August Book Club - Spare Brides by Adele Parks

stitchinggran

Hi Adele, thanks for coming onto GN. I really enjoyed your book, and do particularly enjoy books about the war/post-war eras. I loved Ava's character probably because she was the most rebellious and modern-thinking. I also thought I would really dislike Lydia's character, but ended up feeling quite conflicted about her. Is it difficult to make characters so complex? Where did you get your inspiration from?

Characters should never be black and white, absolutely not because people aren’t. I think we’re all full of contradictions. I take great delight in drawing rich, complex characters. It was essential that I understood the women of the period I was writing about and that I conveyed them to the reader, realistically and accurately. Of course I understood that the clothes, the homes, the social, academic and financial circumstances of the 1920s women were different from those I usually write and, therefore, lots of earnest research was required. I submerged myself, rather than assume anything from a twenty-first century view point. Importantly, I discovered that the crux of the women alive a hundred years ago was the same as those alive now. The women in Spare Brides are scared, truthful, brilliant, flawed, sexy, hopeful, hopeless, lost and found. Just as we can be.

Twostep

Hello. Did you enjoy writing a historical novel more or less than your other books?

I would assume the process differed quite a lot given the researc involved in writing historical fiction

I always enjoy writing, whatever the period. Writing makes me feel calm and yet stimulated in a way nothing else does. I feel particularly alive and purposeful when I’m writing. Writing Spare Brides had an added dimension. The necessary extensive research was intoxicating and appealed to my inner geek. I immersed myself in the period. I visited countless museums to look at the clothes, vehicles, art and furniture of the era. I read newspapers, magazines, adverts, propergander and books (both fiction and non-fiction) that were written then. I read recently written social commentaries and spent a lot of time on the web. I couldn’t take anything for granted; even the details had to be researched: how they spoke, how their underwear fastened, what they ate – it all had to be researched. Interestingly, after gaining this enormous wealth of exhaustive knowledge, the job of the author is to make all that disappear. No one wants to read a novel stuffed full of facts and lessons. My research had to be unobtrusive background; the book is carried by the characters.

neena

Hi, I hope I am not too late to post my questions!

I really enjoyed the book, thank you. I would be interested to know(two questions if I may!):

1. Was it difficult to write a novel about a tragic issue while still maintaining a degree of lightheartedness?

Thanks!

It’s been my experience that people are beautifully, wonderfully resilient and even in very terrible times humour is often found. I didn’t want the novel to be gloomy but I did want it to be serious, as that’s how I felt the people of the time viewed things. They had endured so much but they wanted to move on and live again. I wanted to reflect the reality; misery and hopefulness sit side by side in life.