Her Darkest Hour: Beautiful and heartbreaking World War 2 historical fiction
Page 37
When I visited the camp, I found very few other visitors. In fact, I was alone in the two barracks situated on the lowest terrace, the prison block and the crematorium, which allowed me time and personal space to truly absorb what had occurred there, and to feel the utmost revulsion. In particular, I was moved by the story of four female British Special Operations Executive (SOE) agents who were executed and cremated there, and I have incorporated that event into the story of Her Darkest Hour.
And yes, these women were indeed still alive when shoved into the oven, feet first, according to first-hand reports. And yes, one of them woke up and fought back. And yes, one of them was dark-haired and mistaken for another; first reports revealed that she was Noor Inayat Khan, who was half-Indian, to the dismay of her family. In fact, she was Sonia Olschanezky, a member of the SOE’s network of agents known as the Juggler circuit in occupied France. The other three agents were Andrée Borrel, Vera Leigh and Diana Bowden. There is a commemorative plaque naming all four in the crematorium.
The real-life Kommandant of Natzweiler at the time that the four female SOE agents were executed was Fritz Hartjenstein. Tried by a British war crimes court at Wuppertal, from 9 April to 5 May 1946, he was found guilty and sentenced to death. Hartjenstein’s death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment on 1 June 1946. Later sentenced to death by a French court, he died of a heart attack in prison in 1954.
And so, my fictional avengers Marie-Claire and Victoire were obviously quite right to kill Hartjenstein’s fictional counterpart, Dietrich Kurtz. Left to the Allied courts, he could very well have escaped justice.
As many have said before me: let us never forget. Let the stories keep coming, whether in fact or fiction. They inspire us to do better. Or should…
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Sources
Thanks to Diana Mara Henry, www.natzweiler-struthof.com for her translation of L’Enfer d'Alsace by Eugène Marlot, which is soon to be published in English.
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Further reading on the Natzweiler-Struthof camp: www.scrapbookpages.com/Natzweiler
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The official camp website: www.struthof.fr/en/the-kl-natzweiler
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Quote: Chadwick, E. (2017, Jul 23) ‘Beyond the Dressing Up Box: How I Write Historical Fiction’. Retrieved from http://elizabethchadwick.com/blog/beyond-the-dressing-up-box-how-i-write-historical-fiction/
Of Marriageable Age
‘It’s a wonderful panoramic story and conveys such vivid pictures of the countries it portrays. I was immediately transported and completely captivated. A terrific writer.’ Barbara Erskine
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A spellbinding story of forbidden love. Three continents, three decades, three very disparate lives:
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Savitri, intuitive and charismatic, grows up among the servants of a pre-war English household in Madras. But the traditional customs of her Brahmin family clash against English upper-class prejudice, threatening her love for the privileged son of the house.
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Nataraj, raised as the son of an idealistic doctor in rural South India, finds life in London heady, with girls and grass easily available… until he is summoned back home to face raw reality.
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Saroj, her fire hidden by outward reserve, comes of age in Guyana, South America. When her strict, orthodox Hindu father goes one step too far she finally rebels against him… and even against her gentle, apparently docile Ma.
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But Ma harbours a deep secret… one that binds these three so disparate lives and hurtles them towards a truth that could destroy their world.
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Get it here!
The Lost Daughter of India
One woman. One impossible choice. Her daughter or her happiness…
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When Caroline meets Kamal the attraction is instant. He’s enchanting, charismatic and she can’t wait to set up a new life with him in India. Both their families are against the union but Caroline is convinced they’ll come round, especially when she gives birth to a beautiful daughter, Asha.
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Asha is an adorable child but Caroline, homesick and beginning to hate the remote Indian village they live in, struggles with motherhood. Kamal is hardly ever there and she feels more and more isolated. In the grips of severe depression Caroline flees back to America, leaving Asha behind.
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Ten years later…
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Caroline recovered from her illness, is consumed by thoughts of the daughter she abandoned. Desperate to find Asha, she reunites with Kamal, intent on tracking her down. Will they ever be able to find their lost daughter? If they have any chance, they must confront the painful truths of the past and a terrible secret that has been kept for many years, until now.
