ideas. They are all alive because of the space that appears between the bricks.
- Are you working on a new writing project you can tell us about?
The novel Gin and Tonic deals with the life of three generations of two families, in the period between 1900 and 2019, whose destinies intertwine in incredible combinations. Twenty-five-year-old student Miha meets ninety-three-year-old Irena, who is a veritable treasure trove of life experiences and wisdom, useful for his thesis. Before meeting her, he thinks that he lives in a world where women’s rights are taken care of, and then a whole new outlook on life opens up for him. At the same time, Irena’s granddaughter, Živa, who is a younger copy of her grandmother, sneaks into Miho’s life, and soon he feels that he has more than just friendly feelings for her. While hanging out with the two women, the young man gets to know very bitter life of women in different periods of Slovenia’s half-past history, and at the same time, surprisingly, he also comes across abundant information about his own family, which is also overcoming its own traumas. In the novel I deal with challenging social topics and conflicting relations between generations and genders. The heroes go through traumatic experiences, from lack of parental attention, physical and psychological violence, war, violence to alcoholism.
Europe Books thanks the author Sanja Pregl once again for taking the time and answering our questions. We are really pleased to have walked alongside her on the editorial path that led to the publication of her book Alone Together. We wish her the best of luck for her book and for her future works.
To you, my dear reader, may this book be a source of inspiration in order to live your life to the fullest, to always love yourself and to build relationships that allow you to be happy with the people who are part of your life or who will be part of it.
So, my dear reader, all I have to say is to enjoy your reading!
Your Editor!