My writing career has been full of contradictions and topsy-turvy decisions. I mean who, in their right mind, with twelve books under their belt, 5 of which were mystery-thrillers for teens, decides to change both genres and age of readers?
I do!
I now write magical realism for adults and top teens.
Even worse who publishes Book 4 before Book 1? Guilty as charged.
Read on!
The idea for the series began in 2010, when I took my granddaughter to Amsterdam to celebrate the publication of another novel, Running. The storyline for that took three years to evolve, and it wouldn’t have happened then if I hadn’t dropped into the local garage and spotted a Suzuki 1000cc motorbike.
There are so many strings that led to the writing of The Year the Swans Came and the trilogy Children of Zeus, (Publication: April 2019) In Holland, we visited a tiny village set on an even smaller island, the passageways between houses were no wider than rat runs. We explored canals and alleyways; saw furniture being lofted up the outside of a house because its internal stairs were too narrow, dawdled over old bridges, visited flower markets and ate cream cakes. We saw the Anne Frank House where we learned about the plight of the Jews in the war, and the crippling starvation meted out to citizens. We also visited museums where scenes of windswept barques dominated, and I noticed a painting of Zeus, dating from 1610. Lastly, I read the myth of the Angels of Mons.
Oh yes, and my favourite book is Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier which is set in 17th century Delft.
So what is the Year the Swans Came really about?
This is the review from Catherine Kullmann who explains it far better than I ever could:
As Maidy Bader anxiously awaits her sixteenth birthday, the day on which ‘overnight girls become adults, eligible to be courted, and to marry’ her thoughts return to the past, and most importantly, to her elder brother Pieter’s sixteenth birthday, the last he spent with his family. No one speaks of him or why he vanished. Life goes on as it always did in the unnamed country. The unnamed invaders have left and those deportees who could, have returned. Among them are the Bader’s neighbours, the Endelbaums. Their beautiful daughter Ruth, who is Maidy’s best friend, has had to give up her hopes of marrying Pieter. Slightly older than Maidy, Ruth is the belle of the college the girls attend while Maidy stays more in the background.
On Maidy’s birthday, everything changes. Maidy begins to emerge from her chrysalis. Pieter returns as suddenly as he departed but gives no explanation for his long absence. Ruth immediately claims him, but she is also intrigued by the four strangers, handsome young men, who suddenly appear at the college. She takes their attention and interest as her due but Maidy is surprised to find herself sought out both by gentle Jaan and the strangers’ leader, the charismatic and mysterious Zande. And Pieter is desperate to marry Ruth and complete his apprenticeship with his father, a maker of mirrors.
But all is not as it seems. This is not a college romance. Unimaginable secrets swirl beneath the surface of daily life and all too soon the unwitting Maidy and Ruth are drawn into the vortex of an ancient tragedy that threatens them all anew.
I was blown away by this book, enthralled by the beautiful writing, the slow build-up of the mesmerizing story and the wonderful characters. Magical realism of the highest order.
Catherine is quite correct, both the country and the invaders remain unnamed. The country is Holland and the city Amsterdam. If you pick up a copy of the novel, you will discover a map. Compare it with Amsterdam and you will see it is skewed – welcome to magical realism.
So why is Book 4 now Book 1?
That was the decision of Katie Bowes, a New Zealand author. She said, ‘After reading, Swans, everyone will want to know about how Zande got to be Zande.’
So read The Year the Swans Came and then the trilogy, Children of Zeus, when all will be revealed. By which time, with luck, I will have completed Book 5 which brings it all to a conclusion.
