***
1940
London
A man learns a shocking truth about his past.
Warsaw
A mother writes a diary as the ghetto walls go up.
From the bombed streets of London, to occupied Warsaw, to the Polish forests bristling with partisans, will their paths cross?
Will their pasts be reconciled?
And will they survive the deadly assaults on their freedom and their lives?
***
***
Q&A
When and where do you prefer to write?
f I had my way and unlimited funds, I’d write in a cabin in the Swiss mountains in winter, while outside the snow gently falls. Since I’m not at all rich and I’m a single mum, my desk in my house during the school day will have to do!
Do you need peace and quiet when you are wrting?
Yes, I do. When I’m drafting, I prefer a completely quiet and empty house, if possible. When I’m researching or planning, I mostly have music on and much more relaxed. Drafting needs total concentration though, I find.
If you had the chance to co-write a book. Whom would it be with?
Charles Dickens, my literary hero.
Say someone asks if they can use your name in a book. Would you rather be the ‘good one’ or the ‘bad one’?
Definitely the bad one. Much more fun.
Who would you like/have liked to interview?
Again, I’m going to have to go with Dickens. I want to know exactly how he planned out his plots and the thinking behind them..
Where can I find you when you are reading?
In the bath or bed. Only the most comfy places!
Where can I find you wen you are not writing/reading?
Watching Netflix or chilling with my daughter probably. Or in a café eating cake.
What goes through your mind when you hold your new book in your hands for the first time?
Oh, it never gets old. I always shed a tear and give the book a kiss. I’m so happy to achieved a new book every time. And I love them all.
How do you come up with a title for your book?
It’s often a very long complicated process, often involving my publisher. They will have ideas in mind that they feel are commercial and I usually want to go with the ones that best fit the themes of the book. We come to a compromise in the end!
How do you pick a cover for your book?
I don’t, as my publishers always employ designers to create my book covers. I always get a say in it though and explain if there’s something I feel doesn’t work. All of the publishers I’ve
worked with have been brilliant about this process and I adore all of my covers. They are all beautiful.
Thank you, Rebecca Mascull and ZooLoo’s Book Toiurs
***
About the author
Rebecca Mascull is an author of historical novels. She also writes saga fiction under the pen-name of Mollie Walton.
Rebecca’s latest book under the Mascull name is coming on September 18th 2021, THE SEAMSTRESS OF WARSAW, the powerful tale of two people unknowingly connected to each other, caught up in the whirlwind of World War II, whose perilous journeys we follow from the Blitz to the Warsaw Ghetto and beyond, published by SpellBound.
Mollie Walton’s The Ironbridge Saga series is set in the dangerous world of the iron industry: THE DAUGHTERS OF IRONBRIDGE (2019). The second book in the trilogy is THE SECRETS OF IRONBRIDGE (2020), set in the brickyards of the 1850s. The third book is set in the coalmines and servants’ quarters of the 1870s: THE ORPHAN OF IRONBRIDGE (2021). All three are published by Bonnier Zaffre. Mollie’s next trilogy will be set in WW2 North Yorkshire and the first book of this saga will be out in March 2022, published by Welbeck.
Her first novel as Rebecca Mascull, THE VISITORS (2014) tells the story of Adeliza Golding, a deaf-blind child living on her father’s hop farm in Victorian Kent. Her second novel SONG OF THE SEA MAID (2015) is set in the C18th and concerns an orphan girl who becomes a scientist and makes a remarkable discovery. Her third novel, THE WILD AIR (2017) is about a shy Edwardian girl who learns to fly and becomes a celebrated aviatrix but the shadow of war is looming. All are published by Hodder & Stoughton.
She also completed the finishing chapters of her friend and fellow novelist Vanessa Lafaye’s final work, a novella called MISS MARLEY, a prequel to Dickens’s A CHRISTMAS CAROL. This novella is published by HarperCollins.
Rebecca has worked in education, has a Masters in Writing and lives by the sea in the east of England. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund, based at the University of Lincoln.
***
Author Links
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RebeccaMascull/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccamascull/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rebeccamascull
***
***
Book Links
Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B099KWCPFS
Amazon US – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B099KWCPFS
B for Bookreview 