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A heart-breaking and beautifully written story of loss, secrets and the strength of a mother’s love against all odds. If you enjoyed Diane Chamberlain and Lucinda Riley then this book will find its way into your heart and stay there.
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The Orphan of India
A beautiful, unforgettable tale of a young girl torn between two lives…
Monika and Jack Kingsley are desperate for a child of their own. On a trip to India, they fall in love with Jyothi: a small, shy girl, whose family has been ruined by poverty.
* * *
Jyothi has been living on the streets of Bombay, seeking comfort in the music she hears around her. When her mother is involved in a tragic accident, Jack and Monika are determined to adopt the orphan child.
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Eventually they return to England, but Jyothi finds it difficult to adapt to her new home. She feels more alone than ever and music becomes her solace once more. Even when Jyothi’s extraordinary musical talent transforms into a promising career, she still doesn’t feel like she belongs.
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Then a turbulent love affair causes her to question everything. And Jyothi realises that before she can embrace her future, she must confront her past…
* * *
The Orphan of India is an utterly evocative and heart-wrenching novel that will stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page. Perfect for fans of Dinah Jefferies, Santa Montefiore and Diane Chamberlain.
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The Soldier’s Girl
France 1944 and the streets are filled with swastikas. The story of a brave English girl behind enemy lines, a German soldier, and a terrible sacrifice…
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English nurse Sibyl Lake is young but skilled and confident. Resolving to do everything she can to help her country she begins to spy to support the French Resistance. She arrives in Colmar, a French town surrounded by vineyards and swarming with German soldiers, but her fear is dampened by the joy of being reunited with her childhood sweetheart. Jacques is now a French Resistance fighter, risking his life to free his friends and family from German occupation.
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Sibyl’s arrival has not gone unnoticed by Commander Wolfgang von Haagan, the commandant of the Colmar region. She realises letting him get closer is her best chance of learning enemy secrets. Yet despite her best intentions, Sibyl soon finds betrayal does not come easy to her. Commander von Haagen is a soldier who yearns for poetry, music, something beyond the war, and Sibyl begins to enjoy the company of the man she’s spying on…
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Determined to do what is right for her country, Sibyl knows what she must do. But will it put both the men she loves into terrible danger?
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A beautifully written, heart-wrenching and unforgettable tale of love and loss in a time of war. Perfect for fans of The Letter by Kathryn Hughes, The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah and All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.
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The Violin Maker’s Daughter
When the Nazis march onto the cobbled streets
of Colmar on November 1st 1940, Josef, a Jewish violin maker, gathers his wife and daughters closely to him and tells them everything will be alright.
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But one year later, three sharp knocks on the door at midnight turn his seventeen year old daughter Sarah’s world upside down. As the oldest child, Sarah must be the first to leave her family, to make her escape in a perilous journey across France via Paris to Poitiers. And she must hide who she is and take a new name for her own safety. For now, bilingual Sarah is no longer a French Jew but a German girl.
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As she bids farewell to her beloved father and family, Sarah has hope, against all odds, that she will see them again when the war is over. But, travelling through the mountains she finds herself in terrible danger and meets Ralf, a German deserter, who risks his own life to save her.
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Ralf and Sarah continue their journey together, keeping their identities secret at all cost. But when Ralf is captured, will Sarah pay the ultimate price for sharing who she really is?
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A gripping and heart-breaking account of love, bravery and sacrifice during the terror of war. A story of standing up for what you believe in; even if it’s going to break your heart. Perfect for fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and The Ragged Edge of Night.
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Get it here!
The Small Fortune of Dorothea Q
Thirty years of family secrets. Three generations of women. One family heirloom that could change everything.
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When she ran away from her childhood home in Guyana, Rika swore that she would never return. Cut off from her family, she has fought hard to make a life for herself and daughter, Inky, in London.
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Now, over thirty years later, Rika’s cantankerous, wheelchair-bound mother, Dorothea, arrives in London. But as old wounds re-open, Dorothea and Rika are further apart than ever.
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Inky soon learns that her grandmother is sitting on a small fortune. As she uncovers the secrets of the past one by one, she unravels the tragedy that tore her mother and grandmother apart. But nothing can prepare her, or Rika, for Dorothea’s final, unexpected revelation.
