Unveiling Hidden Secrets: Marty Ross-Dolen’s Quest to Unlock a Daughter’s Haunting Truths
LL: I love this epigraph you chose so much, the one about grief from Victoria Chang. It reads, “In my case, trying to know someone else’s memories, even if it’s through imagination and within silence, is also a form of grieving.” This is really so astute. It reminds me a bit of another quote, which I am paraphrasing, from Simone Weil, about imagination and fiction making up so much of our lives. Can you speak into that, please?
MRD: I highly recommend Victoria Chang’s brilliant Dear Memory: Letters on Writing, Silence, and Grief, which was released when I was writing my book. Dear Memory speaks through poetic letters written by Chang in response to the family history she uncovers by studying and manipulating artifacts. When I came upon the quote that you mention, I must have read it a hundred times. It described exactly what I was experiencing: I was grieving as I wrote my book. I was grieving as I read my grandmother’s letters, tried to excavate her memories, tried to know them. I was grieving as I imagined knowing her and imagined her knowing me. These action steps were my vehicles through grief. Putting language to that, through the gift of Victoria Chang’s beautiful words, elevated my understanding of my personal process and propelled me forward. I’m grateful to have been given permission to use her words as an epigraph to introduce my book.
