DEBUT SPOTLIGHT: Marina Scott

Every now and then I have the privilege of reading a new novel that has me turning pages at a breakneck pace. Such was the case with THE HUNGER BETWEEN US. There’s been a lot of ground covered in World War 2 fiction, but the Siege of Leningrad has rarely been given the attention it deserves. This harrowing period, in which the starving citizens of Leningrad were held captive by Nazi forces and eventually had to resort to burning furniture for warmth, make bread from sawdust, boil leather and wallpaper for sustenance, and turn to even more extreme methods of survival, has at last been given its due by Marina Scott, who imagines the siege through the eyes of a resilient, tough-as-nails teenage girl—Liza.

THE SYNOPSIS

For fans of Elizabeth Wein and Ruta Sepetys, an absorbing, fast-paced YA debut novel from Marina Scott about a girl’s determination to survive during the Nazi siege of Leningrad—and to save her best friend from a horrible fate.

There are some lines that should never be crossed—even in a city ruled by hunger. The black market is Liza’s lifeline, where she barters family heirlooms and steals whatever she can get her hands on just for enough food to survive. Morality, after all, has become a fluid thing since the Nazi siege has cut off her city from the rest of the world. Hope for a quick liberation is obliterated as the Soviet government focuses on sustaining the Red Army and not the city, subjecting its people to unimaginable cruelties at the hands of the secret police. When Liza’s best friend Aka proposes that they go to the same bullying officials, rumored to give young women food in exchange for “entertainment,” Liza thinks there surely must be some other way. Then Aka disappears and Liza resolves to rescue her no matter the cost, entangling herself in an increasingly dangerous web with two former classmates, one a policeman, the other forced to live underground.

The Hunger Between Us is an absorbing novel about being trapped with impossible choices and the bonds of love that are tested along dangerous paths.

“Scott’s high-stakes debut . . . combines rich historical details, propulsive pacing, and a bleak, realistically wrought landscape to illuminate this dark chapter in history while raising moral questions about the lengths to which people will go to stay alive.” ―Publishers Weekly

THE INTERVIEW

Paulette: Hi Marina, I’m so pleased to feature you on today’s debut spotlight. I have to confess that I could not put your book down! It held me absolutely riveted, from beginning to end. Can you tell us a bit about THE HUNGER BETWEEN US and what inspired you to write it?

Marina: THE HUNGER BETWEEN US is set in 1942 during the Siege of Leningrad, which is considered one of the most harrowing events of WWII. In the late summer of 1941, the German army severed the last connection between Leningrad and the rest of the Soviet Union. Nearly 500,000 residents were evacuated but over two million remained trapped inside the city. Most of those who stayed died of starvation.

My interest in the siege goes back to my childhood. I was born in the U.S.S.R, in the country then called the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic. I attended a Soviet school where our education was controlled by the Soviet government. Like everything else in the Soviet Union, stories about the Siege were censored; anything that didn’t fit the Soviet propaganda image was altered, suppressed or erased. But when Mikhail Gorbachev ascended to power, it all changed. Committed to information transparency, Gorbachev’s administration opened historical archives and the true story of the Siege emerged. What we learned significantly differed from stories told in our Soviet textbooks. The truth was shocking and horrifying. The true story of the Siege haunted me for most of my life. THE HUNGER BETWEEN US gave me an opportunity to tell its story. 

Paulette: It is very rare, even still, to see the Siege mentioned in historical fiction—most of the World War 2 fiction on the market tends to focus on Western and Northern Europe. Even though the truth about what happened in Leningrad is harrowing and difficult to read about, you have brought us a very human, impactful story that is both haunting and inspiring. Liza is an unforgettable character, and her flaws and her motivations are honest and realistic. The atmosphere, the sense of place and time, the emotion—it’s all very raw and close to the surface. An author who had never lived in the Soviet Union would not be capable of replicating such deep characterization and setting. Your authenticity sings from every page.

You touch on a lot of heavy subject matter in this novel. What are some of the themes you enjoy exploring in your work?

Marina: I wanted to explore what it means to be human under the ugliest of the circumstances and to question what role our conscience plays when we decide to commit a crime in the name of love. What lines are we willing to cross to save our loved ones from death? And most importantly, what parts of ourselves are we willing to betray to survive?

Paulette: Those are such profound questions. What would we truly be capable of doing to protect those we love? Most of us in the West have never had to face circumstances of extreme survival like Liza and her family. The spectrum of emotion you display among all your characters is fascinating: their wounds, their joys, their hopes and fears. Your novel will give much-needed perspective to readers—especially young readers who perhaps have never heard of the Siege of Leningrad.

Can you tell us a little about your writing process? Your favorite and least favorite aspects of crafting a novel?

Marina: I’m a pantser. I don’t outline. Don’t be like me! Because there’s no outline, I have no idea where the story will take me or what happens in the next chapter. When I sit down to write, I don’t know my characters as well as I probably should. Most of the time, I have no clue how my story ends. And in a way, it’s exhilarating. It’s the unknown that makes the writing process so thrilling. It’s a puzzle—messy and complicated—and I’m slowly putting it together one sentence, one page, one chapter at a time.

I research quite a bit before I write the first line. I continue to research as the story unfolds. When my very chaotic first draft is done, I take a break from writing to do some more research. Then revisions start and, you guessed it, research continues. Truly, the research process never stops. 

I like drafting but I absolutely love revising because through revisions I finally, FINALLY, fully understand my characters. My least favorite part is research because it is time consuming. But it’s a necessary part of writing, and it can’t be avoided.

Paulette: So true! The research never ends—from before you begin drafting until you turn in your pass pages, there is always so much checking and cross-referencing required when writing historical fiction.

Finally, do you have any advice for aspiring writers? Especially those who are entering their debut year?

Marina: I’m going to be a complete cliché and say expect the unexpected. Debut year is a very emotional yet a rewarding year. Try to enjoy it to the fullest. Don’t get caught up in social media frenzy. Don’t get obsessed with sales numbers or reviews (especially reviews!) You debut just once, so focus on all the excitement your debut year has to offer. Allow yourself to pause for a second, and instead of asking “what’s next,” give yourself full credit and appreciation for how much you have already achieved. You wrote a book and you’re getting published! Embrace your success and don’t worry what the future holds. 

Paulette: I so wish I had enjoyed my debut year more fully—I got swept up in the social media frenzy, and it was incredibly stressful. Celebrate the successes and take it all in stride! There’s so much out of our control when it comes to sales and numbers. It’s important to stay present and focus on the positives.

Thank you for joining me, Marina! I hope the rest of your debut year is spectacular and I can’t wait to see what you write next!

THE HUNGER BETWEEN US is available wherever books are sold, from Macmillan directly, and from Amazon

Marina Scott was born and raised behind the Iron Curtain in Vilnius, Lithuania. She graduated from a local university with a Master’s degree in library science, but a short stint in a Soviet library changed her mind about being a librarian in the U.S.S.R. She immigrated to the United States in 2000 and now resides in Salt Lake City. Her books include The Hunger Between Us, Neighbors, and Yearning.