The Heroes' Welcome by Louisa Young - A Moving Story About Life in the Aftermath of the First World War.

It's five years since I read My Dear I Wanted to Tell You by Louisa Young, and the story of the men and women caught up in the First World War both in France and at home, has stayed in my mind, especially as my father fought in the Great War when not much more than a boy, and although he returned, suffering physical wounds far less severe than Riley's, his life was never the same.

The Heroes' Welcome takes up the story of Riley and his girlfriend, Nadine, as they marry in March 1919, with Peter, his Commanding Officer, and Rose, Peter's cousin who had nursed Riley, and Peter's son, Tom, in attendance. The fact that Peter's wife, Julia, is not there illustrates the strain their marriage is already under after the war.
Louisa Young quotes a passage from The Odyssey about a wife so relieved to see her husband again she feels like a shipwrecked sailor reaching land. Julia wants to rekindle their love and take up where they left off, but Peter has his own problems dealing with the fact that so many of his men were lost.
Riley and Nadine too have their problems coming to terms with Riley's injuries which get in the way of the joy of their marriage, and the reaction of their families to their wedding.
This book is worth reading too for Louisa's ability to get right into the heads of her characters as they journey forward through 1919, trying to put the war behind them but, like Peter, unable to talk about their experiences. She also graphically illustrates the reaction of society to the injured: there was not a heroes' welcome waiting for them all.

I'm pleased to say that Devotion, Louisa Young's next book, set in 1930s Italy will be released on April 6th.

'Tom loves Nenna. Nenna loves her father. Her father loves 
Mussolini.'

This continues the story of Tom Locke, Peter's son, and I can't wait!  

The Girl From The Savoy by Hazel Gaynor - A Rich Story of Ambition, Secrets and Love in 1920s London

I am a serial book reader: as soon as I've finished one book, I have to start another! It's like travelling in time and space.
No sooner have I left a cosy Oxfordshire Christmas Eve (in How to Find Love in a Book Shop by Veronica Henry) than I arrive on a cold, icy railway station in Lancashire one hundred years ago, where Dolly is saying goodbye to her sweetheart, Teddy, whom she may never see again as he goes off to war. Two pieces of paper are in her pockets: one represents the life she knows and the other, the life she dreams of.
This is from the wonderful prologue to The Girl From The Savoy by Hazel Gaynor. I have really loved and enjoyed her previous two books, The Girl Who Came Home, and A Memory of Violets (you  can read my reviews here and here) so I was excited to read this one at last.
Dolly's dream is to be on the West End stage like her idol, Loretta May, so she gets a job as a chambermaid at The Savoy to be in London so she can attend auditions and hopefully get a job in the chorus line and work her way up. One day she literally bumps into Perry, sending the pages of music he's written all over the pavement. He doesn't think his music is worth saving, and throws it in a bin, only for Dolly to rescue it and hide it under her pillow because she feels drawn to him in some way.
Loretta, the Darling of the West End, meets up with her brother, Perry, each Wednesday afternoon for tea at Claridges, but however much she enjoys seeing him, she can't quite get herself to tell him her intimate secret.
Meanwhile Teddy, has been so traumatised with the war in France, that he's lost his memory, and a nurse at the hospital helps him in an effort to get his memory back by reading Dolly's letters.
At the same time, Dolly has her own secret which she keeps close to her heart but which is always there in her thoughts and dreams.
Hazel has written such a wonderful book, rich in the lives of people in the 1920s: Dolly at The Savoy glimpsing the glittering guests; Loretta and her life on and off the stage; and Teddy struggling to  remember who he is and forget the horrors of war in a stark Lancashire hospital.
It is a book about ambition, secrets, love, and the Jazz Age. Another world, perhaps, but only less than a hundred years ago.

