The Great War and the Homeland: An interview with historical fiction author Diana Jackson

1) Please tell us about your book, Ancasta: Guide me Swiftly Home. 

In Ancasta we live with our family from Riduna my first novel, in Woolston, Southampton from 1910 and through the Great War, but it’s an unusual story. We witness first-hand the early flight of flying boats which changed the lives and economy of the local people, but it is the women whose lives are altered forever. Ancasta means 'The Swift One,' and is allegedly the Anglo Roman Goddess of the River Itchen. There is a sense of prayer through the ages as my characters, like the Roman's before them, looked out towards Southampton Water and pray for with swift and safe return of their loved ones.

2) Please tell us a bit about your characters. 

Harriet the recently widowed matriarch of the story has an energy for life and enthusiasm. In the war she turns her guest house into a convalescence home for recovering wounded. She is still the one who calmly holds the family together through crisis and loss. Sarah her daughter is more headstrong. She relishes her new freedoms and changing status as she begins to work at the new flying boat works, Supermarine, but there is a price to pay.

Two of Harriet's sons led me, not to the muddy fields of France, but to India and Turkey. Happy go luck Jack is full of adventure and joined the newly formed RNAS whereas Tom is dismayed to find himself journeying so far from home. The third son Ernest continues as a foreman of Supermarine throughout the war, taking on the responsibility of the father role within the family as well as looking after his own young family. One character whose presence is ever felt but rarely present is Edward, Harriet's sweetheart from the island of Riduna where she was born.

3) Three important centenaries of events involved in your book are coming up. Please tell us a bit about those. 

The RNAS Calshot was first opened in March 1913 and Jack volunteered to work there as a civilian engineer before joining up at the start of the war.

The first Schneider Trophy Contest, a speed flight competition of amphibian aircraft was in April 1913. Although not directly part of my novel, Supermarine went on to win the competition outright in 1931 and the earlier event of 1919 in Bournemouth was discussed by Ernest and Harry Harper, the air correspondent of The Daily Mail who is staying in Harriet's guest house.

The Supermarine Works were opened in October 1913, better known, of course, for RJ Mitchel's development of the Spitfire for WW2.

4) What inspired you to write about this time period? 

My first novel was set between 1966 and 1910. Ancasta is a sequel to Riduna although it is written to stand alone but my own family lived in Woolston at that time and my Great Grandmother did have a guest house at the time of the Schneider Trophy. This formidable lady inspired my writing.

5) Please tell us a bit about your research process and tools.

Whereas with Riduna I researched from books in libraries and museums, for Ancasta I continued to do the same, but I also reached out to experts in their fields. It is their support an enthusiasm which has made the experience so enjoyable and many have checked chapters for accuracy in the historical content. I wanted the novel to be believable, for the author to live life at the times through the eyes of my fictional characters, who led me on many merry paths I had not imagined when the novel was conceived. I tried not to rely on the internet but to find a primary source where I could.

6) Is there anything surprising you learned about this period when doing research?

Lots. I expected Tom to go to the Western Front as a cyclist messenger - he worked in a bicycle shop before the war you see, but discovered that The Ninth Hampshire Cyclist's Regiment went to India. I had already drafted the chapter so that meant a total rewrite. Also, if someone had told me ten years ago that I would be spending days researching about flying boats I would have laughed. Of course, only a small part of research actually ends in the novel but I was hooked. To learn that many in England expected Flying Boats to be the mainstay in Civil Aviation because, as an island passengers felt safer if they could land on sea, was a bit of an eye opener too!

7) Please tell us briefly about your other works.

While researching the third in the Riduna Series set between 1020 and the early thirties, I have two projects on the go. I've recently finished compiling the memoirs of a 103 yr old. Norman shared the story of his life on Video. Watch this space!

I'm also two-thirds into completing a murder mystery set locally here in Bedfordshire, but there's a bit of history in it too. It's been a challenge to write, keeping all the threads going, but the research has been less intensive.

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Thanks, Diana.

If you'd like to learn more Diana, please visit http://www.dianamaryjackson.co.uk/.

Diana's books are available for sale at Amazon.

The Playground Before The War to End All Wars: An interview with Gabriele Wills

1) Please tell us about your book.

