Just recently I have been talking to audiences about the research I did for my 3 novels... and sharing some of the snippets I found that sometimes do - or do not - appear in the book. Even if they do not, they may nudge the course of the story or add a particular deviation that I might not have expected when planning the plot...
One such instance happened when I investigated the sinking of HMS Dorsetshire - one of the warships at the centre of my novel, The Girl from Simon's Bay. Dorsetshire was set upon by Japanese dive bombers off Ceylon in 1942, and sunk, along with her sister ship, HMS Cornwall.
In my research, I noted that the Captain of the Dorsetshire, Augustus Agar VC, was wounded in the leg and taken to India with the survivors, including the hero of the novel, David Horrocks. But the heat of India proved unhelpful and Agar's wound turned septic. It was decided that he should be moved to a cooler place for further treatment - and this turned out to be The Royal Naval Hospital in Simon's Town, at the foot of Africa. Here was the factual snippet that gave me an opportunity to move the fictional plot in my favour...
Given his condition, Captain Agar would probably have been accompanied on the voyage to Simon's Town by a fellow officer. I realised that I could choose David Horrocks for that role, before he was re-assigned elsewhere. And this would deliver David to Simon's Town, enabling him to meet up again with a young nurse at the RNH who once cared for him, and with whom he had fallen in love, and she with him...
Every word, every moment with her, is a gift.
How could I have imagined coming back to Simon's Town - and not meeting her?
Much of my research for The Girl from Simon's Bay took place at the Simon's Town Museum. Here I am, donating a copy of the book, and my latest novel, The Fire Portrait, to the Museum's Margaret Constant who helped me uncover the historical background to the novel. Thank you, Margaret!
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