It took 10 years for German writer Jan-Philipp Sendker to get his bestselling debut novel, The Art of Hearing Heartbeats, printed in the United States, but he never gave up his dream to publish here. It was recently named a 2013 Indie Choice Honor Book of the Year in adult fiction, and his American publisher flew him here to accept his award at the ABA Celebration of Bookselling Luncheon and Author Awards Ceremony today. Sendker is also at BEA to promote his second novel, A Well Tempered Heart (Other Press, Jan. 2014), a sequel to his famed first book. He never intended to write a sequel. “I had an idea about a woman who is hearing voices she cannot control, who keeps asking questions about herself. It was never key in my mind what kind of woman it was. I knew there was a novel in it, but the main character didn’t come alive for me, so I forgot about it.”
Sometime later, he made one of his trips to Kalaw, Burma, where his first book largely takes place, and while sitting in a teahouse, daydreaming, one of the main characters in Heartbeats, Julia, came to mind. “I had the sense that she was coming down the road approaching me. All of a sudden I remembered the idea about the woman hearing voices, and I thought, wow, of course, it’s Julia! It was like a big puzzle and I had found the most important pieces. This was the novel I was thinking of years ago.”
Asked to compare the two books, Sendker says, “The Art of Hearing Heartbeats is about the magical power of love between two handicapped people. A Well Tempered Heart is a different kind of love story, but it’s also about the power of forgiveness and how liberating it can be if you’re really able to forgive.”
Sendker fans will be happy to know that the two books are actually part of a trilogy. But right now the author is working on the screenplay of The Art of Hearing Heartbeats, which he hopes will start shooting next year.
This is his first time at Book Expo, and it, too, is a dream come true. “I used to be the U.S. correspondent for Stern, and I remember going to the Upper East Side in New York and seeing a sign mentioning Book Expo. I found that so exciting that there was a book expo in New York and I thought, Maybe one day....”
Sendker will be signing ARCs of his latest novel in the Other Press booth (2839) today, 11 a.m.–noon. An author signing and reception in the ABA lounge will follow the awards ceremony.
