Author Interview with Heather McBriarty: Amid the Splintered Trees
Today, the Book’s Delight is happy to chat with Heather McBriarty,author of a WWI tale, Amid the Splintered Trees.
JMR-Welcome to the Books Delight, Heather. Tell our readers where youlive, what you do for fun and what does the perfect day look like?
HM- Hi, thanks for having me here! I live in Atlantic Canada, in ahistoric city by the sea. My passion – other than writing – is sailing, so forme a perfect day is spent on my boat, sailing and swimming, then finding asheltered cove for the night, where I can sit and read, and be rocked to sleepin my bunk. My boat is where I wrote much of my first book!
JMR-What’s your favorite historical time period? Why?
HM- When I was young, I was obsessed with ancient Egyptian history somuch so that I wanted to be an Egyptologist/archeologist. To be honest, I stilldo when I grow up (*she says as a 59-year-old*). I used to write my English class notes inEgyptian hieroglyphics which drove my teacher crazy – not that it was anythingshe had to read. Then I became interested in and read a lot of Iron age/Romanera/dark ages/medieval English history. I love watching Time Team! However,five years ago, I “discovered” the First World War and that period has become apassion. It is the people involved and their experiences, rather than battlestrategy or weaponry.
JMR-Who is your favorite historical figure? Why? If you could ask themone question, what would it be?
HM- I think Hatshepsut, the queen/Pharoah of Egypt, stands the test oftime as my most admired (female!) historical figure. She was smart, strong anddid not let men tell her what she could do or how high she could rise. Shebroke a big glass ceiling! Honestly, I think I’d be too intimidated to ask heranything, but I am curious how she negotiated her way to the throne.
JMR- How did you come to be a writer of historical fiction?
HM- It began as a pre-teen while trying to write my own fictional story ofancient Egypt. I spent too many hours imagining what it would really belike to live in those times. I felt a need to walk through the lives, in thosepeople’s shoes – or sandals - to piece together what I had learned about thetime and make it real… if only on paper. That has not changed in theintervening decades. Frankly, historical fiction is what I love to read, so itonly seems the done thing that I write it.
JMR- Did you visit anyone of the places in your book? Where did you feelclosest to your characters?
HM- One of the locations in my novel is Halifax, Nova Scotia which Ihave visited many times. It is where my grandmother lived and experienced lifein 1914-1918. Just last November, I traveled to France and Belgium, to visitVimy Ridge, the Somme and the Ypres Salient. It was standing on the top of VimyRidge, looking down over the slopes the Canadians stormed up, imaging my maincharacter, Will, in their midst. He represents all those brave, scared,determined men who won the ridge that stormy Easter Monday in April 1917, theridge that the French and British tried and failed to take in two years offighting. It was hugely emotional.
JMR- Heather, tell us about your book, Amid the Splintered Trees.
HM- Amid is the story of two young lovers, Will and Emma, whowant the simplest things in life – marriage, children, a long life ofhappiness. Their biggest obstacle seems Emma’s determination to break intomedicine and become a doctor despite her gender. But 1914 has other plans andthey are torn apart by circumstances beyond their control, the most brutal andbloody war in history. Can they ever pull the pieces of their lives togetheragain? Can either of them survive the traumatic events of those four devastatingyears?
JMR- Your story was inspired by your grandmother. Can you tell us abouther and how she influenced this book?
HM- There is a little of both my grandparents in this book. Mygrandmother (before she met my grandfather) was in love with a classmate whofelt it his duty to serve at the Western Front. He was one of the FirstCanadian Contingent to go over in 1914. Sadly, he did not survive the war, eventhough his letters to her survive today. They make the bulk of my first book(non-fiction) and sparked my interest in WWI. She didn’t know, from one letterto the next, if he was still alive. He often mentioned how he longed to see heragain, to return to her if he “should be spared”. How emotionallydevastating would that have been? I wondered what if he had survived, howchanged would he have been when he came home? He was so afraid he wouldbe changed and not the person she had known.
My grandfather was a medical student in Halifax during the war and metmy grandmother after her young man’s death. He experienced the great Halifaxexplosion of December 1917 (the largest man-made explosion in history until Hiroshima)which killed and injured thousands, and spent the first three days after it inthe hospital helping treat the victims. He had a female classmate at the time,so I put Emma in her place. Yes, Grandad is obliquely mentioned in my book, andmy grandmother’s young man makes a cameo appearance.
JMR-What projects do you have in the pipeline?
HM- I’m working on a novel told from the point of view of a woman who,as a small child, loses her father to the fighting at Vimy Ridge. It is thestory of the impact at home and in the decades following, of those lost to thewar.
I have an idea for a sequel to Amid also inspired by my grandparent’slife in China in the first half of the 1920s where my father was born. Grandadwent as a medical missionary and there were several female doctors trying tobring health care to Chinese women, most of whom were sequestered and notallowed to see male doctors. It was a tumultuous period of Chinese history,between the fall of the Imperial family and the rise of Communism. Mygrandparents fled the warring in the interior of China in 1926, leavingeverything behind but their 4 small boys. And what if Will and Emma had a sonwho fought in WWII? Book 3!
I also have notes for a tripletimeline book that involves Vikings, WWI and the present day… not at allcomplicated!
JMR- Tell our readers how to find you on social media and the web.
HM- I have a website – heathermcbriartyauthor.ca – where I have a blog,links to my books and social media, and my reviews for one of Canada’s biggestbook review sites. I am on Instagram, Twi… er, X, Threads and Bluesky under myname, and have a Facebook page, Somewhere in Flanders
JMR- What question were you hoping I’d ask but didn’t?
HM- Actually, you covered it all!
JMR- Thank you Heather for stopping by and for your wonderful interview. I love Time Team as well and watched all the shows! Readers, I've included a link for Heather's book below, be sure to check it out.