The Summer Before the Storm is the first in an epic trilogy that begins in 1914 in legendary Muskoka – the summer playground of the affluent and powerful in the rugged Canadian Shield. Amid the pristine, island-dotted lakes and pine-scented forests, the young and carefree amuse themselves with glittering balls and friendly competitions. This summer promises to be different when the destitute son of a disowned heir joins his wealthy family at their cottage on Wyndwood Island. Through Jack’s introduction into the privileged life of the aristocratic Wyndhams and their social circle, he seeks opportunities and alliances to better himself, including in his schemes, his beautiful and audacious cousin, Victoria. But their charmed lives begin to unravel with the onset of the Great War, in which many are destined to become part of the “lost generation”.

You can get a sense of the setting and story on this YouTube trailer.

2) What got you interested in writing a book about World War I?

I wanted to evoke the unique lifestyle of Muskoka’s Age of Elegance, and the war provided a perfect counterpoint. People live more intensely and passionately in tumultuous times when death is unpredictable and unprecedented. I also wanted to highlight the lesser-known aspects of that war, especially women’s unsung contributions. They stepped from genteel drawing rooms into the horrors of makeshift hospitals and dangers of driving ambulances on the front lines – which are portrayed thoroughly in book 2, Elusive Dawn. It’s not so much a war story, as a tale about a generation tested by extraordinary times.

3) Please tell a bit about your main characters.

Victoria Wyndham is the feisty, tempestuous heroine who rebels against the stultifying restrictions of her Edwardian life. But she’s neither a suffragette nor a bluestocking, like her cousin Zoë. Mad cousin Phoebe has an uncanny knack of seeing and telling the truth, which others rarely appreciate. Their families are firmly ruled by Grandmother Augusta Wyndham, but charming, ambitious cousin Jack disrupts their complacent world.

Augusta is determined that sensible Justin Carrington should marry Victoria, since he should be able to control her impetuous nature. Also vying for Victoria’s affections is charismatic Chas Thornton, who’s trying to find a path for himself in a self-indulgent world.

Doctor siblings Blake and Eleanor Carlyle annoy Augusta with their socialism and middle-class sensibilities. The “downstairs” life is seen through the eyes of the parlour maid, Molly, who is not all that she appears.

A supporting cast of friends and relatives – including artists and gold-diggers - helps to bring the era to life.

4) What sort of themes do you explore in your book?

Love and betrayal in different guises – familial and romantic.

The contrast between the rich and the poor, as seen through Jack’s experiences as well as through the servants’. There’s also the contrast between the free-spirited Bohemians and the chaperoned young people continually pushing for freedoms that scandalize their elders.

Family dynamics are explored, exposing that things are not always as they seem. Some people are living lies, and many have secrets. Madness is brushed aside as immaturity. There’s also a great burden of duty to family as well as to country.

This was a time of monumental change, particularly for women, who were invading “men’s realms”, seeking independence, and eager to “do their bit” for the war effort.

Overcoming adversity is a challenge for many of the characters. Obviously the war provides trials both physical and psychological. The true impact of that cataclysm can be appreciated through the eyes of these individuals.

5) What sort of research did you do to help ensure you were accurately bringing the period to life?

I really need to immerse myself in all aspects of an era, from food to philosophy. I read over 100 books, my favourites being memoirs and letters, in which there are intriguing details about daily life as well as the actual voices of the time, elucidating the language, morals, and values. They also provided incidents that I used for my characters. For instance, flying with top ace Billy Bishop and others helped me to understand the life of pilots, and the intensity of aerial battles. I was thrilled when Bishop’s son said I got it right!

I visited museums and archives, WW1 battlefields and cemeteries, explored hundreds of websites, and joined three online war forums, where I asked experts about obscure facts I couldn’t find anywhere else.  I’m particularly fascinated by odd and often unbelievable bits of social history. Notes at the end of my books assure readers that these quirky events are true.

6) Is there anything you feel people misunderstand about World War I? 

There’s a misconception that soldiers spent most of their time in the front-line trenches. In fact, there were long periods when the men were safely behind the lines. Tennis and polo matches, soccer and baseball games, dances and entertainments were all part of the military experience in France. You can find more on my website, Odd, Intriguing, Surprising Facts about WWI,

7) Please tell us about your other works.

Elusive Dawn (Book 2) and Under the Moon (Book 3) continue to follow the lives, loves, and fortunes of the Wyndhams and their friends through the war and the glittering Jazz Age.

A Place to Call Home is a saga set in Canada’s less civilized pioneer past.

Moon Hall is a Gothic tale of two women in different centuries.

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Thanks, Gabriele.

If you're interested in more from Gabriele or purchasing her novels, please visit http://www.themuskokanovels.com/.