Well,
I have now completed all of the edits though we still have to do something about
widows and orphans in the finished text. We’ve really tightened up the letters,
making them no more than one side long and containing just those details that
add to the two other plots or give some important setting detail. It was one of
those cases where less or more is needed.
We went for less. That is probably the right decision: the novel is now
a more realistic length.
But
what of that extraordinary story the letters tell?
The German girls’ story
I’ve
decided that I needed to write another novel. I still need to represent that naïve
German point of view and that is the story told by the class letter. The real
class letter contains some fascinating detail but makes for dull reading. I’m
now working on telling the story of four of those involved in the letters: the farmer’s
daughter, the twin who does not get married, the girl who becomes an actress
and the class teacher. They gradually become enlightened as the story goes on.
The Schellberg Cycle
I
started with one story – then I realised I had to write Clara Lehrs’ biography. I’m working on that now. I want to investigate
the fanatic’s mind. How did they become like that? So I’m going to tell the story
of BDM leader who eventually see fit to
warn Hani and the others about what is going to happen to the Hilfsklasse’s
little school. Then as I worked on Clara’s story, I realise that Käthe Edler is
an interesting enough character to have a book to herself. Now I have a fifth.
The
books can be read in any order. Two are written for adults and the other three
are teens / young adults. Once one has been read, the other should be of
interest regardless of age. So we have in order of writing:
The
House on Schellberg Street
The
BDM Girl (working title only)
The
Woman Who Nearly Shot Hitler
The
Class Letter (working title?)
Will
I ever get away from the first half of the 20th Century?
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