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INTERVIEW:
Bharti Kirchner
Author of Pastries


Interview by Robert Yehling

Bharti Kirchner loves to cook in more ways than one. Not only is the Pacific Northwest resident a trained chef and a particular master at creating exotic recipes for main courses and desserts, but she also has a way with percolating words. She has written five novels and four cookbooks, is hard at work on another novel, and continues to enjoy the creative flow for which writers long. One of her books, Darjeeling, was one of the most touted novels of 2001. Her follow-up work, Pastries, offers that same lip-smacking, heart-grabbing effect that comes from a masterful storyteller who knows how to weave together the aromas of the kitchen with delectable prose—well spiced with some of the most incisive dialogue in fiction today.

Bharti shared her thoughts on writing and literature with Bookstand as St. Martin’s Press prepared the paperback release of Pastries under its prestigious paperback line, Griffin. It is due out in July 2004—one year after the book launched as a hardcover.

Bookstand: You’ve had quite a response to Pastries—both from readers and the book press.

Bharti Kirchner: I see encouraging signs. The novel has been widely reviewed. It has been selected in “Hot Lists” and “Staff Favorites” in book stores and libraries. It is being translated in several foreign languages. The respected literary magazine Bloomsbury Review did an extensive interview with me in their January-February 2004 issue. However, the biggest joy for me comes via letters and e-mails from readers telling me how much they got out of the book.

Q: You really indulge in the women’s issues-food-emerging relationship dynamic in this book, with a great plot twist—the battle against a corporate giant in the bakery business. Could you talk about why food resonates so deeply with readers, and why it touches them in deep, sensual ways?

A: Food is so basic; it addresses our physical and emotional needs; it heals. Our earliest memories are often about edibles. Some of our best social connections take place at the dining table. Reading about food is equally enjoyable and, as a bonus, there’s no caloric intake.

That said, in Pastries I go beyond the pure enjoyment aspect of consuming. In the latter part of the book I reveal how the simple act of baking can result in a centered state of mind. At a book store reading, a man in the audience told me that the message of mindfulness really hit him. He’s cooking and baking more. He feels more centered.

Q: How does Sunya’s desire to hold onto the proprietary secret to her namesake cake recipe empower her in this story?

A: Sunya, like many other real-life chefs and bakers, has an attachment, a proprietorship to her cake recipe. It’s what gives her an edge in the business. She’s a feisty person to start with. Threatened with competition from a chain bakery she becomes even more protective of the Sunya Cake recipe. The challenge, which is ultimately a test of her values and character, comes when someone she loves dearly wants the recipe.

Q: Sunya is at an early crossroads—30, relationship lost, someone intriguing enters the picture, big-time competition down the street, has a little notoriety from her recipe. A GREAT place to pick up her story. Why is it such a joy for you, and other writers, to immerse into the worlds of characters at crossroads? Do you think people in this space have heightened senses and intuition, as Sunya does?

A: Major changes usually happen at this early crossroad and set new life patterns in motion. In response, one becomes more alert, more resourceful and, hopefully, also thoughtful and action-oriented. A novel is about change, the pain that change inflicts, the personal growth that change initiates. When all is normal, all is going well in someone’s life, there’s no story.

Dushan, a minor character, is also at a life’s crossroad. For him it’s happening at a later stage in life. He is about to marry a sweet wonderful woman – Sunya’s mother – but he doesn’t get along with Sunya. He expresses himself in an awkward manner, causing even more tension. How will he mend the communication breakdown? I had satisfaction in crafting Dushan’s individual story.

Q: You’ve also written cookbooks, so you’re quite an expert on food preparation and recipe creation. What is your background in this area?

A: Prior to writing cookbooks, I taught cooking classes in the Seattle area. I had a great passion for food and cooking and so teaching cooking classes was a natural outlet. I’ve always had a passion for baking. I toyed with the idea of doing a book on baking, but as time passed and I got into novel writing, I realized that the baking book would not happen.

Instead I poured out my passion into the Pastries novel. I got tremendous joy in seeing a bakery come to life on the pages, possibly more so than if I had put together a recipe book. After reading the first few chapters my agent said that I’d “injected” myself with the bakery. That was true. I carried the bakery with me all the time. The smell, taste, bustle, personality conflict between the bakers, threat from a mega corporation were all real to me.

Readers automatically assume I own a bakery and they want to visit it. I, however, never did operate a bakeshop. To give authenticity to the novel, I interviewed a few bakers and read volumes of trade magazines on restaurant management. I checked out many bakeries. At home I have always baked a lot. I have a feel for the processes. This is how I was able to create a fictitious bakery, people it with bakers and customers, and make it seem like it exists.

Q: Back to the battle between the narrator’s bakery and Cakes Plus. What did you learn about the nature of the large corporation vs. small business battles in this country that moved you enough to write about it? What are some of the things you learned in the course of writing the book?

A: Needless to say it is becoming increasingly difficult for small businesses to survive. At the same time, people are fed up with chain outfits and mass production and crave the personal touch. It is difficult to win against the big powerful corporate machinery. However you can do your best, lift your faith in yourself in the process, and manage to survive.

Q: In your works that I’ve seen, you’ve struck me as a writer who strives for both good details and good dialogue, but doesn’t spend a day—or even a page—getting right to the gist of it. Yet, you’re working with subject material upon which a less disciplined writer could spend thousands of pages expanding, because of its sensual power. How do you hone in on the right detail, the right piece of dialogue, without going “off to the races”?

A: Writing a novel is a tight-rope act in that you have to keep so many interrelated elements in balance: Details, dialogue, character development, moods, actions, and so on. You get only 350 or so pages to tell a story, so resource allocation is crucial for a novelist. At any point in time, you must assign just the right amount of weight to each element for the scale not to be tipped, for the story to progress smoothly.

Curiously, my software background helps. In that incarnation I used to retain lots of data and interrelationships thereof in my head and use them to “debug” a program or help facilitate a database design. When writing a novel I am more or less able to keep the whole book (or as much as it’s been done at a particular point in time) in my head. I revise constantly (even at the formative stage) to maintain that crucial balance

Q: How does your Indian background influence your love of good food, good words and good relationship?

A: I grew up in a family in which literature was revered. I started to read early, bypassed fairy tales, and went straight to adult books. My mother was an excellent cook. A loving person, she’d give her portion of the meal to a friend or a relative who happened to stop by. And we had visitors often. Possibly for that reason, as a novelist I have a difficult time limiting the number of characters in a book. Regardless of the theme, relationships are central to my novels.

One relationship readers have enjoyed in Pastries is that between Sunya and her mother. There’s conflict between them partly due to Sunya’s struggles with the abandonment from her father. Yet the relationship is imbued with warmth and caring.

Q: What are some of the messages in relationship and the virtues of small business that you wanted to carry from Pastries?

A: One message is that one’s career ambitions can be fulfilled in nonstandard ways, one that is not an upward climb. In Sunya’s case, you see the validity of that message in the last few chapters of the book. For Sunya’s mother who couldn’t rise to the challenges of the business competition, the fulfillment comes through her daughter, as also in building a satisfying relationship with her fiancée Dushan.

Q: You’re working on a new novel. Can you give us a sneak preview?

A: My next novel is different from Pastries in that it has no food motif. In this fifth novel I explore the joys and pathos of friendship. That’s about all I can say at this point.

Further Information:
• Excerpt from Pastries
• Review of Pastries