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Merry Christmas to you all!

Christmas tree I think this every year, but how can it possibly be almost Christmas? Where has the year gone?

However, this has proved a very difficult year for me with my sister, Carole, being seriously ill for the first six months and then most of the last part of this year recovering, but she’s in much better shape now which is a huge relief. I was happy to be in the audience watching and listening to her singing carols in her local Lewes choir. What a wonderful recovery she’s made.

But last month, I fell over onto my face, my cheek slamming onto the tarmac outside Clapham Junction, of all places, on the way to see my 96-year-old aunt in a care home in Wandsworth.

When I walked into the foyer bleeding hand, swollen and bruised eye and cheek, sprained wrist and very shaken, I asked if they had a vacant room I could sign for! They did rush a nurse over to see me and she patched me up, assuring me I hadn’t broken anything. So quite honestly, I shan’t be too upset to see the back end of this year and can say that managing to do some writing whenever I had a spare hour helped keep me – well, sane.

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.

Its title is Wartime Secrets at the Mayfair Club with the strapline The Mayfair Ladies’ Club survived the Blitz – but can it survive betrayal? and will be out on 4th June 2026. I’ve just submitted it to my editor at Avon HarperCollins.

I also can’t believe I’ve had my little rescue cat, Betsy, for almost a year. She settled in very quickly, but she never comes to my railway carriage in the garden where I write, the way my previous cat used to. She put her head in the door once, and walked up and down once, and that was it. She prefers to sleep in her own bedroom – on the guest bed, of course.

Photo of Betsy the cat

There’s only one more thing to say, Dear Reader – whenever Christmas gets on top of you, tuck into a quiet corner with a new book and I guarantee after an hour (if you can get away with it) you will feel refreshed and ready to face it all again.

Cats and Books – what a combination!

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How is it possible that our lovely summer has already slipped into Autumn? And this time it was even more of a shock because the glorious weather had just turned a whole lot cooler. Luckily, for me, my Grecian writing retreat was just around the corner.

And what a (re)treat! Our small writing group was unfortunately one down (Suzanne Goldring couldn’t make it), but Carol McGrath, owner of a property in the sun-drenched, stunning coastline of the Mani, was a great hostess to Gail Aldwin and me in spite of having recently undergone a major operation. The four of us have annually (when possible) come together to write in The Greek House, sight-see, eat delicious food and share wine, shop (difficult to resist the colourful clothes at bargain prices), and relax in the blissful warmth of a summer evening.

This time we went to an unusual concert in the mountains, given by three vibrant young women who played different instruments and sang in 28 languages. Their voices in perfect harmony were magical. With all this going on, you’d think we’d have no time left to write. Wrong! We managed several hours every day, and at four o’clock we’d meet for tea and homemade scones (by me!) and read out our chapters and critique them. It works like a dream. I wrote 11,000 words – a record in 7 days for me. No matter that I deleted at least a thousand when I was home. That’s all part of the writing process.

In August, I gave a talk at the University Women’s Club where I’ve been a member for over thirty years. The subject was some of the iconic buildings I’ve used for my settings in my novels. It was the first time I’ve ever used a projector and screen and although I’d practised under the instructions of author Alison Morton (also a member), who kindly put the slide show together, I was still nervous on the night.

Of course, technology sometimes acts up (not my fault, of course!) but gave the audience a few laughs – never a bad thing at a talk. I was surprised so few of the women (there were only two men in the audience) had been to Bletchley Park and Churchill’s Cabinet War Rooms, so I’m hoping my books on those subjects will inspire them to pay a visit.

One of the slides I showed was Longleat, near Bath. It’s been on the television several times lately but mostly commentating on the grounds and the history of the world-famous safari. However, during the war the safari didn’t exist. The Marquis of Bath was requested by the War Ministry to take in a private school called The Royal School for Daughters of the Officers of the Army. I read a memoir of one of the girls who attended there during the war. A spoilt and rebellious child, she was eventually expelled.

The Marquis also gave permission for the Americans to build an American military hospital in the grounds. Perfect! I now had an American doctor who would be the hero, working and living in a conglomeration of hurriedly built huts, and my heroine would be in the grand house as the librarian.

Throw the rebellious teen (they didn’t use the term ‘teenager’ in the war) into the mix and I had the fragments of a story which became The Wartime Librarian’s Secret, published last July. You can see how it appeals to cats as well as readers!

