Since I wrote my Spring blogpost, it must have only been days later that I had a horrible accident. I’m almost too ashamed to tell you what happened. I was doing a Pilates exercise in the kitchen showing off to my friend that even at my age I could stand on one leg for more than the 10 seconds Dr Michael Mosley said we should do whilst cleaning our teeth. I dropped my leg down after about 30 seconds of near-perfect balance and told my friend I could have gone on longer. So far so good.
Then she said, ‘Have you ever tried it with your eyes closed?’ I hadn’t. But instead of grounding myself first and making sure there was something solid close by – just in case – I simply closed eyes and raised leg at the same time, immediately overbalancing backwards. Trying to save myself, I slid helplessly across the floor, ending in a heap by the sink. From there it was the ambulance to the A&E and an X-ray. The doctor informed me I had a tiny hairline crack in one of my vertebrae. I said, ‘That’s good, it’ll soon heal then.’ She said, ‘Unfortunately, it’s enough to give you severe pain for the next few weeks, and then it will be 6 months getting back to normal and could even take up to a year.’ Grrrrr. I’m giving it 6 months max.
The good thing is that after the first fortnight, I’m writing as much every day as I usually do. In fact, my writing has been the one thing that stopped me from slumping into despair. With the help of a steady supply of painkillers at the beginning, I could lose myself in my characters and the many problems I threw at them. I am also exceptionally lucky to have my dear group of friends, close at hand, who cook for me, chauffeur me, and generally keep me cheerful. And I’m sure I wouldn’t have recovered this much by now if it wasn’t for Emily, my fantastic physiotherapist turning up every week at my house and showing me Pilates exercises, pressing into the trigger points and having me shouting with agony, then giving me a heavenly massage. This has not been via the NHS – they said I had to wait 5 weeks and then go to Brighton for just three sessions. But as I could hardly move, I couldn’t see how I could manage any kind of transport. Enough of that!
My latest book, Wartime Secrets at the Mayfair Club, has just been published (Tesco is selling the special Fern Britton recommendation with extra material at the back), so it’s exciting to see it fly from my computer to the shelves. My fictional club is modelled on the beautiful Georgian building that accommodates the University Women’s Club (UWC) in Mayfair, London, of which I’ve been a member for over 30 years. It was open every day to its 1500 members right through the Blitz until the end of the war, providing shelter and friendship as it still does today. Thankfully, the Club wasn’t bombed although some nearby buildings were damaged or destroyed.
But it was the lamp post a few feet away from the entrance that I’d just discovered held a wartime secret which gave me the inspiration to write this book. This time I’ve cautiously dipped my toe into spy world and absolutely loved writing it, even though I kept hearing the voice of Emma, my editor, in my ears saying, ‘Don’t make this a spy novel, Molly.’ Surprised, I answered, ‘No, of course not – I wouldn’t know how.’ I will leave it to you, the Reader, to judge whether I (more or less) kept to my word.
If you’re anywhere near Lewes on Saturday, 25th July at 2.30, I’m giving a talk at Ringmer Village Hall on some of the wild and wonderful research I do for my novels It’s only a fiver and that includes tea and homemade cakes. A real bargain, though I modestly say it myself!
Molly Green holding Wartime Secrets at the Mayfair Club in Tesco, Lewes
People sometimes ask which book has been my favourite to write. I’ve loved writing every single one but if I have to choose, it’s always the one I’m writing at this very moment! This happens to take place deep within a disused underground station in 1940 and I’m enjoying the research and the writing immensely. This one will be out in the summer of 2027.
So for now, settle down on a sunbed with a large hat to shade your face, and a long, cool drink topped with one of those little floating umbrellas by your side, relax and enjoy a wonderful summer of reading – and if you begin to drift, I give you full permission to close your eyes . . . but be sure to have something solid close by to hold onto!
Molly Green
I think this every year, but how can it possibly be almost Christmas? Where has the year gone?
