An Unexpected Inspiration

What is the spark that ignites a story? In a previous blog I have described the one that set me on the path to writing my latest novel, The Case Against Fili Du Bois: a sign on a church wall that said Baby drop-off. Ages up to 3. And I thought... what if a child was dropped off and never fetched?

But what about the very first spark, the one that inspired my debut novel, The Housemaid's Daughter?

It came from my Irish grandmother who inadvertently sowed the seeds for the plot while teaching me to play the piano - and thereby launched my future writing career. She loved to reminisce. Sitting by her side, I learnt more than the names of the notes and where to place my fingers to make a tune. I learnt about her history. She and my grandfather had left Ireland to make a new life in a small rural town called Cradock, in the semi-desert Karoo of South Africa. Her memories stayed with me, and many years later I started writing a tribute to her. I planned to circulate it within my family but then thought: why don't I add a fictional housemaid? Soon, Ada, my fictional heroine, began to take centre stage and I realised I was writing a novel... 

It took 8 to 10 years of writing, research and rejections, but finally The Housemaid's Daughter was published. It became a bestseller and was translated into many languages as you can see from the photo above. 
So, to all those aspiring novelists out there, find that spark!
You never know where it might lead... 

Swapping Screen for Page...

Latest reports show that an interesting shift in reading patterns is taking place. After years when publishers - and authors - feared for the future of physical books, younger generations are rediscovering their attraction and driving an uptick in sales. It seems that more and more young people are switching off their screens and turning back to print. Settling down with a real book in hand is becoming desirable once more.   

The trend is being encouraged by innovative bookshops and libraries that are offering book clubs, coffee shops and places to read without the distraction of mobile phones and other electronic devices. 

So what are younger readers choosing to read - preferably in print?
While modern genres such as 'romantasy' and contemporary fiction are popular, it turns out that the classics are coming back to the fore - often thanks to the very screens from which young folk are attempting to abstain! For example, the modern adaptation of Wuthering Heights has led to a rise in sales of the original book, and rekindled interest in the great authors of yesteryear. 

So let's encourage our young family members and friends to make the leap not just from their phones... but also into genres they might once have avoided.
From my own selfish (!) perspective, can I suggest a dip into historical fiction? 
Who knows what it might inspire in young minds...   

What sparks a story?

What is the spark that fires a novel? For me, it's often an event or a conversation or a newspaper article or a chance remark that causes me to think... Wouldn't that make a great starting point for my next story? And that was how The Case Against Fili Du Bois came into being. 

Fili, heroine of my novel, is abandoned by her mother in the grounds of a church. That abandonment becomes the thread that winds its way through the book and determines Fili's future - and the future of the family who adopt her into their home on a wine estate in the beautiful Franschhoek Valley. 

Yet what made me choose that particular beginning for my novel? 
Some years ago, I happened to be passing by a church in the southern Cape Peninsula. Mounted on the side wall of the building was a sign that said:
Baby drop off
Ages up to 3

Clearly, it was an advertisement for a free creche run by the church to give young families some respite from full-time parenting duties, a place to leave their babes for a hour or so. But it got me thinking...
What if a child was dropped off at the church - and never fetched?
Would she languish in an orphanage? Would she be adopted? What would happen if her adoptive parents then have a child of their own? 
And The Case Against Fili Du Bois was born. 

More next time...

  

A special visitor...

In 1836, a young man - 27 years old - arrived in Simon's Town on a ship named HMS Beagle. During the 19 days that the Beagle was anchored in Simon's Bay, the young man went ashore to meet someone far more famous than he was. The young man was Charles Darwin. His famous host was astronomer Sir John Herschel. 

The discussions they shared were so influential to Darwin's approach to scientific investigation - and therefore to his thinking about evolution - that he later wrote: "These facts... seemed to throw some light on the origin of species - that mystery of mysteries..."  

The young man would go on to eclipse his mentor, and produce his ground-breaking Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection, which was published as On the Origin of Species, some 20 years later in 1859. 

Darwin's visit to the Cape has now been commemorated in Simon's Town by the placement of a bust on the town pier. The closing paragraph of his ground-breaking book is engraved onto the side of the memorial.

"There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been equally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved."

From those early beginnings... 

Stories that live on...

Imagine my delight to find The Girl from Simon's Bay featured in a bookshop near the historic naval town which forms the setting for the novel! And, given that the book was published in 2017 - so it has been around for some 9 years - I did not expect to see it so prominently displayed. Also, I noted with amusement, it was placed on shelves earmarked for New Arrivals! 

Writing this novel was a particularly special experience for me. I have lived in Simon's Town on-and-off for over 30 years, and the history of the place has seeped deep into my bones - which was crucial in helping me to steer the plot. 

Yet there's much for itinerant history buffs to appreciate as well: Simon's Town shares substantial connections between South Africa and Britain, dating back to its status as a British enclave from the early 1800s. It was home to the Royal Navy's South Atlantic fleet for some 150 years, complete with an Admiral in Admiralty House! During both World Wars, the naval base and dockyard were key to the security of the Cape Sea Route, and the provisioning and repair of warships. Now, it is the home of the South African Navy.

I suspect Louise, the heroine of the book, would be quietly thrilled to know that her story is still drawing new readers...
Sometimes David surprises me in the passing slide of blue eyes, the timbre of a man's voice, the line of a warship slicing across the bay... 
"Wait!" I stared at the dockyard, trying to make out the ships, his four ships... 
Durban, Achilles, Dorsetshire, Cumberland...

The Case Against Fili Du Bois in South Africa!

I am delighted to say that - finally! - my latest novel, The Case Against Fili Du Bois, is available in South Africa, its place of birth! You can find your copy on amazon.co.za at https://amzn.eu/d/hx9z4Wh or on takealot at https://www.takealot.com/the-case-against-fili-du-bois/PLID97745749

I hope that SA readers will enjoy an immersion into their beautiful winelands where the book is set, and where Fili, adopted daughter of Martin and Ray Du Bois, fights for her future. Can she live up to the expectations of those around her? And when a tragedy occurs, will she survive their suspicions?


There is so much to win - and to lose... as the subtitle says: 
A stray child, an unsolved crime, a precious legacy.

Let's raise a glass to Fili! Cheers!
And... here's to a happy, healthy, book-filled 2026! 

A sprinkle of fresh Christmas magic...

Let's deviate from Santas, reindeer, tinsel and baubles and celebrate the natural beauty that surrounds us this festive season! How about a stunning peacock feather discovered by chance or some pale, perfectly-formed urchin shells found while swimming in an azure sea? 

Fili, heroine of The Case Against Fili Du Bois, would, I think, be loving her view of the season. For her, it is a time of walking the verdant rows of vines and glorying in the swelling of the grapes, watching - sometimes anxiously - the play of sunshine and rain, seeing how the mountains turn pink in the rising sun or glow like steel in the moonlight.

And, away from the vineyards, the thrill of spotting the arrow-straight dive of a pied kingfisher as it pierces the water to grab its Christmas lunch! Or the less elegant plunge of a bumble bee into the pollen-filled heart of a scarlet hibiscus...   

Whatever your preference, do look about and enjoy what we perhaps take for granted all year round...
What will you notice?

See you in the New Year!