Episode 86: Elise Hooper, author of Angels of the Pacific
Elise Hooper, author of Angels of the Pacific, which New York Times bestselling author Lauren Willig described as, “Absolutely riveting. A stay-up-all night read about two very different women who discover just how strong they can be—and just how much they'll dare—during the brutal Japanese occupation of the Philippines in World War II. This story of endurance and sisterhood will have you turning pages late into the night."
Elise talks about her research trip to the Philippines in February of 2020, how this book ended up being perfect for the times, and how her next novel is very much in response to the pandemic. She also shares some of her favorite books and writing advice for her fellow authors.
Books Mentioned:
Angels of the Pacific by Elise Hooper (Bookshop.org / Amazon.com )
Still Life by Sarah Winman (Bookshop.org / Amazon.com )
Razorblade Tears by S. A. Cosby (Bookshop.org / Amazon.com )
Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor (Bookshop.org / Amazon.com )
Woman on Fire by Lisa Barr (Bookshop.org / Amazon.com )
Connect with the author:
Transcript:
** Transcript created using AI (so please forgive the typos!) **
Ashley Hasty 0:00
I am here today with Elise Hooper to talk about her latest novel angels of the Pacific. I had the opportunity to meet an interview Elise, if I remember correctly when she was in Missouri researching for her then upcoming novel fast girls and also promoting learning to see, am I remembering that correctly?
Elise Hooper 0:18
Our I think, what a different life that was,
Ashley Hasty 0:22
I was gonna say the same thing it seems so long ago and a completely different lifetime. It really does. Thank you for joining me today. Let's start by telling if you would telling your listeners what your book is about. Sure. Well,
Elise Hooper 0:37
first of all, thanks for having me. It's always good to see you. I wish of course it was back to in person. But we're, we're working with what we can do these days. Angels of the Pacific is my new book. And it is about a group of US Army nurses who are stationed in the Philippines at the outset of World War Two and how their lives turn upside down. Because the same day that Pearl Harbor is bombed, the Japanese Imperial Army begins an invasion of the Philippines. And there were lots of Americans on the on the islands. So this novel is really told over the course of that period from 1941, right, you know, before Christmas to when the Philippines are liberated in 1945. And so these women are on the front lines, they're the first ever real US Army women to be serving on the frontlines. They're the first group ever taken as prisoners of war. And all the while. While it all sounds kind of grim in some ways, I want to emphasize that they all survive. So it's actually a really amazing story of perseverance and resilience and survival and hope more than anything. And, and they were also helped, I mean, a large part of their survival is definitely due to the support they got from their Filipino colleagues who are on the outside of the internment camp, and they go on, to send in food and supplies and really those food that food and the supplies were made all the difference in many ways for the survival of these nurses, you know, it's also a great story of kind of international cooperation and everything.
Ashley Hasty 2:08
Your books, this one included tend to be based on the lives of real women in history, and often ones that history has overlooked or forgotten in time. So your first novel The other Ellicott was based on May Alcott learning to see was about photographer, Dorothy and laying fast girls is about the four track and field Olympians. And of course, the angels of the Pacific is the story of the is it angels of Bhutan? Am I saying that correctly?
Elise Hooper 2:37
That is how they were referred to when they're liberated and brought back from the war. They were a big propaganda effort essentially, by the US government as sort of us womanhood surviving the in these challenging conditions, sacrifice all of that. But yes, so this is a novel based on these real women, the angels of Bhutan and their Filipino counterparts. However, unlike my past three books, then the main characters in this novel are fictional, I kind of created composite rather than really plucking several of the women who were angels of a town out of history, I decided to kind of create my own cast of characters based on those women. And that kind of allowed me a little bit of flexibility in some ways of creating a story that touches, you know, in a variety of different areas on the subject.
Ashley Hasty 3:28
So what do you think it is about the real stories that compel you to write novels about real women and what was different about this group of women that you wanted to fictionalize the main characters which you hadn't done in the past?
