A Nanking Winter Read online

No one answered. Nobody! We called twice.

  IRENE

  Sorry. My phone… I think I’m having problems again.

  JULIA

  Really? Not again.

  IRENE

  I think so.

  KURT

  Someone kept calling today. Some blocked number.

  FRANK

  I’m afraid that might’ve been me, my phone.

  JULIA

  We called. We were lost.

  AUDREY

  They were just wandering up and down the street.

  JULIA

  We called but no one answered. We called twice.

  KURT

  Oh.

  IRENE

  Well, you’re here now.

  KURT

  Yes, welcome.

  IRENE

  Yes, have some tea. It’s… what kind is it, Kurt?

  KURT

  It’s vanilla something.

  AUDREY

  I hope there’s no caffeine in it!

  FRANK

  So Irene. Are you anxious to see it?

  IRENE

  Oh of course. I’ve seen a mock-up…

  FRANK

  Your first book, right?

  IRENE

  Yes.

  FRANK

  Quite a topic. Certainly opened my eyes to the situation.

  IRENE

  You read it?

  FRANK

  Interesting all the Europeans and Americans in Nanking

  at the time of the Japanese invasion.

  IRENE

  Yes, there were quite a few. This was pre-World War II. Nanking was the capital in 1937, so there was quite a bit of international trade. And of course, a lot of foreigners escaped Shanghai when the Japanese came.

  FRANK

  Only to have Nanking invaded!

  IRENE

  Yes.

  FRANK

  Poor bastards. Lucky for the Chinese we were there.

  AUDREY

  Where are the books? Are they in your car?

  JULIA

  Oh no no no, the company’s sending them here. No worries, no worries. I saw the finished cover, they look great. They’ll look fantastic! And I know they finally shipped out to stores yesterday.

  Kurt explained? It was just a delay.

  IRENE

  What exactly happened?

  JULIA

  Does it even matter? Look, I don’t want you to worry your

  little head. A little controversy never hurt a new writer.

  FRANK

  Especially one writing non-fiction!

  JULIA

  The books’ll be here soon enough.

  FRANK

  Good. Gotta pick up my kid by eight. My week with him.

  His mother goes bitch-crazy when I don’t pick him up on time.

  JULIA

  Frank… please.

  FRANK

  (continuing) I mean, she works from home, what difference does it make?

  JULIA

  So! Have you two packed and got your things sorted?

  A beat.

  IRENE

  Excuse me?

  JULIA

  For the book tour?

  IRENE

  Oh. Kurt’s not coming on the tour.

  JULIA

  He’s not?

  KURT

  Actually, my parents’ll probably retire in Japan so I’m back at the restaurant full-time.

  JULIA

  Okay.

  JULIA and FRANK look at each other.

  It’s just, you do realize, it’s quite a long tour, you’re lucky to get it. Fourteen dates across North America, starting here and moving east…

  IRENE

  And you’ll be coming?

  JULIA

  Of course! Not in every city. But, definitely. Definitely. I’ll definitely try. It’s only—well—are you comfortable travelling all

  by yourself?

  IRENE

  I don’t need a babysitter.

  JULIA

  I wasn’t suggesting you did! I thought you might want

  a companion. Maybe Audrey? Hartford’s pulling out all the stops,

  first class hotels, first class airfare. Lots of time for sightseeing.

  AUDREY

  Wow.

  JULIA

  Audrey, what do you say? You never know, we may even

  get over the pond! Hartford’s still working out the details, but translations are on the way. Strong interest, very strong interest. German, definitely, obviously. French. Danish interest for some reason! UK version, but I told you that already…

  IRENE

  Mandarin? Cantonese?

  JULIA

  Well…

  IRENE

  Korean?

  JULIA

  Irene—

  IRENE

  Japanese?

  JULIA

  No.

  IRENE

  No Asian translations?

  JULIA

  Listen, we do a North American run, and, and Europe looks pretty good, promising. And… it’s a delay in Asia, that’s all. After they see the sales, they won’t need convincing. We don’t want to release the book without the proper research into the market. We research, we wait, and the book is released in the proper climate. You don’t want your book to be a bust, do you? And we certainly don’t want a repeat of your last time in Japan.

  KURT

  No, I agree.

  JULIA

  You are not a complete unknown in these circles. They have been misquoting your articles for years!

  IRENE

  I was a business reporter.

  JULIA

  Who occasionally strayed into cultural territory in her pieces. Which brought you to my attention.

  IRENE

  So it’s my fault?

  JULIA

  So we want to be careful how we proceed.

  FRANK

  Very careful.

  JULIA eyes FRANK.