Hazel Gaynor's next book, set in 1920s Yorkshire, is about the Cottingley Fairies and the two young cousins, Elsie and Frances, who maintained that their photographs of the beautiful creatures were genuine. I've always been fascinated about this story which should be out in Spring 2017, and I can't wait!

Remembering the Centenary of the Outbreak of the First World War

My father was born in 1899 and was 14 when the war broke out. How could he and his family have imagined what effect it would have on their lives?
He was born in a Norfolk village, untouched by progress. By the time he was 18, he was called up. Not with the Pals' Battalions, as at the beginning of the war, but with a London regiment whose boys took the birthday cake my grandmother had made for him, and ate it.
He survived the war, being wounded in October 1918, just weeks before the Armistice, and sent home. But the effect of the horror of war never left him and affected the rest of his life.
I've been able to search for his war records on Ancestry and have been able to visit the place where he was shot: a very moving experience.
Here he stands in the photo, a young man only eighteen years of age, off to fight for his King and Country. Today's boys are off for three years of fun (and study) at uni. Let's not forget what that generation, one hundred years ago, did for us.

My Writing Process Blog Tour

 

Today, I'm joining in the 'My Writing Process' Blog Tour. I was invited by Christina Hollis, a best-selling Harlequin author. Her latest novel is Jewel Under Siege, a romance set in the time of the First Crusade, and you can find her blog here.
This blog tour is a great way of learning about how other writers, experienced or just starting out, create their novels and in doing so, pick up some useful tips.

What am I working on?

I’m working on two novels at the moment. One is a time slip set in the present and the First World War and the other is set solely in the present as a relief from all the historical research!

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

Everyone brings their own experiences and knowledge to their writing. In the First World War novel, I’ve drawn upon family stories passed down to me, as a child, from my grandmother, and from research I was able to do about my father who was shot in October 1918 near Arras, France. (Obviously, he survived, or I wouldn’t be here!)

In the novel set in the present, I’ve drawn upon my own experiences of helping to make wedding cakes which add originality to the scenes.

Why do I write what I do?

I’ve chosen these things to write about because they interest me. I can’t imagine choosing a story, set in a university astrophysics department, involving the discovery of the beginning of the universe, and being attacked by aliens, although someone else may like to try it!


How does my writing process work?

Ideally, I would like several whole days free to concentrate on my writing, but life gets in the way, and I have to write when I can.

Firstly, I try to plan my novel and I am getting better at this. I find Julie Cohen’s three-act story plan, which she told us about at the RNA conference in Penrith, very useful.

Secondly, I do my research. Although it's very easy to do it online or from books, I think it's very important to visit the places I’m writing about and talk to people.

Thirdly, I make notes and then write with a hard 2H pencil (because it doesn't need sharpening so often!) in an A4 wide ruled notebook. I only write on the right hand page so I can add notes on the left. Bringing in Julie Cohen again, I read once that she was told that if you had to extend a chapter, instead of introducing more people or events, go deeper with what you’ve got. So therefore, on the left hand page, I might extend a scene by exploring exactly what someone did or what they had referred to. I also make notes there for further research or new ideas.

Then, I type it up, editing as I go, but that isn't the end, because, I'll print it out and read it out loud and edit it again until I'm happy with it.
I think that the main thing, though, is to keep writing!

Next week, I'll be passing the baton on to three RNA NWS members:

Clare Chase, newly signed up Choc Lit author, with Anna in the Works, 'a mystery romance with funny bits'!

Vanessa Woolley who has a regular column about her chaotic family life in the Maidenhead Advertiser, who is enjoying writing a romantic suspense,
and Evie Mclaughlin who took part in the NANOWRIMO (write 50,000 words in a month challenge) last November.