Elise Hooper 3:42
Well, that's a good question. You know, I think in my, in the case of my other books, these were women, I really felt everyone needs to know these names. And you know, May Alcott is obviously, you know, becoming, I'd say better known because of her sister, and, of course, Amy March. Her fictional counterpart is very well known Dorothea Lange is well known within certain circles. And I would also argue her name is becoming more and more popular with recent exhibitions of her work, and the Olympians, I really kind of felt like, gosh, people need to know these women's names. They have such an amazing story and they're such unsung heroes. In the case of the angels of Bhutan, I had didn't feel quite as necessary, you know, that I didn't think that read Harrington, I mean, I didn't feel that need to quite draw attention to this actual singular women of the story. And, and to be honest, this was a group of women who would have really in most ways shied away from that kind of attention. A and, you know, a lot of them also died in obscurity, including a woman who many of the nurses and several of their military counter male military counterparts tried to promote and have acknowledged by MacArthur and the president and these women were never granted a lot of them that recognition. So that's why I decided to kind of give the women I think, in some ways a little bit of the grace they wanted, which was to recede a little bit and and then kind of build some fictional characters that would do these women justice. But that took almost the pressure off of the legacies of some of these individuals.
Ashley Hasty 5:19
He used to be a high school literature and history teacher. So I'm sure you know, or have heard lots of interesting historical stories about women doing incredible things. So I'm curious how you choose which stories to devote a novel to
Elise Hooper 5:36
this was a story, I had, in some ways been circling for a while, in the sense that my grandfather served in the Pacific during World War Two, he was aboard the USS Missouri, when MacArthur signed the peace treaty with the Japanese, he went into Tokyo with MacArthur is one of the first groups of Americans in the city, they had to walk because the city streets were so destroyed, they couldn't even bring Jeeps. And at that point, and my grandfather brought home a child's kimono that is hand sewn. It's beautiful. I should have, I should have it in my office here to show you. I'll put it on social media later. But that kimono has been in our family now for several generations. And it's kind of been niggling away at me, quite honestly, like, I wanted to know more about my grandfather service. No, he never spent any time in the Philippines. But because of my interest in always telling stories about women whose stories have been overlooked. I knew that I wanted to focus my attention on World War Two. And I also knew that the Pacific had many great stories that had been largely, you know, not told as readily as Europe stories, right? So and given my location in Seattle, turning eastward felt like a really natural extension of my own sort of geography and everything. I was doing my research. And really, as soon as I just found that, you know, I'll say the angels of Bhutan, who are well, a part of the historical record for anyone who's kind of looking immediately I knew that these were my women, because their story is amazing. And yet here, and when did I begin this book, 2018, I had never heard of them. And I just felt that at that point, the world seemed like a really different place. And I was just captivated by, you know, the story of resilience and heroism. And with everything we've gone through the last few years, I mean, nurses on the front lines seem like a very relevant story. And also, just surviving tough times now has a whole new resonance. And in many ways I could have done without this experience, we've had to learn this the hard way. But while I was working on this book, and in some cases, that was during kind of the grimace days of our lockdown that spring of 2020 Actually, the nurses gave me a lot of comfort, I could, I could really look to their story as people surviving hard times in really much more challenging circumstances than I was facing. Certainly, really, you know, it's always a bit of kind of magic how I think you land on a story and how how its characters kind of resonate with you and and, and this was one that its significance has really changed over the course of when I started it to where we are right now. So that's actually kind of amazing.
Ashley Hasty 8:26
Really, isn't that kind of it's a great lead into my next question and whether you had it was more panning for gold and you like found your
Elise Hooper 8:33
nugget with right. I think it is it for me. And I think for everyone, it's different, but it is kind of a panning for gold experience. It's a lot about chemistry. Just suddenly I get a story in my mind that I can't let go. I do always have a list. I'm always collecting sort of ideas and and sometimes ideas like this one actually are kind of kicking around in my brain for a few years before I finally kind of have my angle into them. Yeah, it's it's not there's not an exact science to it, I suppose.