  JULIA

  Hartford’s going to be very happy. And very happy to have you along… Audrey?

  AUDREY

  Okay! It’s not like I’m doing anything else!

  JULIA

  Okay!

  IRENE

  So, I guess I don’t have a say!

  JULIA

  Irene— It’ll be lovely. A lovely tour. You know, the publishers are really behind you. They believe in you and what you’re trying to say. They’re gonna promote the hell outta this book, don’t you worry. Hartford & Ross wants everyone who’s anyone to have your name on their lips. We want every major paper to review your book. We want

  it taught in universities. We want you booked into every talk show, every discussion panel. We want you to be the go-to Chinese writer.

  IRENE

  For what? For everything?

  JULIA

  No, no. Of course not. Not everything. Relevant things naturally. Political things, women’s issues, you know, Darfur or even the Bosnian women, Pakistan…

  IRENE

  I’m not a specialist in any of those areas…

  JULIA

  Well, you don’t have to be a specialist to be on a panel! That’s the whole point. They start the conversation about genocide or some such thing and from there, you cite an example from your book and talk about Nanking blah blah blah. Get it? Now, you’ve mentioned your book—and someone somewhere out there in TV land—someone will go out and buy it!

  IR
ENE

  Okay.

  FRANK

  Well, no, you can’t just go out there and say anything!

  JULIA

  No, of course, no no no. That’s not what I meant. No, you

  most definitely can’t—

  FRANK

  So tomorrow, we’ll meet early, with my team, and we’ll go over a few things. Lines of argument, phrasing, that kind of thing.

  IRENE

  What?

  FRANK

  If you’re really concerned, we can email you our notes.

  I mean, it’s all your material, we’ve just organized quotations, direct from your book. Mind you, we’ve organized them into arguments.

  We do it for all our non-fiction writers. Sometimes we have to do it for our fiction writers too, don’t we?

  IRENE

  I don’t understand, Frank. Who, who are you?

  FRANK

  Didn’t she tell you? Didn’t she tell you why I’m here?

  JULIA

  I haven’t had the chance…

  FRANK

  Frank Sadowitch, Hartford & Ross & Company. Legal Department.

  IRENE

  Oh.

  FRANK

  You do understand, right, that a book that is as controversial as yours—there are things that raise a few eyebrows. For starters,

  your accusations towards the current Japanese government and

  the royal family!

  IRENE

  I was very thorough, Mr. Sadowitch. My references,

  my research—

  FRANK

  Yes, your research. Very impressive. We went through your book with a fine-toothed comb. I tell ya, I wasn’t sure though. That first draft I read. I thought, a Nazi hero, what the fuck!

  IRENE

  Okay…

  FRANK

  Sorry. Never start talking about Nazis in polite company,

  it’s bound to go badly.

  JULIA

  Frank—

  FRANK

  But I mean, he was a Nazi for god’s sake!

  IRENE

  Niklas Hermann was de-nazified just before he died. In fact, in his diaries, he says that—

  FRANK

  Discovering his diary! Now, that—is priceless! Good thing his son let you have it!

  IRENE

  He didn’t initially. Until he trusted me. I had to go back day after day.

  FRANK

  I mean the amount of research that you recovered—the diary, the secret photos, the letters to Hitler! What a great story. It’d make

  a great movie.

  JULIA

  Oh yeah! A movie!

  FRANK

  You could call it “Nazi of Nanking”!

  JULIA

  Or maybe “Niklas of Nanking…”

  FRANK

  And then that American woman…. What was her name?

  The missionary… the Sister who taught at the college… Gin-a-ling.

  IRENE

  Ginling College. Her name was Anna Mallery.

  FRANK

  Anna Mallery—is that not a name for a movie character or what? And talk about tragic! Her life was tragic! Now that’s an ending! You could call that movie “Nun of Nanking”! Make a whole series!

  JULIA

  Frank…

  FRANK

  “Nicky and the Nun”!

  IRENE

  (a correction) Anna Mallery and Niklas Hermann are both considered heroes in China. They were at the centre of the entire safety zone operation, saving thousands of lives.

  FRANK

  I’m just happy you decided to beef up those sections. It made a huge shift for me, in terms of the growth of your book. A huge shift. I mean, without it… I don’t know too much about Sino-Japanese relations and all. It’s a big blur. But you get the foreign nationals in—gives me a focus for the story—

  IRENE

  It’s not a story. It’s not fiction.

  JULIA

  You know what he means—a narrative approach to non-fiction… shaping the information in a way that engages your audience. You have to know your audience! Academics, historians and Chinese advocates, yes, fine, a very small market. But, including the Western witnesses gives your book better range and broader appeal!

