Research, research and no 'fake' history...

When writing historical fiction, there is a tension between setting fictional characters against a history that has already happened...
If you want to ensure the backdrop is authentic, you need to do research - lots of it! You, as writer, need to know much more than you reveal. One chance reflection, one throwaway fact, may be all that is used from days of background checking but it will convey truth to the reader and a sense of what people were going through at the time.


Let me give you an example. For my latest novel, The Girl from Simon's Bay, I needed to understand the role of the British government in Simon's Town, a role that ended in the 1950s when the town and the historic naval base were "handed over" to South Africa after many years of British rule. My UK research took place mostly at the National Archives in Kew, in London. Wearing special gloves, I examined original typewritten Cabinet Minutes charting the negotiation of the Simon's Town Agreement and the subsequent handover. How fascinating it was to see scrawled comments in the margins from the key players... (As an aside, it got me thinking that these historical records are so much more interesting than the ones we will leave our children: how can you show the passion of a fiercely-underlined comment when you are viewing it digitally?)

There were many sticking points in the negotiations. On the British side, the Cabinet was divided. Some ministers felt Simon's Town was a strategic asset guarding the Cape sea route, and therefore should be managed by a major world power. There were domestic issues to settle, too, such as the status of the existing non-white workers in the dockyard post-handover at a time when apartheid in SA was tightening its grip. After days of research, I felt that I had a good grip on the arguments for and against, and the reported sentiments of local residents like my fictional Ahrendts family. So, how much of this appeared in the book? Not much, but hopefully enough...

However bright you were, they made you sweat in the shadows when you deserved the chance to be recognised for what you did and be properly paid for it. Like Grandpa Ahrendts used to be, when the Royal Navy was in charge of the dockyard. Even though he drew his pension, so far still honoured by the South African Navy via the Simon's Town Agreement, the financial burden now swung heavily onto my shoulders...