Eastbourne author explores women's war-time roles

As Alan explains: “We have come to know a great deal about the part women played in active service in the Second World War but have suffered from little knowledge of other than British women. Other countries too have their heroines. In the novel the woman – though called into the military – is sceptical about her government and its policies but is a loyal citizen to her country, wanting to play her part.

“My novels use the conduct of the war as structure but without combat…unless drawn into it. I was 11 years of age when the war began. That first-hand experience plus later study and travel worldwide gave me grounds for the writing. It is a story following the war and makes the point that gender does not determine everything. Opportunity, rearing, attitudes, character and personality have a decisive part.

“In this particular case I was standing in the early morning watching a senior officer from the headquarters of the British Sub Aqua Club preparing local aspirants of the local club for the qualification for handling boats involved in diving operations. It was in Holyhead. Seeing the ships to and from Ireland reminded me of the Vikings in Ireland and Yorkshire and so to the Germanic peoples, their fortitude and history of adventure. This was the starting point in the actual book but (there was also) a chance imaginary conversation with a woman parking her car once the personnel on the water had gone out to sea. I enjoyed writing it, largely from the realisation that I could construct whatever I felt was the appropriate next step to take, as opposed to the years of non-fiction writing.

“Already I have published Her Cell of Straw by the same publisher, focused on a woman in The Netherlands. A third is finished, awaiting a publisher, under the title Emissary Femme Fatale focused on a woman in the Balkans. both wartime related. I published my first non-fiction book in 1975. The last was in 2019 as the last of four books on Transfer Pricing in China.”