Ashley Hasty 9:04
As I mentioned earlier, when we first met in person, you were in Missouri, researching Helen Stephens known as the Fulton flash and Missouri I remember you had a picture of her running shoes, and we talked about how fun the research process could be. So I'm interested in hearing any exciting research moments you had while researching angels of
Elise Hooper 9:24
the Pacific. Well, this book did not disappoint from a research standpoint. Uh, first of all, there are fascinating sources out there available through you know, libraries, you know, through reading and pictures are really astonishing of World War Two, including video, but I did go to the Philippines to research this book, and I went, which is now unbelievable to me, but I went in February of 2020. So I really cut it under the wire as the trip neared and we knew that COVID was out there. I went to my local hospital that runs travel clinics and the services that they'll look at your itinerary and give you any medications you'll need. And given where I was going, they prescribed me with malaria medicine and a couple of other things. And I remember saying like, so what about this whole COVID or the Coronavirus? I don't even remember what we were calling it back down the Coronavirus. And they said, Well, you're not going to China, you're not getting on a cruise ship, you'll be fine. And I really look back on that. And I think oh my gosh, what we were saying, Boy, oh, boy, you all have no idea what's coming. But I did go, I think I left like February 19. And while I was there, I also brought my 16 year old daughter as part of our big adventure. And it was a great adventure, I have to say Thank God, the trip worked out, I learned so much. And there were some things I really wanted to see firsthand while I was there, and I was able to do everything I wanted. At the end of the trip, we'd plan to spend several days in Japan, both as a little research, but also just for fun. I'd never been to Japan. And the night before we were flying from Manila to Japan to Tokyo, Japan announced it was shutting down at schools. And I just I knew we had been walking a very delicate line. And I, my husband, from his end here in Seattle managed to make phone calls to the airlines. And we only ended up spending 24 hours in Japan, we had to cut that portion of our trips short and we came home. That trip was amazing because I had never been to the Philippines. And I needed to see it firsthand to really understand what I was working with. I needed to see particularly corredor, which is an island that plays a big part of the story. It's a fortified island right at the mouth of Manila Bay, which has been a fourth island for centuries. But I think, you know, early in the 1900s, this whole underground fortress was built of all these tunnels. And that's where the US Army ended up kind of camping out for several months, the nurses spent time there and I just couldn't picture I, I really needed to see this place. And it didn't disappoint. It was fascinating. And so I do really I'm so grateful that that trip worked out on so many levels. But but it was a critical part of my research. And it also really, I met a wonderful historian there. This woman who ended up being such an important part of my book, because she not only answered so many questions for me over email in the months that followed the years that followed really working on it, she gave me all kinds of great suggestions to improve the story. And we've remained in touch. She just I couldn't have written parts of that book without her help. And I met her there through so another mutual author friends, so I'm just really grateful on so many levels that that trip worked out.
Ashley Hasty 12:48
If you could go back in time and give 2015 You or 2014 you advice, what would you say? Or what advice do you have for aspiring authors who don't yet have an agent or publishing contract?
Elise Hooper 13:02
I mean, I think first of all, I'd get the advice that I think a lot of other writers would give, which is to stick with it, and you just kind of never know what series of events are going to align that will bring you to that lucky break. You know, I think for a lot of us who write fiction and probably nonfiction too, but it's something we have to do to sort of make sense of the world in many ways. And so I I don't I'm just grateful that I felt that compulsion. I mean, I had no idea while working on the other Ellicott that that would become anything beyond something that just lived on my laptop. So I'm forever grateful that I was sort of stubborn enough to stick with it kind of clueless enough to stick with it. And also just that I wanted to work on it kind of no matter what happened, and then I just kind of got the lucky break of it actually being picked up. But yeah, so I guess sort of just a fingers crossed and sort of hopeful attitude is is the best I can give to any writer, because there are so many great stories out there and so many readers are just hungry for them.
