Bo Caldwell, author of the national bestseller The Distant Land of My Father, visited Paly yesterday during period 4 and lunch to both lead and listen to discussion about her book.

The Distant Land of My Father tells the story of the relationship between Joseph Shoene and his daughter Anna against the backdrop of both World War II and the years following in Shanghai.

The complex character of Joseph Shoene is based upon the life story of Caldwell’s uncle.

“I used the facts of my uncle’s life as far as chronology goes,” Caldwell said. “But the inside I guessed and made it up. I really didn’t know anything about my uncle’s interior life.”

The lunch meeting today was very similar to a book club meeting, as both students and teachers were able to discuss the novel and ask Caldwell questions.

Teen services librarian Laurie Hastings lead the discussion by asking questions that challenged participants to analyze the characters as well as some of the themes of the novel.

“I think that the discussion went very well,” Hastings said. “I love leading discussions with students because I always hear a different perspective.”

A majority of the discussion that took place during lunch focused around Joseph Shoene’s character and whether or not he was a good father who deserved forgiveness.

“He [Joseph Shoene] couldn’t accept the idea of nine to five work,” Caldwell said in the discussion. “I think that he had a deep inability to see things as they are. To me he was not a bad man, he was a deluded man.”

Caldwell was inspired to write this book because of her growing friendship with her uncle in the last fifteen years of his life.

“I was really moved by the fact that he [her uncle] was asking his wife and son for forgiveness and trying to set things right,” Caldwell said. “I saw him changing.”

The Distant Land of My Father is the latest novel chosen by the Silicon Valley Reads program, presented by The Santa Clara County Office of Education, the Santa Clara Country Library, and the San Jose Public Library Foundation, to be read for Silicon Valley Reads Month, which was this past February.

For a book to qualify to be one of the 7-8 options considered, the book must be written by a living author, be somehow relevant to Silicon Valley, and have general appeal for audiences of both teenagers and adults.

Books featured during Silicon Valley Reads Month are chosen annually.