BookPleasures.com ishonored to welcome acclaimed novelist Elizabeth Birkelund, whoselatest novel, A Northern Light in Provence, is alreadyresonating with readers for its lyrical prose, quiet emotional power,and evocative sense of place.

Elizabeth, known for herthoughtful and character-driven storytelling, invites us this timeinto the sun-drenched landscapes of southern France, where art, love,grief, and self-discovery entwine.

At the heart of the storyis a woman seeking renewal after loss—and a vivid portrait of howunexpected encounters and unfamiliar surroundings can awakenlong-dormant parts of the soul.

Today, we’re delightedto speak with Elizabeth about the inspirations behind A NorthernLight in Provence, her creative process, and how fiction canilluminate the paths we take through sorrow, hope, andtransformation.

Norm: Good dayElizabeth and thanks for taking part in our interview. Elizabeth,what first inspired you to write A Northern Light inProvence? Was there a personal connection to the region orto the themes of healing and self-discovery that sparked the novel?

Elizabeth: I wrote thisnovel to explore the concept of translation that has intrigued me foryears. Translation is not math. It’s not 1+1=2. Rather, it’s1+1=100.

There are hundreds of waysof saying something in another language, even in our own language.The working title of this novel was Translating Love, becauseI wanted to explore how difficult it is to translate another person’sexperience of love.

There’s the book calledThe Five Languages of Love, but by the time I finished writingthe novel, I decided that there were as many love languages as thereare people, so that means 8 billion!

A Northern Light inProvence is also a love letter to Provence.

About ten years ago, Ifell in love with a hilltop village in the Luberon Valley. I havevisited this village almost every year since then.

I wanted to revisit it inmy novel to give readers a similar experience. Regarding Greenland, Ihave Danish ancestry.

One of our family names isRasmussen. Knud Rasmussen was a famous explorer and anthropologist inGreenland, so I chose Greenland as the home of my protagonist, andthis was before Greenland became a hot political topic!

Norm: The novelbeautifully captures the emotional landscape of a woman processinggrief while immersing herself in a foreign culture. What drew you tothis particular emotional and physical journey?

Did you travel toProvence as part of your research or draw from your own experiencesabroad?

Elizabeth: As I wroteabove, I have spent time in Provence for the last ten years. But I’vebeen a Francophile almost all my life and have travelled to mostparts of France.

For this novel inparticular, Provence was the inspiration. 

Norm: Your protagonistfeels incredibly real and relatable. How do you approach developingsuch layered characters? Did she arrive fully formed in yourimagination, or did she evolve as you wrote?

Elizabeth: Ilse Erlundarrived almost fully formed in my imagination from the start of thenovel. I knew that she was an introvert, that she was a translator,that she was 35 years old, that she was restless to explore,impatient to leave her homeland.

I knew that she had lost abrother in a motorcycle accident. I knew that she had a difficultmother and a complicated father.

What I didn’t know muchabout was her love life, and what would happen to her when shearrived in Provence.

I realize it sounds“corny” for an author to say this, but she’s the one whodirected my hand once she arrived in Provence.

Her love of the poet wasgoing to be evident, but what about the poet’s son? I wasn’tsure! And what about the relationship she left behind in Greenland? Ialso wasn’t sure.

So, yes, she did evolve asI wrote. As did her parents and her relationship to them.

Norm: Place plays acentral role in this novel—Provence is almost a character itself.How did you capture its mood and texture so vividly? Were therespecific sensory details or personal memories you wanted to preserve?

Elizabeth: Certainly, thecolors of Provence! How I love the juxtaposition of the clay of theearth with the lavender of the flowers, with the terracotta rooftopswith the views of the vineyards beyond, and then you have the openmarkets with the black tapenade and the bright red tomatoes, and thedusty grey goat cheeses.

And then there was thesmell of freshly baked bread, the lavender soaps, the taste of Frenchbutter, the first sip of anise flavored Ricard, the thyme saucisson.Provence is a sensory feast. 

