Not My War follows a young woman who returns home to Paris to find it under Nazi occupation and slowly realizes the horrors they are committing and how it impacts her life. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

As a teenager in England during World War II, my mother had a French pen pal– a girl of about her own age, who lived in Paris. Shortly after the German occupation began, my mother received a heart-rending letter from her friend, describing her grief and fear as she watched hundreds of Nazis triumphantly enter the city in long columns with their weapons fully on display. My mother held on to this letter for decades. It was so emotional, I couldn’t read it without crying! My mother died of Alzheimer’s’ a long time ago, and after her death I searched through her things for hours, looking for that letter. I never did find it, which is a pity because I thought it should belong in a museum. But I did incorporate a similar scene in ‘Not My War,’ when the protagonist witnesses that very same event.   

Louise just wants to enjoy her newfound freedom after returning from boarding school, only to discover the truth about the occupation of her homeland. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?

Louise is by nature fun-loving and impetuous. When the harsh realities of the occupation start to affect her and her family, she puts her head in the sand, becoming willful and totally self-centered. Her behavior becomes so outrageous that she starts losing her friends. Only when she is mistaken for a Jew, and is treated as such, does she finally realize the error of her ways. 

What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?

I did a great deal of research before I started to write, and came across some useful first-hand accounts of how atrociously the Jews were treated—not just by the Germans, but also by the French police. I wanted to convey how miserable the lives of ordinary people became under the occupation, many of them slowly starving to death because of the harsh rationing. Also important to me was to convey the sense of fear predominant at the time. Many ordinary people chose to turn a blind eye to the atrocities they witnessed because they were afraid for their own lives. I did my best to remain as close to the truth as possible, and many of the events that take place in the book actually happened—things so truly awful that I could never have made them up.

What is the next book that you’re working on and when can your fans expect it out?

No more Nazis for me, for the time being anyway. I need to get my thoughts away from that dreadful time. I’m working on a new series set in Victorian times at the start of the Industrial Revolution. It focuses on the lives of women working in a corset factory. One of the characters becomes a serial killer! I’m only partway through writing, so it probably won’t be published until the fall.

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