It began with a ‘What If?’ The inspiration behind my debut novel – My Grandmother’s Secret . . .
What if? Those two short words are a potent trigger to any imaginative mind. I find myself asking that question all too often. Sometimes the “what if?” starts a question that leads to an answer. And thus novels are born.
As an only child for the first ten years of my life I spent a lot of time in my own imagination, or with my head buried in a book. I was also a shy, quiet, studious child who preferred fictional worlds to that of my peers and their seemingly petty, pointless squabbles. What did I care that the popular girl hadn’t invited me to her party when Nancy Drew was close to solving another mystery while whizzing around in a fancy convertible, or one of the Sweet Valley High twins was lying in a coma.
My “what ifs” back then were mostly related to Barbie and her outfits, but would expand, in my teenage years, to exciting scenarios based on my new-found love for science fiction. What if I got mysteriously transported onto the bridge of the USS Enterprise-D? I wrote self-insert fan fiction answering that question. This was back in the mid 1990’s before fan fiction was even a thing. Thankfully it’s been long lost. It was dreadful, full of teenage angst and an inexplicable crush on Wesley Crusher. It would be a couple of decades before I was hit with the “what if?” that would become My Grandmother’s Secret,my first novel to be published (like all authors I have several “practice” novels hidden away in a folder on my laptop that will never see the light of day, and for good reason).
My Grandparents’ House
My grandparents’ house was an anchor. My parents and I, and later my brother, moved house, and country, several times but my grandparents’ home in south County Dublin never changed. To this day theirs is the only phone number I know off the top of my head. It was a sprawling bungalow, stuffed with all sorts of interesting things. My grandfather was a great book collector, there wasn’t a room in that house that wasn’t stacked with books. And there were other fascinating things too: ornaments and trinkets and boxes. There were also cupboards that I never saw opened.
They had a gorgeous, and lovingly maintained, garden and whenever I visited, I always made time for a wander down past the lawn to the shaded area at the end where several family pets had been laid to rest. On one visit, when I was in my mid-thirties, I paused at the end of the garden and looked back at the house. I was hit by a “what if?”
What if someone was clearing out a relative’s house and came across something that changed everything they knew about their loved one? What would they do? How would they react? What sorts of secrets might be hidden in those mysterious cupboards, boxes, and drawers? I should say at this point that no such revelations came to light when the time came for my grandparents’ house to be cleared. The house provided a spark of inspiration, everything that came after was pure fiction.
What If?
Well, not quite.
I am very fortunate that my parents live in the south of France, and I gratefully benefit from holidays overlooking the Mediterranean. Ever since I started seriously putting pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, and writing novels, I’d wanted to write something set there. There was something about the light, the scented air, and the amazing seafood that creates the perfect setting. More specifically I wanted to write about a house that sits right on the edge of a rocky cove, with waves almost splashing a garden that catches the last of the evening sun. When the “what if?” struck me and I allowed the idea to germinate it was a no-brainer that Grace, who has discovered old letters while clearing her late grandmother’s house, would find herself on the sunny shores of the Cote d’Azur, searching for answers.
The rest of the plot, characters, and locations came later as “what if” led to “who”, “how”, “where”, and, most importantly “so what?”. From the start of that first draft it took nearly ten years to get to where we are now, with My Grandmother’s Secret poised for publication by the wonderful team at Bookouture. On that journey many of the characters have changed, the hows and whys and wheres have altered, but the original question still forms the foundations of the story – “what if?”
There have been many more “what ifs?” since I started the first draft of My Grandmother’s Secret. Some have led to dead-ends. Some have triggered a question that I have yet to find an answer for. Some have even triggered further novels. But none have been inspired by locations so close to my heart.
We should cherish those seemingly random questions. What if one of them becomes a novel that changes your life?
(c) Laura Sweeney
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About My Grandmother’s Secret by Laura Sweeney:
Grace stares at the glittering blue sea from her grandmother’s bedroom, clutching an old envelope to her chest with shaking hands. This will change everything she believed about her grandmother…
After her marriage ends, Grace returns to her late grandmother Lily’s seaside cottage in the beautiful village of Dovecote. The path to the house is lined with daisy bushes, and Grace immediately feels like she’s returned home. Surely spending time here will heal her heart?
Clearing out the chest of drawers in her grandmother’s bedroom, Grace discovers romantic letters from the Second World War, each signed ‘Henri’. Lily shared everything with Grace, so why doesn’t she recognise his name? Hidden amongst the letters is a sealed envelope, addressed in Lily’s hand. But what stopped her from sending it?
Desperate for answers, Grace asks the one person she knows can help, her ex-boyfriend and historian, James. His charming smile and kind, brown eyes are a welcome distraction from her grief, and they agree to find out what happened to Henri. As they begin to spend more time together, Grace wonders if years of heartache could be unwritten…
But just as Grace’s feelings for James resurface, they uncover a heartbreaking secret that changes everything. Could these letters be a sign Grace needs to take a second chance on love? Or will Lily’s past force Grace to confront a secret of her own, which could tear her and James apart forever?
An utterly gripping, emotional and uplifting read about family secrets and second chances. Fans of Susanne O’Leary, Debbie Macomber and Mary Alice Monroe will absolutely adore this tear-jerker.
Order your copy of My Grandmother’s Secret by Laura Sweeney online here.
And read more Meet the Authors of Historical Fiction on Writing.ie here.