Norm: The novel feelsboth intimate and universal—touching on solitude, resilience, andreconnection.

How did you balance thepersonal scale of the story with these larger human themes? Didyou start with the emotional arc or with the setting?

Elizabeth: Good question! 

The emotional arc is theincentive for the novel, but the physicality of the setting is, forme, the best and easiest place to get the novel started.

Set the scene, place theactors on the set, carry out the message… Hopefully, the emotionalarc will be a true arc, which is always satisfying. 

Norm: Were there anysurprises during the writing process—scenes, characters, ordirections that took you somewhere unexpected? How did you knowwhen to follow those new directions versus staying with your originalplan?

Elizabeth: The mostsurprising aspect of writing A Northern Light in Provence wasmy trip to Greenland. I wrote the first draft without having been toGreenland.

I researched extensively,I spoke to explorers, to Greenlanders, read books about the country.

When I told my editor thatI hadn’t been to Greenland, she said, “Well, you know that you’regoing!” I said, “Of course.” Then I asked her to join me.

To go to a country inwhich your novel is situated with your editor! This was a surprise.Now, my editor would know which parts of my novel rang true or false.

During our trip, I wasdoing well until we visited the home of Ilse, my main character. Inthe original draft, there were roads, trucks, cars, and emergencyvehicles.

When we arrived inOqaatsuut, we discovered that there were no roads.

No roads! Only grass,rocks; people walked to each other’s homes, or else they took aferry to other towns, or used dog sleds in the winter, ATVs in thesummer. (Greenland has only 86 miles of paved roads.) I changed thatpart of the novel. So much about Greenland was surprising!

The icebergs, how hugethey were, the whales, how numerous they were, the sled dogs, howthey howled at dusk for their dinners. 

All in all, I stayed withmy original plan, I just extended it, enlarged it, embraced it.

Norm: Are there scenesor passages in the novel that are especially meaningful toyou—whether because of what they say, or how they cametogether? Can you share why those parts stand out?

Elizabeth: The scenes inwhich the poet and Ilse find a common ground in their work togetherspoke to me very much.

This sensitivity tolanguage, this sharing of the love of poetry, their gentle seeking ofmeaning in life, the meeting of young and old, their discussions ofwhat makes poetry mean something to someone.

These were the momentswhen I wanted the book to sing. 

The first scenes of Ilsearriving in Provence were also important to me. I wanted to conveythe feelings I had when I first arrived in this hilltop village.

Revelation, joy, sensualawakening, discovery of self. 

Norm: How did your ownreading life influence this novel? Were there specific authors,genres, or even works of art that helped shape the tone or style ofthe book?

Elizabeth: One author inparticular helped me understand the part of the poet in my novel, andthat is W.S. Merwin.

He translated troubadourpoetry, lived in Provence, loved Provence, and wrote poetry. He wasmy inspiration for my poet and shaped the tone of his poetry.

Really, more than art, thesettings of Greenland and Provence shaped the tone and style of thenovel. 

Norm: Where can ourreaders find out more about you and A Northern Light inProvence?

Elizabeth: MY WEBSITE: 

My publicist, Janet Appel,Janetappel54@aol.com, will be happy to help.

Norm: As we close,what do you hope readers will carry with them after finishing ANorthern Light in Provence? If they walk away with one insight orfeeling, what would you like it to be?

Elizabeth: You sure askprofound questions!

First, I would likereaders to enjoy the journey Ilse takes from Greenland to Provence,to experience her sensations, her joys, her disappointments.

Secondly, I would likereaders to explore the notion of translation, first words, thencountries, then the concept of love.

This is such a richsubject, and I had to edit so much from the final draft! Lastly, asreaders follow Ilse’s journey of self-discovery, I would hope thatthey would find a morsel of truth in the novel for themselves.

Ilse learned how importantknowing herself was before jumping into a relationship that was notmeant for her.  Part of the effort in translation in life, isunderstanding one’s own language.

Norm: Thanks once againand good luck with all of your future endeavors