  IRENE

  What?!

  JULIA

  You want to tell this story, right? Well, when you’re able to tell it from a Western point of view—this is the English reader after all, this is where the market is—

  IRENE

  Wait. Wait. Let me just get this straight. You’re saying that it’s good that I included the foreigners because it will sell more books!?

  JULIA

  No, not just that. That wasn’t what I was saying at all!

  IRENE

  So what are you saying?

  FRANK

  Telling the truth is a good thing. Telling the truth about the Americans and Germans, yes even Nazis, who were able to save the Chinese people—

  IRENE

  They saved some Chinese people. They didn’t save the Chinese people.

  FRANK

  You didn’t let me finish. The Chinese people of Nanking.

  The Westerners set up the safety zone didn’t they? That’s what your research says?

  IRENE

  Yes, of course…

  FRANK

  At great risk to their own lives?

  IRENE

  Right—but—

  FRANK

  And what was the Chinese army doing? What were the officials of Nanking doing?

  IRENE

  They were being invaded!

  FRANK

  And weren’t they also in retreat from the city? Leaving it virtually defenceless? In your book, you said that the Chinese army was ill-equipped and unprepared. That they were ineffective! Didn’t you write that? I didn’t write that.

  IRENE

  But the Chinese didn’t have the power! Niklas Hermann had influence because of the colour of his skin, the swastika on his sleeve. That meant something to the Japanese.

  FRANK

  I think we’re saying the same thing, aren’t we?

  IRENE

  No, I don’t think we are! You’re saying that representing these Western heroes with prominence is a way to make it more palatable for a Western audience.

  JULIA

  Irene—now don’t get—

  IRENE

  That it’s more convenient to paint the Chinese as helpless against the ruthless Japanese, so helpless and useless that a group of foreign nationals, and by foreign, I think that you mean white, that these foreigners have to rescue them?

  FRANK

  That’s not the slant I was going for—

  IRENE

  Bad Japs rape and kill dumb Chinks. Good white people save the day. Is that more the slant you were going for?

  FRANK

  Now come on!

  AUDREY

  Irene!

  FRANK

  I don’t have to put up with this! You can’t say that!

  IRENE

  You’re not going to tell me what I can and cannot say!

  JULIA

  Irene. That’s his job!

  KURT

  Just calm down—

  IRENE

  I don’t care if it’s his job! He’s in my living room, throwing around his elitist, racist comments—

  FRANK

  What is your problem here really? Because I’ll tell you what

  I think it is. It’s not that you think the “foreigners,
” the “white people,” didn’t save those people in Nanking. It’s because deep down you know they did. All your extensive research backs that up. And what gets you, what really gets you is that you wish it weren’t true. You wish that the Chinese could’ve been more organized, fought back, done anything! But they didn’t. They couldn’t. They lay down and they were slaughtered! It was their own fault!

  IRENE

  What!?

  KURT

  That’s enough! Enough! Let’s just do this!!

  IRENE

  Do what?

  JULIA

  We have to tell you something.

  KURT

  I think you should sit down.

  IRENE

  Is there a problem?

  JULIA

  Well, we wanted to talk to you about the title.

  IRENE

  We’ve been over this.

  JULIA

  You know, compromise is a part of life. When we last were

  able to communicate—while you were away—we discussed the final title change.

  IRENE

  No, of course it’s changed. The title is Nanking: The Other Holocaust.

  FRANK

  This is what we wanted to talk to you about.

  IRENE

  They let my original title stand? It is The Nanking Holocaust?

  FRANK

  Absolutely not.

  IRENE

  I’m sorry. I’m confused. My original title, The Nanking Holocaust, wasn’t approved, right?

  JULIA

  Yes. There were many objections, as you know.

  IRENE

  I know. They didn’t like the word “holocaust.”

  JULIA

  A word with too many connotations. They felt you could appear to be trying to draw on sympathy—

  IRENE

  I’m not trying to take anything away from anyone.

  JULIA

  I know. But a perception that you were—

  IRENE

  I was using a word. In the proper context. If it wasn’t in a title it would be “holocaust” with a small “h.” Holocaust: from the Greek holos, meaning whole. Kaustos, meaning burned. Completely burned.

  JULIA

  It’s too evocative and it was always unlikely to pass…

  IRENE

  But the compromise? What we decided on—

  JULIA

  I thought they might go for it, but y’know I had some questions myself—

  IRENE

  Nanking: The Other Holocaust. What’s wrong with that?

  FRANK

  They liked that one even less.

  IRENE

  Why? That doesn’t make any sense!

  FRANK

  The issue was primarily the “other.” Its implications were that Nanking was the other—