Every day in the week leading up to the release of my brand-new book The Lost English Girl on March 7, I’m revealing a story, fun fact, or other tidbit about the book. Follow along each day to learn more about the book!
The Lost English Girl was inspired by family stories and legends.
Growing up, one of my favorite things was when, after dinner, the adults would push back from the table, their glasses of wine still near at hand, and start telling stories. I loved listening to all of the tales—especially the ones that grew in size and exaggeration the more often they were told.
It was through these stories that I learned about both the British and American sides of my family, and it only makes sense that some of those stories have crept into the books I’ve written.
The Lost English Girl was inspired by a family story that was often told but was scant on detail. My ancestor was an unmarried Catholic woman who fell pregnant (or “got into trouble” as they might have said then) by a Jewish boy. In early twentieth-century Liverpool, the idea of an interfaith relationship was scandalous—but so was the thought of an unwed mother. The family story goes that the couple were forced to marry to legitimize the child and separated on their wedding day, never to see each other again.
We don’t know anything about what happened to the father of the child—my mother’s cousin—just as we don’t know how he or his family felt about the marriage and child that he never saw. We don’t even really know how the woman felt about the marriage or her motherhood. All of that has been lost to time.
The Lost English Girl takes my ancestor’s story and tries to answer those questions not only for her but for the man she married and never saw again. Family legend became the inspiration for a story that spun off in completely different directions, taking on a life of its own.
One of the great challenges of being a historical fiction author is filling in the gaps of history. We are constantly making decisions about what truth to add to our novels, what to leave out, and what to make up. Ultimately, the goal is to create a rich novel full of characters you can empathise with, even if their experiences are nothing like your own.
Want to learn more about The Lost English Girl? Check back tomorrow or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and don’t forget that there is still time to preorder your copy of The Lost English Girl in print, ebook, or audiobook!
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