I recently spoke with a woman who, just minutes before, finished reading Stieg Larssen’s The Lady with the Dragon Tattoo: “What a wonderful, gripping book,” she said. “Yes,” I said, “so I’ve heard. I’ve not read it.” “Oh, but you must. It’s wonderful.” Her enthusiasm was all over her face. “Why is it so wonderful?” I asked. “It’s so real. So gripping.” “Really. I’ve just written a book based on my research,” I said, hoping to persuade her to read my novel, Shadows Walking. “Everything in it either happened, or could have happened. Some of the characters and the dialogue, of course, are fictional. But the historical setting in which they make their choices and the consequences of those choices—I didn’t invent any of that. It’s as ‘real’ as I could write it.” “What’s it about?” she asked. “Nazi Germany. How a well-meaning, intelligent doctor decides to join the Nazi Party, then does what Nazi doctors did, and finally tries to understand why he made those awful choices.” “Oh, no. I won’t read anything like that,” she said with a shudder. “Why not?” I could not resist asking. “Because it’s true. It’s too real. It really happened.” “But you just…
