Elaine Stock spent the first part of her novel-writing life creating award-winning inspirational fiction books. Now in the 50-plus phase of her life, the Brainard resident has decided to switch tracks and tackle historical fiction. The result is her new book. We Shall Not Shatter, the first in a trilogy set in WWII.
We Shall Not Shatter follows two best friends — Zofia, a hearing Catholic woman, and Aanya, a deaf Jewish woman — as they navigate life in Brzeziny, Poland, on the eve of the Nazi invasion. It is a story of friendship, family, and, ultimately, hope. It is also a reminder of how easily the world you think you know can be turned upside down.
Making the genre switch wasn’t as big a leap as some might imagine. “I’ve always been a big reader of historical fiction, way before I even dared to write it,” she says, noting she started writing books she thought she should write, books to encourage people. “I got to the point in my life when I decided to be brave and write what I want to write.” Focusing on a story she’s been mulling in her head for years was the logical next step.
Stock was inspired in part by her family’s heritage. Her grandparents immigrated from Poland and Austria to the U.S. Her grandfather, who was born in Brzeziny and had deaf siblings, arrived on Ellis Island when he was 7, just before the outbreak of WWI. His youngest deaf siblings were allowed in because they were young enough to avoid the medical exams used to detect infirmities and disabilities. Her deaf great aunt, a teenager at the time, was not allowed to stay since she was perceived to be a health and social risk. She was sent back to Poland and later died in the Holocaust.
“Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”
- Mark Twain -
As a magazine and website devoted to living your best life as you age, we decided to celebrate Twain’s concept by highlighting Capital Region residents over 50 who are living their best lives. Some are entrepreneurs. Others have started new careers in their second or third acts. Each in their own unique way is making a difference and enhancing the life we all enjoy in the Capital Region.
If you know someone who would make a good profile, send us an email at editor@55pluslifemag.com. We’d love to hear more about what people are doing as they continue to create and recreate themselves.
Making the genre switch wasn’t as big a leap as some might imagine. “I’ve always been a big reader of historical fiction, way before I even dared to write it,” she says, noting she started writing books she thought she should write, books to encourage people. “I got to the point in my life when I decided to be brave and write what I want to write.” Focusing on a story she’s been mulling in her head for years was the logical next step.
Stock was inspired in part by her family’s heritage. Her grandparents immigrated from Poland and Austria to the U.S. Her grandfather, who was born in Brzeziny and had deaf siblings, arrived on Ellis Island when he was 7, just before the outbreak of WWI. His youngest deaf siblings were allowed in because they were young enough to avoid the medical exams used to detect infirmities and disabilities. Her deaf great aunt, a teenager at the time, was not allowed to stay since she was perceived to be a health and social risk. She was sent back to Poland and later died in the Holocaust.
Stock tried to talk to her grandmother about the past while she was alive but did not get very far. “It wasn’t until she died that I met some of my great-uncles who were deaf. They gave me bits of family tree information,” she says. “They told me about Brzeziny. I always wanted to know about this aunt and what happened to her.”
While We Shall Not Shatter is set in a town that actually existed, the characters and story are fictional. The character of Aanya, however, was inspired by Stock’s deaf great aunt. “I wanted to maybe in my imagination empower my great aunt to live,” she says. “I wanted to give her a chance and to memorialize her and in my story give her a happy ending.”
Writing a deaf character added to the research Stock needed to do for her book. She learned, for instance, that not all sign languages are the same. While American Sign Language uses two hands, Polish Sign Language is one-handed. Also not every deaf person can lip-read as Aanya does.
Stock happened upon a book about Brzeziny that proved to be a treasure trove of information. “It was a feast of insights about the town and what life was like and what happened,” she says.
When we talked, Stock was in the middle of writing the third book in the trilogy, When We Disappeared, due to be published in May 2023. The second book in the trilogy, Our Daughters’ Last Hope, is due to be published in September 2022.
Stock says her writing process is not as full-time as she would like. “I write whenever I can,” she says, noting she works part-time at a retail bakery. “I can just daydream at work. It’s a writer’s paradise. I just show up and I can think.
“I know a story is going to work when my characters start to dictate to me,” she continues. “I don’t outline. I’m a seat-of-the-pants writer. I have notes and papers all over my house.”
Stock says We Shall Not Shatter came easily once she started. “It flew out of my fingers,” she says.
We Shall Not Shatter
Author: Elaine Stock
www.elainestock.com
