Inspiration for Jan Baynham's 'A MOTHER'S SECRET'
I am delighted to welcome fellow ChocLit UK / Ruby author Jan Baynham today. Jan's debut novel A MOTHER'S SECRET was released in April 2020. Today she is telling us about her inspiration for writing the novel.
I have always been intrigued by family secrets and
the fact that these sometimes do not come to light until after a person has
died. I read of someone who was sorting through her mother’s things after her
death and found a diary. In there, the young woman learned about a part of her
mother’s life she knew nothing about. The ‘what ifs?’ started in my head. At
the time, I’d been reading a novel where the rustling in the trees sounded like
whispers and inanimate statues took on the form of ghosts of the people they
represented. Perhaps the whispering could show the presence of a past family
member. Always fascinated by the bond between mothers and daughters, this was
basis for ‘Her Mother’s Secret’.
Very often, the close relationship between mothers and daughters means that
they would know things about each other no one else would. I wanted to explore
how my character, Alexandra, would feel when she found out about her mother,
Elin’s secret life. How could her mother have kept this from her? How would she
feel? I needed Elin to have been able to keep her secret from everyone, even
her own mother, until she died.
I decided that Elin would be an artist, having just
finished art college. She travels to Greece to further her painting skills and
while there, something happens that she never mentions again. I chose a setting
where the colours would be more vibrant and intense perhaps than in her home
country of Wales. In awe of the wonderful palette of colours seen in every
landscape, Greece was my obvious inspiration. Every holiday has inspired me
with contributions to create characters and settings that are hopefully
authentic showing the climate, the vivid colours of the sea and the flowers as
well as the warmth of its people.
BLURB:
A secret left behind in the summer of
’69 …
It’s 1969 and free-spirited artist Elin Morgan has
left Wales for a sun-drenched Greek island. As she makes new friends and enjoys
the laidback lifestyle, she writes all about it in her diary. But Elin’s
carefree summer of love doesn’t last long, and her island experience ultimately
leaves her with a shocking secret …
Twenty-two years later, Elin’s daughter Alexandra
has inherited the diary and is reeling from its revelations. The discovery
compels Alexandra to make her own journey to the same island, following in her
mother’s footsteps. Once there, she sets about uncovering what really happened
to Elin in that summer of ’69.
BIO
After retiring from a career in teaching and advisory education, Jan
joined a small writing group in a local library where she wrote her first piece
of fiction. From then on, she was hooked! She soon went on to take a writing
class at the local university and began to submit short stories for publication
to a wider audience. Her stories and flash fiction pieces have been longlisted
and short listed in competitions and several appear in anthologies both online
and in print. In October 2019, her first collection of stories was
published. Her stories started getting
longer and longer so that, following a novel writing course, she began to write
her first full length novel. She loves being able to explore her characters in
further depth and delve into their stories. She writes about family secrets and
the bond between mothers and daughters. Partly set in the last year of the 60s,
‘Her Mother’s Secret’ takes you to sun-drenched Greece, her
favourite holiday destination.
Originally from mid-Wales, Jan lives in Cardiff with her husband.
Having joined the Romantic Novelists Association in 2016, she values the
friendship and support from other members and regularly attends conferences,
workshops, talks and get togethers. She is co-organiser of her local RNA
Chapter.
‘Her Mother’s Secret’ is available on Amazon:
You may find out more about Jan here:
Thank you for the post, Marie. Jan, I love the idea that rustling trees sound like whispering secrets from the past. I hope you have a lovely day at the #ChocRubyFestival. Ange xx
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ange. There's something intriguing about secrets, isn't there? I love the sound of rustling leaves when they sound as if they are whispering.
DeleteYes, it was a lovely day, thank you, but I was panicking at the start when time seemed to run away with me!
Thank you for inviting me onto your blog, Marie. I enjoyed thinking about what was the inspiration for my novel.
ReplyDeleteYou are very welcome, Jan! I have never been to Greece but I would love to visit one day!
ReplyDelete