Given that the story unfolds some 80 years ago, it might have been tricky to recreate the historic layout. Luckily for me, the town has been beautifully preserved and many of the Victorian-era buildings are still there even though their purpose may have changed. The original Royal Navy Officer's Club is no more, but the building that housed it remains intact as an elegant high-ceilinged laundry! The old cinema hosts a well-known restaurant, the hotel that catered to Captain Scott and his team bound for Antarctica still welcomes guests...
This high level of preservation demands accuracy!
I decided to work out exactly which routes Louise and her family would have followed as they went about their daily lives. Simon's Town is delightfully criss-crossed by paths and sets of steps, and they were my starting point. I walked and photographed not just the routes but also the front and back facades of the historic buildings along St George's Street. This would allow me to describe what Louise saw as she climbed Rectory Lane, or took Drostdy Steps. And here is the result: a map that allowed me to move my characters legitimately about town - and allow you, my reader, perhaps to walk in their footsteps?
But there was one road I was unable to follow: the original terrace where my fictional Ahrendts family lived until 1967. It disappeared when the non-white community was evicted under the terms of the Group Areas Act, passed by the government of South Africa. A poignant memorial sits in the town centre, established by those who remained.
"To the memory of generations of our fellow citizens who dwelt here in peace and harmony until removed by edict of 1967.
Erected by their fellow citizens."
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