Pauline Barclay : Yesterday Uncovered - 1940's with Anne Allen & Echoes of Time

This month on Yesterday Uncovered we slip back to the 1940s

Sitting, in the shade, on a recliner at the side of my pool is Anne Allen, the author of, Echoes of Time so please help yourself to a glass of chilled bubbly, a plate of tapas, then make yourself comfortable and enjoy slipping back to the 1940s.

Tell us a little about yourself

I was by profession a psychotherapist but long yearned to write and I finally found the time and inspiration about 12 years ago. I won a true-life story competition run by Prima magazine and started my first novel, Dangerous Waters, which evolved into The Guernsey Novels series. I had spent many happy years on this beautiful island and wanted to offer my homage in the form of my books. I have now published 6 titles, with no 7 being written as we speak!

What inspired you to write about the 1940s?

Guernsey, like the other Channel Islands, was occupied by the Germans during the 1940s war and this left a huge impact, both on the physical character of the island, but even more on the islanders’ psyche. This is clear even today, 70 years later. Although my stories are set mainly in the modern day, they also refer strongly to the Occupation years.

Tell us little about the story and its plot without giving too much away

The story is dual-time, covering the story of Olive, a farmer’s wife in occupied Guernsey and her unhappy marriage to a bully and her relationship with a German officer. In the present day, the protagonist is Natalie, a Guernsey girl who returns from living in London to escape a bad relationship and who ends up buying what was the old farmhouse belonging to Olive and her husband. Natalie experiences weird dreams and flashbacks connected to the past and there are ghostly elements in the story. Together with Olive’s grandson, Stuart, she tries to find out what really happened to Olive, who disappeared suddenly years before.

Is any part of the story based on facts / real events?

Yes, events that happened during the invasion and occupation are portrayed accurately.

Are any of the characters based on someone real or are they pure fiction?

All the characters are fictional.

If research was necessary what did this involve?

Quite a lot of research was needed as I was keen to offer an accurate historic background to the story. This involved reading the local archives and a number of books and diaries written during and after the war. In fact I undertook so much research I wrote another dual-time book, The Betrayal, also set partly in the Occupation years!