Buzzy Jackson’s museum visit inspired work about the Dutch war hero

Buzzy Jackson is the award-winning author of three nonfiction books and the novel “To Die Beautiful.” Jackson grew up in an extended writing family in Truckee, California and Missoula, Montana and now lives in Boulder, Colorado. She has a Ph.D. in History from UC Berkeley and is a member of the National Book Critics’ Circle. She is currently working on a new novel inspired by a mid-century American true crime.

Her book “To Die Beautiful” won the 2024 Colorado Book Award for Historical Fiction.

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SunLit: Tell us the backstory of this book. What inspired you to write it? Where does the story/theme come from?

Buzzy Jackson: Around Christmas 2016 I was lucky enough to take a trip to Amsterdam. I had been there before and this time I wanted to see something new, so a friend suggested the Resistance Museum: the Resistance Museum.

As we walked through the front door, we passed a bullet-covered bust of Adolf Hitler, used by resistance fighters for target practice. And a few steps later I saw a small glass display case with a photo of a young woman in it. I looked closer.

Inside were a pair of round, wire-rimmed glasses, a battered pistol, and a photo of a young woman with auburn hair in a skirt, blouse, and sensible shoes, with a defiant look on her face. This was Hannie Schaft.

Because she looked so mild and sweet, it was a shock to hear that Hannie and two other teenage girls, sisters Truus and Freddie Oversteegen, were among the few women who took up arms in the Dutch resistance; the weapon on display belonged to Hannie. The three of them were responsible for dozens of violent actions, including arms transports, sabotage and bombings. Hannie in particular was infamous for her murders of Nazi officials, and her reputation eventually spread all the way to Berlin, where Adolf Hitler ordered that “the Girl with Red Hair,” as she was known, be captured and killed. Somehow, in the midst of all this, Hannie also risked her life to house two of her best friends and fellow law students, Sonja and Philine, who were Jewish, in her own home.

I wanted to read Hannie’s biography, but was surprised to discover that such a book did not exist in English. Even the Dutch books were decades old. But as a trained historian, I knew I had the skills to research Hannie’s life and times. So when I returned to Colorado in January 2017, I began working on this challenging new project.

SunLit: Put this excerpt in context. How does it fit into the book as a whole? Why did you choose it?

Jackson: This excerpt from Chapter 6 comes from a point in Hannie’s life when she finally begins to realize how bad things are becoming for the Jews – and for everyone – in the Netherlands in 1943. Unlike many other Nazi-occupied countries, the Germans implemented their anti-Semitic policies slowly, over the years, so as not to alarm the general public. At this point, Hannie begins to understand how well that strategy worked.

SunLit: Tell us about the making of this book. What influences and/or experiences shaped the project before you started writing?

Jackson: I started working on this book (starting with the research) in early 2017, with the intention of writing a non-fiction biography of Hannie Schaft – not a historical novel. But over time I realized that going the fiction route would allow for a better experience for the reader, and it was important to me that this be a book that people would actually enjoy reading, as opposed to a bunch of history homework.

SunLit: Are there lessons you can learn from each experience writing a book? And if so, what has the process of writing this book added to your knowledge and understanding of your subject and/or subject?

Jackson: Although I studied history at school, the Second World War was a big blind spot for me. I had to overcome the fear of my own ignorance to take on this project; To start with, I don’t speak Dutch and I had to do a lot of research in Dutch archives. Fortunately I had the help of Dutch friends. Ultimately, I learned so much about World War II that the marketing algorithms now think I’m a military veteran (I’m not). But I loved doing that research!

SunLit: What were the biggest challenges you faced writing this book?

Jackson: Because ‘To Die Beautiful’ is based on the lives of real people, some of whom were still alive when I began my research, I felt a serious responsibility to portray these people as accurately and sensitively as possible. I tried to stay as close to the documented facts of the events as possible, which wasn’t too difficult because the true story is more dramatic than any novel could be. I am very grateful to the families of some of the characters, who have supported this book from the beginning.

SunLit: If you could only choose one thing—a theme, lesson, emotion, or realization—that readers would take away from this book, what would it be?

Jackson: I think what I’ve learned is that no act of kindness or compassion is ever wasted. As I learned about the Dutch resistance, I saw how even the smallest actions—for example, choosing not to report a household where Jews were hiding—were such an important part of achieving the larger goal.

SunLit: In a highly politicized atmosphere in which books, and people’s access to them, has become increasingly controversial, what would you add to the conversation about books, libraries and generally the availability of literature in the public sphere?

Jackson: People who ban books tend to do so because the author’s point of view does not match their own. Since freedom of speech is a legal right in the US, what is a book banner to do? Easy: Write your own book, from your own point of view, and give your ideas a chance to find readers who agree with you. Then please leave the rest of us, and our books, alone… we still have a lot to read.

SunLit: Walk us through your writing process: where and how do you write?

Jackson: I write at home at a desk in my office, with lots of sticky notes everywhere reminding me of details I want to include or a good potential character detail. On the bookshelf to my right is a collection of my all-time favorite books that keep me inspired. I carefully positioned the bird feeder so that I can see the chickadees as I work. My faithful dog Ralph usually sleeps somewhere near my feet.

SunLit: How does a teenage girl known only for her shyness turn into a feared assassin with a gun in her hand in the span of a few years? And what will that do to her?

A: It took me so long to answer this question that I ended up writing an entire book about it.

A few more quick questions

SunLit: Do you look forward to the actual writing work or is it a job you dread but have to do to achieve good things?

Jackson: Ninety-five percent of the time I love it. I do the remaining 5% if there is a fixed deadline.

SunLit: What is the first piece of writing – at any age – that you were proud of?

Jackson: Probably a high school report I did on the new journalism of Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson, Joan Didion, etc. I was so inspired by the writers that I really poured my heart into the writing assignment, probably for the first time.

SunLit: When you look back on your early professional writing, what do you think of it? Impressed? Embarrassed? Satisfied? Do you wish you could have a second chance?

Jackson: As several creative people have said over the years, an artistic project is never finished, it is simply abandoned. I think that’s true. There is always room to make it better, but at some point you have to let it go. I try to stay in a zone of neutral to mild pride when it comes to my own work. I’m especially proud to have completed them.

SunLit: What three writers, from any era, can you imagine dropping by for a great discussion about literature and writing? And why?

Jackson: Dorothy Parker, Shirley Jackson and Eve Babitz – we drank a million martinis and told jokes all night.

SunLit: Do you have a favorite quote about writing?

Jackson: “The universe is made of stories, not atoms. – Muriel Rukeyser, from her poem ‘The Speed ​​​​of Darkness’.

SunLit: What does the current collection of books on your home shelf tell visitors about you?

Jackson: That I have read many more scientific books than you might have expected.

SunLit: soundtrack or silence? What is the audio background that helps you write?

Jackson: Sometimes I need silence, but usually I like to hear something beautiful and instrumental in the background, often pianist Bill Evans, the soundtracks of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, or the Oscar Peterson Trio.

SunLit: What event and at what age convinced you that you wanted to be a writer?

Jackson: I spent 25 years denying that I wanted to be a writer before I finally got the courage to admit it to myself. So I guess I always knew.

SunLit: What is your biggest fear as an author?

Jackson: An excess of group activities.

SunLit: greatest satisfaction?

Jackson: Reading a great book (by someone else).

Type of story: question and answer

An interview to provide a relevant perspective, edited for clarity and not fully fact-checked.