Pam Jenoff, author of Almost Home and George Washington University Alum, and her novels

Author Pam Jenoff

Author Pam Jenoff is a former resident of Maryland and graduate of George Washington University in Washington, D.C.  After attending Cambridge University in England, she took a variety of jobs in American government, including positions with the Pentagon and the State Department.  Since then, she's graduated the University of Pennsylvania and works as an attorney. 

However, her latest pursuits have involved novel writing, and one of her earlier novels, The Kommandant's Girl, became an international best seller and was nominated for the Quill Award.  Her recent novel, Almost Home, was released in paperback and is set in both Washington, D.C., and London as the main protagonist, diplomat Jordan Weiss searches for the truth behind the death of an old college boyfriend and tries to uncover corporate connections to the Albanian mob.

Your previous novels -- The Diplomat's Wife and The Kommandant's Girl -- are set during WWII, but Almost Home is set later.  What about history tempts you to write these novels and why do you select the time periods you do for a particular storyline? 

I spent almost two and a half years living in Krakow, Poland, and working on Polish-Jewish relations and post-Holocaust issues in the mid-1990s, which is what gave me the inspiration for The Kommandant’s Girl, and The Diplomat’s Wife just flowed from that.  I don’t write for a specific genre, so when the idea for Almost Home came up and it was modern suspense, I just went with it.  But I really do think all three books are very similar – Almost Home has a World War II backstory.  All of the books share not just historical elements, but international intrigue, and they were all influenced by the overseas places and experiences that affected me so profoundly.

You grew up near Washington, D.C.  How did that proximity inspire you and what path did it lead you to follow? 

I was born in the D.C. area – Silver Spring to be exact – but moved away as a young child.  In high school, I became fascinated by government and international affairs, interests which were solidified when I spent a week in Washington with Presidential Classroom for Young Americans.  After that, I pretty much only applied to colleges in the Washington area and I wound up at GWU.  It was an amazing place to go to school, especially given the proximity to the White House, Capitol and government agencies and the opportunities that the location provided for exciting jobs and internships.  For example, a simple position as a part time messenger at a law firm provided the connection to a partner there who would later become Secretary of the Army and bring me to The Pentagon to work for him.

 
Working in government can be difficult.  Have you ever considered writing a memoir about your time as an assistant to the Secretary of the Army or other positions you've held? 

Sorry, I’m a novelist only, no memoirs!  But my experiences at The Pentagon were amazing.  I was in my early twenties and witnessing government at that level was truly seeing the world “from the shoulders of giants.”  I traveled to the 50^th Anniversary of World War II commemorations around the globe, was at Oklahoma City a few days after the bombing, and worked with the Pan Am Flight 103 families to get their memorial at Arlington National Cemetery.  And my time overseas for the State Department in Eastern Europe just a few years after the fall of Communism, watching democracy flourish, was also amazing. 
 
Working in the State Department must have been exciting.  Did the intrigue and secrecy or the mystique of government service fuel your desire to write the compelling novels you do? 

Being a Foreign Service Officer was a wonderful experience, but I can’t say it was about the mystique or intrigue.  The diplomats I met were among the most talented and dedicated individuals I’ve known and the work, the sense of representing our country, was like few other types of work I have known.  And of course the experience of living in a foreign culture and getting to know people there on such a personal level was life-changing.  I definitely think those things influence my writing. 
 
Do you have plans to write any novels set in D.C. or the surrounding area, and if so, care to provide some hints? 

Well my next novel, Hidden Things, is a sequel to Almost Home and though Jordan travels to a number of different countries, it will certainly have a lot of political intrigue.  Beyond that, I’m sure some of my books will return to D.C. but I can’t say too much at the moment!

Please visit Savvy Verse & Wit's interview with Pam Jenoff where she discusses her writing habits and obsessions.  Additionally, BookCast and the Fairfax County, Va., Library have a discussion with Jenoff and C.M. Mayo about their latest novels available for listening.  For more information about the author of Almost Home, visit her Website.