History fans and anyone interested in the process involved in writing historical fiction are invited to a meeting with Joan Cupples, the author of The Great War Trilogy. The books were researched by Beccles historian and author Joan over nearly forty years and took six years to write. In excess of 280,000 words, they have recently been published by the Suffolk firm, Leiston Press.
Find out more about this huge piece of work which examines the political, social and cultural history of the twentieth century from the battle of Paschendale to the fall of the Berlin Wall. ‘In July 1917, Albert and Charlie meet in the trenches just outside Ypres. Having survived two years of the bloodiest war known to mankind, including the carnage of the Somme, they make the decision to simply walk away, sure that the next battle would be their last. Knowing that capture means certain execution, they slowly make their way to the far south of Italy where they can start new lives.’
It is a story full of danger, courage, travel, music, languages, laughter, love, a lot of food and even some cross-dressing! – but above all it examines the search for moral redemption which inevitably accompanies an act of desertion. Joan says ‘It was made all the more poignant for me, because it was only while I was writing the second book, then living in Leiston, that in 2008 the British government finally pardoned World War 1 deserters, in the light of what we now know about conditions in the trenches. That and the death in 2009 of Harry Patch, ‘the lastfighting Tommy’, whose vivid memories served to vindicate my characters’ actions.’
Joan will be discussing her books and taking your questions in Stowmarket Library on Thursday March 24th from 2.45 pm
Joan Couples
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