Orna O'Reilly
asked
Emma Fraser:
As the island of Skye is so dramatically featured in your book, did you spend much time there doing research? Or was it a favourite place to visit? You describe it wonderfully; makes me want to visit! Also, the two women characters really spring to life as strong and ambitious, yet very feminine. Are they based on women you know, or have known, personally?
Emma Fraser
Hi Orna
My parents were island born and bred so I have very strong ties to the Scottish Islands. When I left SA to return to Uist I found very little had changed from how I remembered it as a child so it was easy for me to imagine what island life would have been like on Skye at the end of the 19th century. I also worked there for a few months and like Isabel was taken salmon fishing. I too was expected to bash the salmon over the head with a thick stick! When I decided to set art of the book in Skye I rented a cottage with a writing friend. I wanted to find the exact spots where my characters lived and worked. There was also a fantastic community museum nearby with lots of photos and first hand accounts of life on Skye in the 19th Century. When I was editing the book I took the same cottage again to check up on facts. Sadly the museum had closed but luckily I had the info I needed. Skye also has blockhouses furnished exactly as they would have been at the time I was writing. If you ever get the chance to visit, you must go. It is a beautiful, dramatic island, full of history. To answer your last question, I had my great aunts in mind when I wrote about Jessie. They were tough, determined women. Isabel came to be through diaries and letters written by the women who went out with the Scottish Women's Hospitals. I don't think strong, amazing women are given enough prominence in history, yet there were so many living heroic lives, quietly.
My parents were island born and bred so I have very strong ties to the Scottish Islands. When I left SA to return to Uist I found very little had changed from how I remembered it as a child so it was easy for me to imagine what island life would have been like on Skye at the end of the 19th century. I also worked there for a few months and like Isabel was taken salmon fishing. I too was expected to bash the salmon over the head with a thick stick! When I decided to set art of the book in Skye I rented a cottage with a writing friend. I wanted to find the exact spots where my characters lived and worked. There was also a fantastic community museum nearby with lots of photos and first hand accounts of life on Skye in the 19th Century. When I was editing the book I took the same cottage again to check up on facts. Sadly the museum had closed but luckily I had the info I needed. Skye also has blockhouses furnished exactly as they would have been at the time I was writing. If you ever get the chance to visit, you must go. It is a beautiful, dramatic island, full of history. To answer your last question, I had my great aunts in mind when I wrote about Jessie. They were tough, determined women. Isabel came to be through diaries and letters written by the women who went out with the Scottish Women's Hospitals. I don't think strong, amazing women are given enough prominence in history, yet there were so many living heroic lives, quietly.
More Answered Questions
Matthew
asked
Emma Fraser:
Hi Emma! When you write your books, do you already know the endings when you begin, or do you let it unfold as you write? I'm trying to write mysteries and am not sure if I should have it all thought out first, or should start with a broad idea and go with the writing.... any advice is appreciated!
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