Millie - new release!

The Marsh Saga Series! 

Set in the 1920s, this 4 book series is about three sisters, Millie, Prue, Cece Marsh and Prue's friend, Alice. WWI is over and the sisters are ready to spread their wings and embrace a new world.

Millie, sensible and ready to be a wife and mother, but nothing goes to plan.

Prue, wild and eager to explore the world as her grandmother did, but will it fulfil her as she hopes?

Cece, falls in love with a man who loves her sister. Will she get her happy ever after?

Widowed Alice is a modern woman in a man's world and is determined to make her business as good as any man's.

These strong independent women will face challenges and heartache, and alone they might tumble and fall. However, together, they are a force to be reckoned with! 

The first book is Millie.

Millie blurb

The Great War is over, and Millie is ready to leave her loving family home and be a wife to Jeremy who is everything she had hoped for.

Until…

Not long after their wedding, Millie discovers Jeremy is affected by shell shock and moving into his late father’s cold dark estate escalates the problem. Millie tries to help, but Jeremy grows more distant and befriends a homeless, wounded ex-soldier, Monty, who has secrets...

As Millie’s distrust of Monty grows, a rift is created between her and Jeremy and when he leaves to receive hospital treatment, she is left feeling abandoned. When her family is dealt a terrible loss, it is Millie who must be the strongest. However, just when she feels things couldn’t become worse, she suffers her own heartbreaking tragedy.

Grieving and alone, Millie wonders if her marriage can ever be mended, but she can’t give up without a fight.

Will a new home for her and Jeremy in a foreign country be the answer, or will the events of the past destroy everything she wished for? 

Available in Kindle and paperback: Amazon: viewbook.at/Millie

Historical Characters

Characters for historical fiction are created in the same way as for any other genre, i.e: with a major characteristic or trait, but must be made relevant and connected to the period in which they live. Don’t judge the past by modern standards. Balance your characters with good points and a flaw, which could lead to them making them a mistake about their decision in life and for which the reader will feel sympathy or admiration for them. Always remember the historical mindset.

To make characters believable, they must act as if they are contemporary to that time and place. For instance, they might not know that a war is looming even if the reader does. Anything they are planning might have a poignant threat of hope and interest but possible devastation to it. So long as their motivation is clear and the world in which they exist is a living-breathing place, the reader will accept attitudes and actions they never would need in their own life. It helps to read contemporary novels if you can, to get the feel of behaviour, problems and concerns, attitude and speech. And you naturally have to put words into their mouths, so carefully check the language of that period.

Some characters of the less salubrious kind if it’s a gritty historical, could be guilty of prejudice, prostitution, cruelty or whatever, for which the reader will feel no respect. We live in a world with certain demands of political correctness and moral requirements. Our society disapproves of prejudice and bigots, racialism, chauvinism, sexism, provincialism. Remember your characters are people of their own times who may accept some of these issues. You must allow them to act according to their own standards, not yours. Don’t pass judgment on them by making excuses or being dismissive. Don’t apologize for their mistakes and don’t attempt to make them all into free thinkers who are ahead of their times. You have to be able to see the story from their perspective, even if it offends you. And if they are more of a villain to a mistaken hero, they’ll pay the cost for their dreadful behaviour.

Should you use real historical figures? 
A novel about a famous historical figure may feel exciting and good to write. However, can the facts of their life be changed and fiction added? Can you have a woman marry if in reality she actually remained single or was captured and killed? Are you free to change these characters and the way they lived? It is essential that you make it plain that you are adding fiction to the story of your chosen historical figure. You’re saying - What if she was able to free herself/marry/live elsewhere, survive, or whatever. Wouldn’t that have been better for her? Sometimes you are short of knowledge and have to guess what she did and why, so make that clear too.

The concern is, do these historical people or their descendants still have rights? In theory they do, but if it suits the story you are writing to give them a safer or more interesting life, make sure that you do it well. A less well-known figure may seem easier to write about but may not be as interesting. Using real historical figures can be difficult and demand a lot of research, but fascinating. Readers have their own perception of these historical figures. If you feel it might be a problem to develop them in a way to suit your story, it could be fun and more imaginative to create your own historical figures.

In the end there are no set rules. It’s up to you. But if you do it badly, the critics will slay you as being inaccurate, sloppy & anachronistic, so do it well.

I have written about real historical people in the Hostage Queen Series, The Duchess of Drury Lane, Lady of Passion. But in My Lady Deceiver, The Promise, and The Girls of the Great War,’ I made up characters who never existed in reality. You can find these on Amazon, if you are interested in any of them.

 

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Soldiers in World War One

Their physical and mental stress was so strong at times that it blocked out their minds, filling them with fear, grim reality, tension, strain and anxiety whenever they approached a battle zone. They would fall into silence, asking themselves if they could cope with the dangers they were about to face. They always dreaded snipers, shell shock, infections and injuries, or to be damaged with shrapnel. It could make their mind go completely numb, particularly if they suffered the loss of a friend. Some could be walking wounded, or could only sleep on a groundsheet against the cold.

Infantry soldiers often knew very little about where they were or what was going on elsewhere. They lacked the facility of maps, news and information, relying on gossip and rumour. Food in Blighty was very much a problem. They might be given bacon and liver, brawn and kidneys, bread and dripping, but not too much food was available. They might have porridge with a few smashed army biscuits boiling in a mess tin with some water and sugar. Sometimes they were given a small drink of beer, and they would take a sip of rum and roll it on their tongue. Soldiers were also expected to keep their boots, caps, badges and buckles well-polished, and would hide them at night in case one of the other chaps might pinch them. Life was not easy, and they very much depended upon friends and letters from their family. It was a relief for them to be given a short break from the frontline when they were feeling worn out, perhaps to walk through the streets unthreatened by locals. Or to enjoy a performance.

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War might drain men of energy, but Cecily firmly believed that their minds and spirit needed nurturing. Her team gave regular performances in the camp and at local hospitals. It was not unusual for wounded men to be wheeled out of the wards and lie on stretchers in order to watch, having been treated or were simply waiting for the necessary care. They often happily accepted they could be soaked as rain beat down on them. Cecily would regularly sing and on one occasion, they performed a play. Because some couldn’t be moved, following a concert Cecily would visit the hospital and sing to patients in their beds, or to one alone if he was blind or dying. It was exhausting but moving, her team’s situation ripe with danger too. They performed popular songs, poetry, Shakespeare, comedy and gave a glimpse of ‘Blighty’ often to an audience of thousands. The soldiers were always overjoyed to be entertained.