You can follow #mywritingprocess on Twitter

Every Picture Tells a Story

Bands of Gold at Yellowstone

I was lucky enough to be Highly Commended for this photo in a local arts and crafts exhibition. I just wanted to see if I could get anywhere with my photos, so I was quite pleased:)
I think pictures are very important, and in fact, I can't start writing my blog without putting in a photo first!
Recently, I was struggling to write a chapter for my work in progress. In fact I've been putting it off for a long time, because this particular bit is set in France in the First World War. However, I came across a photograph taken at the time of exactly what I wanted, and starting by describing the scene, I found that I was able to continue with the rest.
Have you been inspired to write by a picture?

The Girl You left Behind - Another Excellent Read from Jojo Moyes

This year I've read three excellent books by Jojo Moyes. She's such a wonderful writer and totally immerses you in the time, the characters and the story.
The Girl You Left Behind is about two women. Firstly, brave Sophie who runs a bar in a village which has been occupied by Germans in northern France during the First World War, and secondly, Liv, a hundred years later, whose husband gives her a portrait of Sophie shortly before he dies.
The portrait is also known as The Girl You Left Behind, and the novel tells how the painting came  to be in German hands; the love of Sophie for her husband, the artist, who was a prisoner of war;  and how Liv fights to keep it when the family of Sophie's husband tries to get it back.
The section about France reminds me of Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris which I have read many times,  although it is set in the Second World War.
Of course, there's love interest for Liv in the form of Paul, a former New York policeman whose job it is to trace paintings and return them to their rightful owners. But who is the rightful owner? And what is Liv prepared to do to keep the painting that means so much to her?
This was a totally fabulous read that kept me hooked until the end.
Which is your favourite Jojo Moyes book?

Writing, Actually, Is All You Need!

Do you remember that I said for my New Year Resolution I would write at least 500 words a day so I could finish the novel I started in 2008?
Well - after two months, I've actually begun!
I must admit that I'd been nervous about beginning again, but I feel better now that by editing the first three chapters that I wrote four years ago (!), I'm now 4,500 words in. That's a good start.
To do this, I've read through and edited the character charts for each, well, character. It's enabled me to get to know them all again and think up some more scenarios for the story.
The novel is set in the First World War, and so I've read through a lot of the research that I did before, and will dip into it again as I need it.
Writing has actually helped me to see how things will develop. I already had a good idea of where I wanted the story to go, but I'm beginning to see new possibilities and a new character has introduced himself too!
I think that the longer that I put it off, the worse I felt, even though I have been promoting Gipsy Moth, and have managed to find lots of other distractions.
Have you picked up a novel and started again after a period of time?

My Dear, I wanted to tell you by Louisa Young - Kindle or paperback?

I had a Kindle for Christmas, and I've been very disappointed that many new books for sale are more expensive to download than to order the paperback and have it delivered to my home. Of course you do get your ebook immediately, but there is another thing. . .

I first saw Louisa Young's beautiful book in Sainsbury's. I was drawn to it by the cover which sets the story in the First World War which I'm researching at the moment. (Someone, giving an Amazon Customer Review, said that the cover was 'reminiscent of yet another beach chick-flick read' - I don't know what they were looking at!)
The back of the cover is important too, and gives, of course, the blurb, but this one is very special because it explains the title: the words on the buff coloured form that would be filled in at a Casualty Clearing Station, 'My Dear . . . I wanted to tell you. . .' which you don't find out until halfway through the book.
This is all lost when you download it on Kindle.
Also, I looked at the first few pages on Amazon, and the formatting is all lost as well. Louisa Young sets the scene in the Prologue by describing the sounds and effects of the Battle of Messines on both sides of the Channel on the main protagonists of the story. All  the gaps between the paragraphs are lost and they all run into each other. Not what Lousia had intended, I'm sure.
Anyway, enough of all that, I really enjoyed this book. The contrasting love affairs between Riley and Nadine, and that of his commanding officer, Peter, and his wife, Julia, and the support which Rose, Peter's sister, gives to them all, are set against the horrific backdrop of the First World War. This is a moving story about how ordinary people coped with their lives during that time.
So, as you can see, I bought the paperback.
Which would you prefer?