David Bergen takes readers on a mother's thrilling quest
Scotiabank Giller Prize-winning author David Bergen takes readers on a mother's breath-taking, border-crossing quest to find her stolen child. Stranger revolves around Íso, a young Guatemalan woman who works at an upscale fertility clinic, tending to rich women hoping to conceive. Íso herself becomes pregnant after a love affair with an American doctor, and her baby ends up being taken from her. She embarks on a journey to the U.S. — hitching rides and walking on foot — to find her daughter.
David Bergen spoke to Shelagh Rogers from Winnipeg about the inspiration behind the book.
On the novel's accidental origins
It was almost by chance. I was planning this novel, which became Stranger, and at first it was quite dystopian. It was quite futuristic and it had a virus in it, as all futuristic novels must. Then I slipped back into a more contemporary vision, but slightly in the future, and I took out the virus and I took out the other futuristic stuff. Then it became a quest novel featuring a hero, a young woman who was 22 years old.
On his connection to Guatemala
I travel down to Guatemala twice a year. I have family down there. I met three people. One was a young German guy who drove us by van to a beach. He had met a German doctor who became pregnant and taken their child back to Germany. He was longing for this child. Then I met a young woman who spoke perfect English and had learnt it at the American school in a town nearby. There was another time where I met a midwife who worked with local women. I listened to their stories and then I came back to Winnipeg and started to write the novel.
David Bergen's comments have been edited and condensed.