Costco Connection - June 2008

book
pick
History’s darker side
Karleen Koen’s historical fiction
doesn’t pull punches
Signed book
gıveaway

COSTCO HAS 50 copies of
Karleen Koen’s Through a
Glass Darkly, with signed
book plates, to give
a way. To enter, print
y our name, member-
s hip number, ad-
d ress and daytime
p honenumberona
postcard or letter and
s end it to: Karleen
K oen, The Costco
C onnection, P.O.
B ox 34088, Seattle,
WA 98124-1088.
O r send an e-mail
to g iveaway@costco.com,
w ith “ Karleen Koen” in
the subject line.

No purchase is necessary. Open to legal residents of the U.S. (except Puerto Rico) who are age 18 or older at the time of entry and who are current Costco members. One entry per household. Entries must be received or postmarked by July 1, 2008. Winners will be randomly selected and notified by mail on or before August 1, 2008. The value of the prize is $16.95. Void where prohibited. Winners are responsible for all applicable federal, state and local taxes. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received. Employees of Costco or Sourcebooks and their families are not eligible.

By J. Rentilly

HISTORY OFTEN IS UNKIND, brutally sacrificing profoundly human level rarely achieved and also on its heroes, tearing true love to shreds and leaving an equally high intellectual level of h istorical villainy unpunished. Although historical novels research and character analysis,” says often varnish reality’s imperfections, putting bows Naggar. “Every time I thought I knew and ribbons atop the atrocities of epochs, Karleen where Karleen was going with the story, Koen, author of the brilliant, galvanizing Through a she deftly took me somewhere else. I Glass Darkly, refuses to gloss over history’s dark think that’s one reason the book still mat-days, crafting nourishing, soulful, enduring work in ters so much to readers 20 years on.” the process. While putting the finish-Published 20 years ago, Darkly is ing touches on her fourth still a hot seller and widely read. Koen’s novel, King, due in earl y debut novel, it weaves a rich, full- 2009, Koen teaches a fiction - blooded tapestry of star-crossed love, writing class at Rice Universi ty royal chicanery and political intrigue, and also works as co-founder of of set against the backdrop of 18th-cen- Women in the Visual and Literary tury London and Paris. Koen, also the Arts, a Houston-based organization author of Dark Angels and Now Face to that supports and stimulates creativity Face, believes readers have responded in women. warmly to Darkly not in spite of its “We have done marvelous things: tougher edges, but because of them. collaborations between artists and writ- “In most historical romances, the ers, performances, chapbooks, fundrais-girl always gets the boy, no matter the ing and we support two scholarships a challenges,” says Koen, whose grandfa- ^Karleen ^Koenyear,” she tells The Connection. “I’ve ther introduced her to the historical fiction of Frank seen women too afraid to even say what their medium

JOAN BOOTE

Yerby, Frank Slaughter and Zane Grey when she was is, and after being around the presence of other just a child. “That’s not always how it goes, and I creative women, they blossom, get into galleries, win think readers appreciate being told the truth.” awards, finish their novels or short stories.”

Joyce Murray Boatright, author of Telling Your Meanwhile, Koen relishes the perennial affec-

Story: A Basic Guide to Memoir Writing and Koen’s tion and attention afforded her debut novel. Despite longtime friend, believes that the author’s compul- its adherence to history’s darker truths, Koen believes sion to unfurl history in all its majesty and imper- the discerning reader will uncover Darkly’s deeper fections is part of the allure, to be sure. “But it’s also message of hope. her characters—complex and fully developed, not a “Life is a gift. The people in our lives are gifts. stereotype among them,” she says. “And Karleen is a Love them. We break, but we can mend,” Koen says. master in constructing plots that keep readers turn- “That’s what this book is about. If I had to do it all ing pages. The tension is exquisite!” over again, the only thing I’d do differently is I’d cry

For Koen, who lives in Texas with her longtime louder, sing longer and dance harder.” C sweetheart, exquisite tension was long a part of her life, laboring as she did for many years on editorial staffs at national magazines, “putting on high heels to go to work.” With the birth of her two children, she felt at loose ends, ready for a change and the challenge of writing her first novel.

She spent five years poring over more than 300 books, including histories, biographies, social commentary and other research books. She also crossed the Atlantic, visiting London and Paris. “Those cities have old souls, and I needed to know what it felt like to be there,” she says. “I love research.”

Koen shopped her finished manuscript to agents lifted from a magazine article she’d read and, to her surprise, was signed by her first choice, Jean V. Naggar. Naggar set up an auction and, according to Koen, “the bidding got crazy.” The novel eventually sold for an astonishing $650,000, virtually unprecedented at the time for a debut novel, and then stormed the best-seller lists, where it stayed for many months.

“The novel works quite brilliantly on both a

J. Rentilly is a Los Angeles–based journalist who writes for a variety of publications.

Send your feedback
on this month’s book to:
discussionquestions@
costco.com.

I UNDERSTAND THAT historical fiction may not be everyone’s cup of tea. For fans of the genre, this month’s Book Buyer’s Pick, Karleen Koen’s stirring Through a Glass Darkly, will undoubtedly be a huge literary treat. For readers who aren’t typically fans of historical fiction, I can’t help but think that this is the book that will change your minds.

Set in London in the early 1700s, this novel has everything: passion, greed, familial confict, intrigue and betrayal. The rich details and engaging characters only add to one’s reading pleasure.