But it’s not all been bad. It’s always exciting to have a new book out and my latest, The Wartime Librarian’s Secret, was published in June. Just after that date, I gave a talk at the University Women’s Club in Mayfair on some iconic buildings I’ve used in my novels. I finished by telling the audience that my next book would be set in this very club where I’ve been a member for over 30 years.
Many people tell me that their summer holiday is the only time they manage to read, so I’d like to mention my new book, out on 17th July, called The Wartime Librarian’s Secret. This time, I’ve modelled the setting on the famous country house, Longleat, near Bath. I think some of its fame comes from the highly regarded safari park – in fact, I read in a recent travel article in the Telegraph about the best leisure parks in the country and Longleat won hands down as the overall winner. However, during the war the safari park didn’t exist. What did exist was a temporary military hospital in the grounds and therein lay a perfect foil to my heroine’s new place of work in the mansion itself. I won’t say anything further, but I hope this snippet has whetted your interest.
Well, summer has endeavoured to arrive on a number of occasions but just as suddenly disappeared into pouring rain, but this week looks much warmer and drier. My rain garden is quite happy though and the flowers and grasses have shot up. The exciting thing for me in the garden is the flowering of my three newly planted magnolia trees. They’re the ones I remember when I lived in Georgia, USA some decades ago. When the flowers are fully out, they look like gorgeous creamy-white satin bows.
My latest novel: Courage for the Cabinet Girl is out next month, 26th September. My heroine, Katie, trained as a secretary and wanting to do her bit in the war, grasps the opportunity to work in the mysterious underground maze of the Cabinet War Rooms, not realising at first that this is where Winston Churchill directed the entire Second World War. I’ve really enjoyed writing this particular novel (actually, I’ve loved writing all of them!) because Mr Churchill plays a leading part – he would, wouldn’t he? It’s been such fun writing dialogue in the way he used to speak to various members of the staff, his idiosyncratic and volatile personality bursting through, all too often to the chagrin of the recipient.
It seems impossible that Christmas is almost upon us. Every year I say this, but this year, really, how on earth did a whole year slip away while I wasn’t looking. Next year I’m determined to hang on to it.
Another experience was piloting a Spitfire! Yes, you read it here! All right, it was a simulator but it felt absolutely real to me. I’m not keen on flying generally but felt I had to appreciate how it felt to be in control for the sake of my heroine in A Sister’s Courage where Raine joined the Air Transport Auxiliary and flew many different planes in wartime. It was a fabulous experience. The Spitfire was so sensitive to every movement and seemed to work out what I wanted it to do before I knew myself! The instructor assured me every detail was exactly the same, even to the smell of the cockpit.
And my job is made even more fun nowadays as my fantastically-creative builders have now finished my new office in the garden – a First Class carriage with a real 30’s train door! I can’t wait to get in there each morning and start writing! This time I’m revealing a young woman’s life as a secretary in Churchill’s Cabinet War Rooms during the Second World War. I visited them decades ago but am due to go again shortly to refresh myself as to the layout and the many different departments. Conditions were terrible to work in but it’s incredibly fascinating and I urge you to make a resolution to go this coming year.
What a month! The builders are still finishing the renovations to my house, I’m pressing on with Book 3 of The Bletchley Park Girls and have recently returned from a fortnight’s holiday abroad – the first in three years.
It’s been another hectic month for me, what with viewings on my house which recently went on the market and accepting an offer within days, then a week later falling through, so more viewings and several offers, I’m hoping the estate agent (my ex-company!) has finally produced the right family who’ll stick with it until the proposed exchange and completion next month.
Well, we’ve made it through grey January and already in foggy February. But as I write this and look out of my cabin window, I can see a part cloudy, part blue sky through which a weak sun is shining. But it’s enough to cheer me up, especially when we only have a few weeks before nature bursts into life. I’m hoping at the same time that Dougie, my rescued cat, will also burst into life. He’s been comatose practically all winter, sleeping 22 ¾ hours out of 24. I’m beginning to wonder if he’s part hedgehog.