Peter Turnham's Blog: Wonderful review of The Price of Freedom

This week, I am publishing my sixth novel entitled "Parallel Lives - A Story of the Greatest Generation".
It is the tale of two ordinary people, Emma and Roger, who live through extraordinary times and confront unimaginable hardship.
It is inspirational and will transport the reader back to 1939 and the outbreak of World War Two. Amid the chaos and destruction of the Blitz, Emma, a doctor at St Thomas's Hospital in London, is determined to keep its doors open and help those in need. Meanwhile, Roger, a police detective, has his life forever changed by the Balham Tube Station disaster.
Inspired by a true story, Roger's pursuit of an elusive serial killer will hold you in suspense until its final dramatic conclusion.
Together these two people represent the triumph of the human spirit; they are two of the greatest generation.

I recently had a review from an American who was apparently 'conditioned' during education to have 'a respectful disregard for Britain' because of the USA's struggle for independence during the Revolution, and states that 'England's incredible contributions were summarily ignored'. If I may, I shall quote:- Recently after having my DNA analyzed I have learned that 73% of my genes are from Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland and so I have been exploring these areas of history to learn more about my ancestors. After reading around 30 books set in Britain during WWII I have to say this is by far my favorite series. I highly recommend it to other Americans and anyone interested in this era. The author's writing style is profoundly engaging. I have learned so much about the events of WWII and the challenges that faced the people of Britain. These events are shared in a logical progression and from the perspective of an East End woman who is challenged to overcome her past. I learned about the war from these 3 books but I learned even more about the determination, grit and unyielding spirit of the British. I never truly understood what a huge debt we Americans owe them. The perseverance of the British held off Hitler's evil and prevented a full assault on America! I'm now grateful and totally in awe of the sacrifices made throughout all levels of British society.
The characters are so real that I felt I was there with them. There are so many inspiring thoughts, phrases, and insights that I have been motivated to do an examination of conscious and change my world view. The author has embedded so many levels of our being including physical, emotional and spiritual in a beautifully written style. I have come away grateful to the Brits and for any of their tenacious character embedded in my DNA. I am truly inspired and determined to leave behind the failures of my past and embrace new goals for my future. if Lily can do it so can we all!
I can only say a huge thank you to 'Nosenabook' for such a perceptive and thoughtful review, and for having appreciated all the research which has gone into writing my "None Stood Taller" series of 3 novels.

I'm thrilled to say that "None Stood Taller", the first novel in my WW2 series, has just been shortlisted a second time this year, 2022. This time it's in the Historical Fiction section of the "Book of the Year Award" judged and awarded by the Independent Author Network, known as the IAN. It had been shortlisted in the 2022 "Selfies Award" in April, when Carol and I had to attend at the London Book Fair for the announcements. It's a great honour to see how successful my novel has been in the two awards for which I entered it.

Finally! My third book in the "None Stood Taller" series entitled "The Price of Freedom " has just been published. This book both concludes the series, or can provide an introduction for new readers (without spoiling the storyline for anybody!)

Lily's great friend, Dorothy Archer saw the opportunity to serve her country in 1941 and she didn't hesitate. A woman escaping her past, with no prospects, she reckoned she had nothing to lose. Perhaps destiny dictated that the Special Operations Executive should recognise the very special talents that even 'Dotty' is unaware of.

It is a work of fiction but is deeply rooted in historic detail and I have dedicated it to the 39 women who served in Occupied France as SOE field agents during WW2. Dotty owes more to those 39 than anything in the author's imagination.

The contribution that the SOE made during WW2 is brought to life through the story of Dorothy Archer. Her life and loves are a true reflection of the period.

Unknown to me, last December my wife Carol entered my third novel "None Stood Taller" for this prestigious Award, and informed me 'out of the blue' at the beginning of April that my book had been shortlisted for the prize! We had to attend at the announcement of the Award, and this was held at the London Book Fair on 5th April. Accordingly we went up to London for the first time since before the pandemic started, and after looking around this amazing Book Fair, we took ourselves upstairs at the appointed time to the Author HQ for the announcement of the winners in the three categories: Memoir, Children's Fiction and Adult Fiction. Unfortunately I didn't win the actual Award, but it was a great honour to be among that small number of Finalists with what is only my third novel; a great incentive to try again some time with another book!