Ashley Hasty 14:14
I always say authors are the best people to follow for book recommendations. You guys get to read books long before book bloggers or the everyday reader. So I'm always scouring your social media accounts to see what books I need to put on my list. So can you tell us a bit about your reading world right now? What do you like to read and what books would you recommend?
Elise Hooper 14:34
Well, I have been all over the place with my reading by design I first of all I'm really happy endings at the moment a certain lightness so I I've been reading almost sort of like romantic comedies lately. And yet the flip side of that is I've also been reading really dark thrillers. So I don't know I really am all over the place. So books I've really enjoyed. Well, I really think my favorite book of 2021. And this is historical fiction. So here I am, like looping it right back to what I always, you know, read the most Still Life by Sarah Winman. I absolutely adored that book. And it's beautifully written, it's everything about it is wonderful. So I would highly encourage readers to look for that. And a real departure from that I really enjoyed SA Cosby's Razorblade Tears, which is really kind of hard hitting and filled with spicy language. You know, it's definitely not for everyone, I really, I listened to an audio version that is so well done, I could not stop listening to that. At the moment, I'm reading a couple of galleys, which you know, are books that will be coming out in the next few months. I'm reading Jillian Cantor's new book, Beautiful Little Fools, because we have an event coming up, where I'll be interviewing her next month. And I'm read then I have Sara Ackermans newest book where she tends to write historical fiction set in Hawaii. And I love her books. And I love the idea of escaping Hawaii. Even if it's just a mental escape, I'm really looking forward to that. I've loved Sarah's others, her other books. All right. So that one will be a fun one. So yeah, I don't know, I, as I said, I'm kind of Oh, and then I had recently just also finished this one sitting right here. So that one's easy. Lisa Barr's Woman on Fire. But at least I really enjoyed that one, too, which I think I actually thought it was historical fiction, She corrected me that it's present day set out an art stuff from World War Two. So I wasn't maybe totally nuts. When I thought it was historical fiction. It draws on history. But that one was a really fast paced book that I really enjoyed as well.
Ashley Hasty 16:43
And I have to ask, can you tell us anything about your work in progress? Which amazing woman in history we'll get to read about soon? Or what time period you're focusing on? If it's anything,
Elise Hooper 16:55
right, well, okay, so the book I'm working on now is a little bit different from my others. And it's, it's not about any particular famous woman, or not famous woman, it is completely fictional, I think of I mean, angels of the Pacific was a book I worked on through sort of the darkest days of the pandemic, this new book is very much a response to the pandemic, or it's completely my own imagination. You know, I haven't really been doing a lot of travel lately. So this one is just totally my own sort of world that I'm building. And it's about a mysterious collection of doll houses. But that's kind of I'll leave it at that for the moment.
Ashley Hasty 17:38
I like that. I want to tell our listeners how they can find you. Your website is Elise hooper.com. You're also at Elise Hooper, on Twitter and Instagram and on Facebook, they can find you at Elise Hooper, author before we wrap up. Is there anything else you wanted to talk about that we haven't covered yet?
Elise Hooper 17:57
Oh, I mean, you know me, actually, I can talk for days. But no, I think you you always ask great questions. And I am just, as I said, just excited to hopefully bring kind of a new angle into the World War Two fiction that's so great out there. I'm excited for this one to join the ranks, and especially kind of shed some new light into the Pacific.
Ashley Hasty 18:20
Absolutely. I've read a ton of World War Two books. I'm sure many historical fiction fans have. But there aren't a lot about the Pacific. So I'm really excited that you took that unique angle on a time period that's been written about extensively.
Elise Hooper 18:36
Yeah. Well, thank you. I hope you enjoy it.
Ashley Hasty 18:39
Well, it was such a pleasure chatting with you again today. I hope we get the opportunity to meet in person again. But in the meantime, it was lovely to get to catch up with you on this podcast and share your novel with our listeners.
Elise Hooper 18:50
Thank you so much. It's always a pleasure. And I really appreciate all the time and effort you put in to reading and giving a platform for authors to connect with readers.