The Book
Los Angeles, 1928. Oil, oranges and site of the C. C. Julian Petroleum stock scandal, a Ponzi-type scheme to rival any in American history and a foreshadowing of the decade's looming economic crash. As one of the scheme's victims, Ohio probate officer Sarah Kaufman--still reeling from the KKK murders she helped solve in Tennessee--is in the city to attend the trail of the perpetrators, in particular of the "friend" who convinced her to invest.
Sarah is eager for justice and committed to seeing th et rail through. She's glad she's alone, that her lover Mitchell isn't there, that after court she'll have time to herself. But when a Mexican woman she barely knows winds up dead, Sarah's plans are thrown upside down. Suddenly she finds herself in a nightmarish trial by fire, one that takes her from the glamour of Hollywood to the Tijuana frontier, tests her deepest beliefs and leads her to discover not only a killer, but a part of Los Angeles built on a terrible secret.
Q&A
1. Rule of Capture is a legal mystery that takes place in Los Angeles in the 1920s. What inspired you to write a historical novel set in that time and place?
As for the era, it really
found me. I situated the story in the 1920s because I was led there by the news
clippings that formed the basis of my first book. After becoming fascinated
with the period in general, however, especially after realizing how similar it
was to our own time, I decided to stay there. Los Angeles was another matter.
In trying to figure out the setting of my next book—I had initially planned a
series that would include every state in the Union!—I came across a little
known but incredibly important court trial held in L.A. in 1928. This led to
other discoveries that I thought could provide interesting plot twists. Plus,
my grandfather owned a shoe store in L.A. that I decided to weave into the
narrative. Also, I was born in L.A, my daughter and parents live in the city,
and it was a relatively close place to do research. So, voilà! Los Angeles!
2. Like Rule of Capture, your first two novels, O’Brien’s Desk and
The Natural Selection, feature a real person, juvenile social worker and
counselor Sarah Kaufman, as their heroine. What’s special about Sarah and how
did you come to choose her as the star sleuth for your mystery series?
I was introduced to Sarah
while doing research for O’Brien’s Desk. O’Brien was my husband’s
grandfather and a prominent judge in 1920s Ohio. He frequently appeared in
newspapers of the day, accompanied by his court appointee, Sarah Kaufman. I was
immediately struck by Sarah, a Jewish woman who had made a name for herself in
a male-dominated and gentile environment. She was a working professional at a
time when few women left the home and a civic leader involved in all sorts of
Progressive causes. But she also lived with her siblings, never married, and
was an aspiring writer. This gave her a complexity that I thought could be
developed. The more I read and imagined, the more convinced I became of her
fictional possibilities. As a Jewish woman myself, I identified with her, so much
so that I laid flowers on her grave to thank her for inspiring me. In life she
was a crusader for justice; in fiction she’s the same. And I’m proud to say
that as a result of my first book, she (the real Sarah Kaufman) was inducted
into the Toledo Civic Hall of Fame.
3. There are strong
elements of feminism and civil rights, especially with regard to religion and
race, in all of your novels. What made you decide to pursue these thematic
issues in your historical series and in this new novel?
Well, I’d have to say that
it’s a combination of personal experience, education and history. I come from a
family that values diversity and human rights. I approach the world from this
perspective, and when I encounter opposition, I react. With respect to religion
in particular, I’ve experienced my fair share of intolerance, and my reaction
has taken many forms, including writing. Writing is for me a way to work
through these experiences, to lay them bare and alter the narrative to my
liking. Since the 1920s saw the rise of the KKK and all manner of bigotries,
it’s natural, given my bent, that I would be drawn to these topics. My academic
training was also a factor in my interest in such themes as it both exposed me
to the pervasiveness of intolerance and taught me the importance of examining
the context in which it occurs.
4. What do you find the
most fascinating about the historical genre?
Emily Dickinson put it
best: “Tell all the Truth but tell it Slant.” History is a powerful form of
knowledge, but it is often told dryly and with a limited focus. I like the
ability to bend history, to tell it “at a slant,” to be as faithful as I can to
the facts but even more so to truth. I like research and getting the details
right. But I love bringing unknown or underappreciated people and events to
life. To do that, you sometimes have to fill in the missing pieces. Historical
fiction gives you the permission to do so, as long as what you construct is
consistent with the character and the time. I really believe that this kind of
excavation and reimagining of the past is my calling. I feel most alive when
I’m involved in the process of resurrecting the dead. The historical genre also
allows me to teach about the past, to show its correspondences to the present,
for instance, while entertaining with (hopefully) a compelling plot.
5. What would you like
readers to remember most about you and your books?
Hmm. I guess that I take my writing
seriously, that I work very hard to have the stories ring true. I promise
readers that I will present them with some historical facts that they’ve
probably never heard of before. Also, although I’m a mystery writer and proud
of it, I’m not a formulaic one. I want readers to remember that there are no
simple answers, and my books don’t offer any. But I value readers’ opinions and
am open to their criticism. Well, to a point. To be absolutely honest, I want
to be able to say, in the words of actress Sally Field: “You like me!”
6. Are you working on a
new Sarah Kaufman novel and, if so, what can you tell us about it?
Yes and no. Sarah will be a
character in the next book, but not the protagonist. She’ll be older and act as
a kind of adviser. The story will take place in the 1940s, during WWII. And
that’s about all I can say without giving away a critical piece of Rule of Capture.
The Author
Ona Russell holds a PhD in literature from UC San Diego. She lectures nationally on the topic of "Literature and the Law" and is a regular contributor to Orange County Lawyer magazine. She has been published in newspapers and literary anthologies, and is the author of two 1920s legal mysteries, O'Brien's Desk and The Natural Selection. Ona was named a finalist for The Natural Selection-a story set against the backdrop of the Scopes trial-by the prestigious 2009 California Book Awards, fiction category. She lives in Solana Beach, where she is at work on her third Sarah Kaufman mystery situated in 1920s Los Angeles.