I have been interviewed before, but never as an author! Howard Lovy publishes his "inspirational indie author interview" podcast for ALLi members and asked if he could interview me because - despite being dyslexic (difficulty reading and interpreting words on the page) - I am making great progress as a self published author of 4 novels and, as he put it, he wanted to find out how I did not let the dyslexia deter me from conquering my own private Everest! Have a listen - it's only about 10 minutes long.

I am inspired to write today because two teenage tennis players have just competed in the Final of the American Open. Neither of them should have been there. Neither of them had the experience nor the ranking to be anywhere near the Final. If I wrote a novel about an eighteen-year-old British girl who had just taken her A-level exams and still managed to qualify for the tournament, that alone would sound implausible. If I then wrote convincingly that this same qualifier would not drop a single set and would go on to win the tournament, that would no doubt attract considerable scorn. The fairy tale ending, as we all know, is that Emma Raducanu won the Final. Is there a tennis fan anywhere in the world whose spirits have not been lifted by her incredible achievement!
This is Meg Ryan standing at the top of the Empire State Building in the closing scene of “Midnight in Seattle”. This is Richard Gere standing through the open roof of his car waving flowers at Julia Roberts in the closing scene of “Pretty Woman”. This is a single man in possession of a good fortune, realising he is in want of the wife Jane Austen intends for him! These are the utterly implausible fairy tale moments we all remember. And we remember because these are the moments when our hearts soar, and all but the most unemotional amongst us finds we have a speck of grit in our eye.
I find this to be a fascinating subject on several levels. I get emotional watching a kiddies’ animation like “Frozen”, let alone a real-life tennis match. I don’t profess to understand it and I suspect I’m better off not understanding the psychology, but it has an enormous influence upon anyone who aspires to write a novel. It sets up an immediate conflict between those who can easily empathise with your characters and those who can't. In order to empathise with a fictitious character, you have to suspend belief, but I suspect there is more to it. I’m guessing there is some kind of sliding scale between a little bit of suspended belief and a lot. “Alien” requires a total suspension of belief; “Pretty Woman” a lot less.
It seems that we can readily suspend belief if the content is way outside our experience, but we are less inclined to do so the closer to reality the story becomes. If your writing is sufficiently good that your characters step off the page, this can create its own problem. For some people, there seems to be no suspension of belief; the character is judged strictly by the reader’s own standards, and within their scope of belief. Therein lies a problem for the writer.
Where do you set the boundaries for your characters? Truth is so often stranger than fiction. Fortunately, history is full of inspirational people and events. There is a well of human experience from which writers can draw water. With “None Stood Taller” the real-life women who were at the heart of the British wartime establishment inspired my principal character. There were four of them, Joan Bright, Margaret Jackson, Elizabeth Layton, and Vera Atkins. Google them yourself, their stories mirror in many ways that of my character. All but one was recruited in a similar way. Some were younger, they were all rapidly propelled into positions of authority and responsibility. My character is a modest under-achiever in comparison.
Another woman worthy of a Google search is Rosa Ponselle. I wanted to see if truly great operatic singers could be born, and not just be the result of intensive training. Ponselle is the inspiration for my character's singing ability. She came from a poor immigrant family and had absolutely no operatic training. Her life changed overnight when Enrico Caruso heard her sing in Vaudeville. Within the year, she sang opposite him at the Metropolitan Opera. Rosa Ponselle was considered one of the finest sopranos of the twentieth century.
I find people like Joan Bright and Rosa Ponselle truly inspirational. That man who started a business in a garage in Silicon Valley - look at him now! I don’t want to write about boring run-of-the-mill people; I want my characters to lift my spirits and make my heart soar. I want to write about Emma Raducanu, not the umpire. With “None Stood Taller - The Final Year” (soon to be published) my thoughts are turning towards the last in the trilogy. Dotty’s story needs to be told, and in some ways, she represents the greatest challenge yet. She already lifts my spirits, but can I keep her anchored in reality? So, it’s back to the well of human experience. Could there possibly be a Dotty in there somewhere?

Peter Turnham 12.09.2021