1) Here is the first sketch I made of the imaginary town of niessen-bei-villach, before The Right Hand of Sleep was properly begun. I'd decided to base the appearance and geography of the town as closely as possible on the village in Austrian Carinthia where my mother was born. Having never written a novel before, it seemed a good idea to start with a place I'd loved from childhood and to let a story arise organically from the setting.
Click to View: 1) Map
2) Village
3) House
4) Great-Uncle Karl
5) Dora Toula, Great-Grandmother
6) Cottage
7) Himmler
8) Memoirs of maternal grandfather, an opera conductor and composer
