Today, Feathered Quill reviewer Lily Andrews is talking with Brian Snowden, author of On the Precipice of the Labyrinth.

FQ: The novel is an exquisite depiction of an American youth's curiosity and experience. What motivated you to create William Benning as the primary character?

SNOWDEN: This is the part of the book that is somewhat autobiographical. I attended the U of Virginia for my undergraduate degree, which was a BA in Spanish. While there I met with just about every professor, teaching assistant and graduate student in the Romance Language department so I could practice and improve my Spanish language skills. As the son of a Marine Corps officer I had lived in France and travelled to many of the European countries when I was in grade school. So, I had the curiosity and experience from a very early age. I guess William is a representation of me to some degree. However, all the events in the story that take place in Spain are fictional.

FQ: Could you perhaps provide a layman's explanation of the title On the Precipice of the Labyrinth?

SNOWDEN: The backdrop of the novel is Spain during the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s. It was a very difficult and bloody period for Spain, probably the worst conditions in that country in the twentieth century. The Labyrinth represents Spain and its internal conflict at that time. The Spanish word for precipice is "laberinto" and it is a widely used term to describe any difficult situation. It can be on just a personal level or in this case on a national level. The protagonist is on the precipice of the labyrinth. William is an outsider and can never fully comprehend what is happening. His mastery of Spanish and his quick learning about the culture allow him a much better view, but he can never really go deeply into the labyrinth.

FQ: Why did you choose to set the narrative in the 1930s?

SNOWDEN: That decade was an incredibly difficult and tragic one for much of Europe. There was the rise of Hitler in Germany and Mussolini in Italy. Spain had never gotten the attention of most western European nations (or other countries around the world) for many reasons. The Pyrenees Mountains were symbolic of the divide between Spain and its neighbors to the north. The Spanish Civil War didn't attract attention the way events in Germany and Italy did.

FQ: You must have done extensive study on the political situation in Spain at the time. Is that the case?

SNOWDEN: As an undergraduate I spent a semester abroad at the University of Seville in southern Spain. Much of the coursework, other than the language, was about the culture and history of Spain. That is when I began digging deeply in the country from every aspect. As it relates to my book, while in Seville I saw an inordinate number of people, mostly men, who were missing limbs, a hand an arm or leg. I asked people why there were so many. Each time, the answer was the same - "la guerra civil", The Civil War. After that, people would not even continue the subject as it was considered a bad idea to discuss politics. It was the time when Francisco Franco was still the dictator (1971).

FQ: Why did you choose Spain and not another country?

SNOWDEN: That is mostly answered in the previous question. Furthermore, my studies of the Spanish language at the U of Virginia included reading some of the great literature from Spain. This intensified my interest in the country. In my first career I was involved with international business and I travelled to almost every Spanish speaking country.  All of the countries have a deep history with Spain, of course, as they were controlled by the Spanish government after the Conquests in the sixteenth century until the independence movements of the nineteenth century. In my second career I was a professor of Business Administration at the Cincinnati Branch of Wilmington College. Because of my extensive overseas travel and experiences I was asked to design and teach an upper level course on Global Awareness. My subject was the Spanish Conquest of the Inca Empire and the ramifications of it through the following centuries for countries like Peru and Chile. Thus, I did extensive research on the subject that had to include a lot of study of Spain.

FQ: Given your meticulous documentation of the nation's geography, customs, and cuisine, do you consider yourself an explorer in any sense?

SNOWDEN: I have been an explorer to some degree all my life. As a child of a military officer I lived in many places. My parents are from Charlottesville and I consider it my home town (though I was born at the Marine Base Quantico). By the time I graduated from high school I had lived at about eight different addresses, and altogether I have moved some twenty-five times. I attended the University of Seville for a semester when I was in undergraduate school, and that is when I developed my initial interest in Spain and Spanish history. I have traveled to some fifty-three countries, for both business and tourism. I have studied five languages though I am just fluent in three - English, Spanish and Italian. My explorer days are mostly behind me now, but I still have a few adventures in mind.

FQ: What key takeaways from the book do you want your audience to remember?

SNOWDEN: I am fairly certain that the majority of people today, those under about sixty years old, know very little about Spanish history and the turmoil that country experienced in the years leading to World War II. I think that those years, and especially the Spanish Civil War, represented a watershed period for the country. Instead of moving forward into the modern period of the twentieth century, Spain went backward after the conflict. It is fascinating to think how Spain became a huge tourist destination in the years following WWII. I went there when I was seven years old with my parents. However, few people had any idea of what pernicious actions were taken to bring peace and calm to the country.

FQ: Do you feel that incorporating Spanish terms in the book, including the title, would add another layer to the novel?

SNOWDEN: This is a very good question, and represents something I struggled with when writing this book. I felt it was necessary to include Spanish dialogue in the story, but I couldn't include much dialogue if there were no translations. I decided it would enhance the story and I stayed with the plan. I have read extensively in my life, obviously, and I have read books that were in English but included foreign languages. I speak three languages fluently and have studied others, so this was not an obstacle for me. I decided I didn't want the readers frustrated because they didn't know a phrase or term. I tried to keep a limit on the number of times when translations were necessary.

FQ: What difficulties did you have while writing this book?

SNOWDEN: I wouldn't say I had any difficulties. The one thing that was a challenge was how to end the story. I didn't come to that until quite late in the writing.

FQ: Can you give your readers an idea of what your next project will be?

SNOWDEN: The next project has already begun. I am not discussing it with anyone at the moment. What I can say is that it involves another important event in the twentieth century but in Latin America, not Spain.

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