The penultimate building I showed was the club itself. I told them this is the setting I’ve chosen for my latest book, out next June. It’s called Wartime Secrets at the Mayfair Club: The Ladies’ Mayfair Club survived the Blitz – but can it survive betrayal?

Just days ago I wrote THE END on a very rough draft, but at least the story is down so I’m able to enjoy all the editing it needs before submission. This time I’m tiptoeing into spy-land and have discovered another piece of history – namely the British Union of Fascists – that I never realised was quite so widespread and so treacherous, and that if Oswald Mosley and his tens of thousands of supporters had been successful, they could have completely changed the outcome of the war.

* * *

If anyone is near Lewes, East Sussex on Saturday, 15th November, do come to a talk I’m giving in the library located at Styles Field, Friar’s Walk, 1.30 – 3pm and signing copies of The Wartime Librarian’s Secret. I would love to see you so please introduce yourself if you do. There will be a similar slide show to the one in the UWC and you’ll have the chance to see the last slide which is actually a video made especially for me showing the ultimate iconic building – where I write!
Until next time, happy reading.

Molly Green

Cats, Savannah and a new book

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Panorama of the River Street district, Savannah at night

I know I’ve neglected posting on my blog but editing and proofing the latest book and starting a new one seems to have taken up more time than usual, besides other smaller writing projects, one of them being a volunteer to be a reader in the New Writers’ Scheme of the Romantic Novelists’ Association. It made me realise what a huge responsibility it is to comment and steer newbies in the right direction without discouraging them. I put my own manuscripts through the NWS a decade ago and found the reports to be really helpful so I do hope my protégée will feel the same!

And then I’ve had two wonderful trips away – the first with my three pals in Port Isaac (Doc Martin’s seaside location!) where we use much of the time to concentrate on developing our current novels, broken up by delicious meals and walks to the harbour in the evenings with a bottle of something fizzy between us, all interspersed with giggles and laughter. What a tonic they were, just when I needed it.

In June my sister and I went to see her son and his family who live in Savannah in the USA. Having lived in the States, including Georgia, for many years, Carole and I knew the city a little, but this time we really got to know it. Thank goodness it remains very similar to how we remembered it, as it’s under all sorts of protection because of its unique history. And of course it was lovely to be with her family again after many years and to see that my great-niece has become such a beautiful and gifted young lady.

Adam, my nephew, and his wife, Liz, took us to this amazing bookshop in an ancient building (for America!) where they have three cats who live there and lazily greet the customers – if they feel like it, that is. I was in heaven and could have stayed all day wandering around all the nooks and crannies gazing at US books I’d never come across, as well as making a fuss of the cats. I found a fascinating book, a recently published best-seller about the American women codebreakers in the Second World War that I knew nothing about.

Although their working circumstances were more bearable than that of our girls who were working in freezing cold Huts at Bletchley Park, they worked just as hard and were just as successful as their British compatriots, not to mention they put up with the same kind of comments from the men as our girls did – that women were not suitable for that kind of work. For anyone interested in women working in the war on the other side of the pond, I can’t recommend it highly enough: Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II by Liza Mundy.

Talking of cats, I have another cat! I’ve been without Dougie for a whole year and was miserable but couldn’t have one until I’d finished my travels this year. But a week ago Bella was delivered. She’s another rescued cat, 13 years old, one eye, both ears lopped because of suspected cancer, skin allergy (mainly dealt with by special diet), arthritis, and very overweight. It wasn’t a surprise to be told I was the first one to enquire about her after I’d spotted her on the website where she stayed month after month.

Well, people who overlooked her don’t know what they’re missing. She’s the most lovable, sweetest cat I’ve ever known, and I’ve had some fabulous cats in my life. And her purr – it’s deafening! I told her she sounds like a Spitfire revving up. Her whole body, not to mention my lap and the sofa, vibrates! If I can get her weight down gradually, she’s going to live a really good life. I can’t wait to introduce her to my garden as she hasn’t been outside for many months and keeps looking wistfully through my patio doors.

And my last piece of news is that my garden office is nearly finished. My two incredibly talented builders (I call them ‘the boys’) have created it in the shape of a carriage on a steam train! Inside, is a First Class compartment which leads to the office. I love old trains and my heroines are always travelling on them in my wartime novels, so when I move my temporary office out to my carriage this week I will have a perfect atmosphere to work in. Photos for you to see in next post.

The only thing left for me to say is that the third Bletchley Park book in the series: Wartime Wishes at Bletchley Park is out on 23^rd November. Here’s the cover so do look out for it.

I wish you all happy reading in what at this minute appears to be an extended summer.