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An epic, mesmerizing tale of tragic loss, the strength of words left unspoken, and the redeeming power of love.
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Get it here.
The Secret Life of Winnie Cox
Two people. Two very different worlds. One heartbreaking love story.
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1910, South America: Winnie Cox lives a privileged life of dances and dresses on her father’s sugar cane plantation. Life is sweet in the kingdom of sugar and Winnie along with her sister Johanna, have neither worries nor responsibilities, they are birds of paradise, protected from the poverty in the world around them.
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But everything can change in a heartbeat…
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When Winnie falls in love with George Quint, the post-office boy, a ‘darkie’ from the other side, she soon finds herself slipping into a double life. And as she withdraws from her family, she discovers a shocking secret about those whom are closest to her. Now, more than ever, Winnie is determined to prove her love for George, whatever price she must pay and however tragic the consequences might be.
* * *
A breathtaking love story of two people fighting to be together, in a world determined to break them apart.
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Buy here!
The Sugar Planter’s Daughter
A breathtaking and unforgettable story of a woman torn between her family and the man she loves.
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1912, British Guiana, South America: Winnie Cox is about to marry George Quint, the love of her life. Born into a life of luxury and privilege on her father’s sugar plantation, Winnie has turned against her family by choosing to be with George – a poor black postman from the slums.
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Winnie may be living in poverty, but she’s got what sister Johanna doesn’t have: a loving husband and a beautiful family. And despite Johanna running her family’s sugar plantation, Winnie will always be their mother’s favourite daughter, a bitter pill for Johanna to swallow.
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Then Winnie’s son falls ill and she must travel to Venezuela desperate for a cure. With her sister away, Johanna finds herself increasingly drawn to George. But he only has eyes for Winnie. Johanna, stung by the rejection and the fragile state of her own marriage, is out for revenge – no matter how devastating the consequences.
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A compelling and evocative story of betrayal, temptation and buried secrets that will captivate fans of Dinah Jefferies and Kate Furnivall.
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Buy it here.
The Girl from the Sugar Plantation
An unputdownable story about a woman in search of the truth, the man she falls in love with, and the devastation of the Second World War.
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1934, Georgetown.
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All her life, Mary Grace has wanted to know the truth about who her parents really are. As the mixed-race daughter of two white plantation owners, her childhood has been clouded by whispered rumours, and the circumstances of her birth have been kept a closely guarded secret…
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Aunt Winnie is the only person Mary Grace can confide in. Feeling lost and lonely, her place in society uncertain, Mary Grace decides to forge her own path in the world. And she finds herself unexpectedly falling for charming and affluent Jock Campbell, a planter with revolutionary ideas.
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But, with the onset of the Second World War, their lives will be changed forever. And Mary Grace and Jock will be faced with the hardest decision of all – to fight for freedom or to follow their hearts…
* * *
An utterly compelling and evocative story about the heart-breaking choices men and women had to make during a time of unimaginable change. Perfect for fans of The Secret Wife and Island of Secrets.
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Get it here.
Acknowledgements
Writing a novel is a solitary occupation. I lived with the characters and the story for many months, but once that work was done, many others gave their wisdom and their expertise to helping this work make its entry into the big wide world, and into your hands. I would like to thank, first of all, my wonderful editor, Lydia Vassar-Smith, who with her sensitive and skilled touch helped to create the very best version of the story. Many other members of the Bookouture family played their part in the book’s release: Jacqui Lewis, Jane Donovan, Ami Smithson, Alexandra Holmes and Radhika Sonagra; thank you to them, and to Kim Nash, Noelle Holten and Sarah Hardy for their dedicated work in promoting it; and not forgetting a big thank-you to all the bloggers and social media readers who’ve taken the time to review and write about it; word of mouth is a silent but powerful helper!
I’d also like to thank my fellow authors for their unwavering support, advice and encouragement, in particular Debbie Rix, Renita D’Silva and Laura Elliot, as well as the wonderful authors in the Facebook groups Second World War Authors and the Savvy Writers Snug, and also members of the AbsoluteWrite Water Cooler.