Postscript
It is ironic that it has taken a global pandemic, a tragedy that even as short a time ago as the beginning of 2020 could never have been conceived, that has allowed me to write this book; the book I have been waiting for years to write. It is a book about ordinary people living ordinary lives, the kind of people who populated the world I grew up in who nevertheless have a story to tell. Readers should rest assured, however, that the characters and personalities who inhabit these pages have arisen solely from my imagination.
Although this book has been germinating in my mind for some time, I didn’t start writing it until the initial onslaught of the Coronavirus COVID-19 hit. When London, and then the whole country, was plunged into a total lockdown situation, I was a virtual prisoner in my own home—but for a writer what is new about that? Every time I write a book I am incarcerated for weeks or months at a time, virtually in solitary isolation. To be able to roll out of bed and onto the computer chair is part of a normal working day for me and I was glad to have something that I knew would so pleasurably occupy my time. No shopping distractions, no visitors and no visiting; a writer’s dream. But sadly, no cinema or theatre visits to look forward to at the end of the day either, no dinners out with friends, no holidays, no weekends away, no excuse not to write … and write … and write.
As the characters developed and I became gradually more involved in their world, I started looking forward to being with them each day. And I began to understand what it must have felt like to be in northern England when the war began and people’s lives changed forever. No one then knew how long the war would last or how the world would change as a result. They were unable to contemplate protracted hostilities and assumed there would be an end to it sooner rather than later; just as we assumed we would conquer the virus quickly, and yet here we are many months later still fighting it on all fronts. Our world has already changed and we still don’t know how the story will end or what – as they say, is to be our ‘new normal’?
Writing this book has given me insight into ordinary people’s lives and a greater understanding of what it must have felt like to live through the Second World War in Britain as my own dear late brother and parents did, even if I was fortunate enough not to have been born yet. If they had known when it first started that it would last for six years, might they have wanted to give up the fight before it even began? What would they have made of their ‘new normal’ if they had known at the beginning how it would be by the end?
But then I realized that the circumstances surrounding the two events were not completely comparable, for their pre-war world was part of what is for us a bygone era, and I came to appreciate that my own life had never been of that time. My world is in an age of great technological advancement where ‘isolation’ is different from what it would have been then. I can communicate with my editor, my publishers and my agent through a router, a wireless connection and the double click of a mouse. I can conduct research of all kinds without having to step outside my front door. And now in this time of quarantine and potential isolation I can still connect with friends and family all over the world. I may not be able to touch them, to hug them or embrace them in the flesh, but I can use Twitter and Facebook and interact with the whole world. I can see and hear my loved ones as if they were with me in my own living room thanks to the wonders of WhatsApp, FaceTime, or Skype, and I can connect with colleagues and attend all kinds of editorial and business meetings via Zoom. Thanks to this modern marvel, I have been to a wedding in Canada, a party and a book launch many miles from home, continued to attend my book group and sadly I have even attended a COVID-19-related funeral in another city. But the hands of friendship that have been extended during this dreadful time have been extraordinary and far from feeling isolated it has been a time for forging new connections, interacting with the neighbours, building new support systems, and consolidating old ones in new and exciting ways. All of these wonderful people are too numerous to mention, but you know who you are and all I can say is thank you for being there and for making this book possible.
Acknowledgements
Although some parts of The Postmistress have been in my head for several years, this book actually began life over a seasonal celebratory lunch in a fashionable French restaurant in London and I have to thank my champion and editor, HarperFiction Editorial Director Kate Bradley who has supported all my writing endeavours with patience and care. Without her initial enthusiasm and the encouragement and support of Publishing Director Charlotte Ledger there would be no book and I am thrilled not only to be a part of the HarperCollins team but of One More Chapter as well. Special thanks also to my ever-supportive agent, the RoNA award winning Kate Nash for her faith and belief in me, her constant encouragement and her tireless work on my behalf. They have all played such an important part in helping me achieve my dreams.
I would like to thank my dear friends Jannet Wright and Ann Parker for their contributions to my research and for helping me surmount obstacles that at times may have threatened the writing process; they have always been there to help me scale the impossible walls thrown up by that process and to hand me down safely on the other side.
Thanks as ever to Sue Moorcroft and Pia Fenton (Christina Courtenay) for the generosity of their time and wisdom and for all their unstinting support and to the Finlay family for helping me keep in touch with the outside world.
And lastly thanks to all my friends and family for being so tolerant and for finally accepting that a deadline is a deadline.
If you enjoyed The Postmistress, read Maggie Sullivan’s compelling and heart-warming Coronation Street series …
About the Author
Maggie Sullivan loves to travel, is an avid reader – never going anywhere without a book – and her abiding love is watching football. She is also a freelance university lecturer and has a keen interest in drama and theatre.
Maggie was born and brought up in Manchester, after living abroad for several years, she settled in London where she still lives.
Also by Maggie Sullivan
Christmas on Coronation Street
Mother’s Day on Coronation Street
Snow on the Cobbles
The Land Girls from Coronation Street
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