Q & A - Brighton Belle by Sara Sheridan

[Sara]

*waves*

[Bill]

I'd like to ask more specifically how you researched the right expressions for the period. In ch. 4 Mirabelle says to Lisabetta: 'You have a smashing accent.' 'Smashing' is quite the right word for the time - in 1955 my parents visited England & an English friend referred to a Sunbeam Talbot as 'a smashing car'). But does Mirabelle actually mean, 'You speak English remarkably well for a foreigner' (rather a catty compliment that), or, somewhat less meowy, 'I find your foreign accent charming'? Of course the Jaguar would be an XK120 - definitely 'smashing' but obviously very flashy & expensive for a GP to be driving.

[Sara]

David wrote: "Right if anyone has any questions for the author, Sara Sheridan, on the book Brighton Belle or her writing in general then please place them in here or on the thread at https://www.goodreads.com/to..."
Hi David
That's a good question! I am what we call in the UK 'a swot' which for US readers, is a 'nerd'. Always have been. So the research was really important. It's a fascinating period - on the faultline between history (for my generation) and nostalgia/memory (for my parents' generation). I was already an historical novelist when I started the series - I had written books set in the late Georgian/early Victorian era. The 50s, however, threw up a lot of new material - video and photographs, for example. I also spoke to people about their memories. For London Calling, the next in the series, I spent a bit of time talking to old black jazz musicians about their experiences on the scene in London when they were young. Their lifestyles were terrifying! Drink, drugs, homelessness and lack of food all featured (though, that said, they were still hale in their 80s and 90s!) I really enjoy the research part of the job and quite apart from books, newspapers (I often the read the newspapers for the days the books are set), video and photographic material, the books have enhanced my relationship with my parents - particularly my father, who inspired the original story. He helps with 'old money' and all kinds of little details - we have had some great chats about how to smelt gold bars into coin, for example, and how much certain items and services cost in the 50s.
Though on the downside, I drive my cousin (who is a doctor) mad! I'm always ringing him to ask how to poison a cake or how long it would take someone to die if they were stabbed in a certain way. The trials of having a novelist in the family, I guess.
Sara x

[Sara]

Bill wrote: "I'd like to ask more specifically how you researched the right expressions for the period."

Dialogue is always fascinating. There are certain words we use more seldom these days - 'smashing' is one, as you point out. Another one is 'smart' as in 'the smart set'. I look at dialogue in two ways. Firstly, it's great flavour. I read quite a bit of contemporary material and also watch old video footage (pathe newsreel is great) to pick up interesting vocabulary. When I'm writing dialogue I put my brain into translation mode and think 'how would someone from 1950s London or Brighton (or wherever) say that?' Then I pick out the key words they'd use.
However, the second way I view dialogue, is that to the modern ear the way people spoke in the 1950s can sound stilted and my job is to keep a modern reader happy (and with their imagination engaged) so I am careful to keep an eye out for dialogue that might halt a reader and amend it so it flows to the modern eye.
Some of the vocabulary and phrases used are shocking to us, in the present day. Attitudes around gender and race were treated entirely differently. I like that this puts a modern reader on edge a little - I think that's good for a mystery book, but I find some of the research harrowing. I remember having to come out of a screening room for a cup of tea to recover from footage of a man being interviewed about the Windrush arrivals to London (later in the 1950s than this book is set). He used all 16 of the BBC's banned words on race IN ONE SENTENCE. There is a general belief that cosy or traditional crime can be toothless, but it doesn't have to be! In fact, Agatha Christie was shocking for contemporary readers in her day (about issues we no longer find shocking - she had characters who were divorced, gay etc) So I think using the issues that shock modern-day readers works in the context of the genre.
You asked if Mirabelle is being catty to Lisabetta in a particular exchange about Lisabetta's accent. I'd say she isn't. European accents were considered 'smart' in the Bohemian set. London (and Brighton by extension) was cosmopolitan in the 1950s and Mirabelle is generally open-minded. I like that about her...
Thanks for your question - it's always interesting to see what sticks in a reader's mind. I'll write dialogue more mindfully the next few days now I've had to put this down on paper.
Sara

[Sara]

David wrote: "Some great responses, Sara, but as I was reading that you said "I also spoke to people about their memories."
It got me thinking that the second world war rememberance showed how few are left of th..."
Well there aren't as many as there were, for sure! I find usually one or two show up at library events (I'm really enjoy public speaking and do quite a bit of it). That said, my father is in his late 70s and he was around in the 1950s. They are out there... and actually many of them love to talk about the past. There is one thing, though, there is a big difference between history and memory and I always double check what people say because sometimes their memories are wildly inaccurate. They recall what their life was like but don't have a more general view. It's always fascinating though and I really enjoy hearing what people have to say. Sara

[Kim]

Before my question, I must say that your comments have given me a delightful glimpse into your process and inspiration. It just makes your book come even more alive for me. Thank you!
You mentioned your father as particular inspiration for your original story. Is he represented in a specific character or did he influence your decision to explore this time period generally?

[Sara]

Hi Kim
How lovely of you to say that!
The idea for the series came from a boozy lunch with Dad. Now, he was brought up in London and Brighton in the 1950s and like many men from that era he doesn't talk much about his background and experiences. So during this lunch he told me a memory he had of visiting his grandmother over the summer when he was around 15. He was standing on the Prom and he could see a woman on the pebble beach (v well dressed) who was dodging the deckchair attendant, trying not to pay for her seat. 'I've always wondered why she was doing that?' he said. That's 60 years of wondering. I was between books and it was nearly his birthday so I decided to write him what I thought would be a funny short story about that woman, but being a bit of a swot, I wanted to look into the 50s before I started. So off I went. And it just grew from there. Fairly early on I realised it was the most amazing era which had a huge impact on the modern day and that there was so much material it had to be a series. I'd written 'sets' of books before but never a series. It was just lucky, really. Dad doesn't feature though some of his memories do. He once let slip when he read through an early draft of London Calling that I hadn't given Mirabelle enough money to bribe the prostitute she was speaking to. He hasn't said how he knew how much that would cost. Dad, I reckon, has dark 1950s secrets...
Sara x

[Bill]

'"You fucking idiot!" Bert shouted, and then casting a glance at his passenger he apologised. "Sorry Miss b. But he was."

This stuck really a false note for me. Hard to imagine an Englishman of any social class, even a wide-boy, using an f-bomb in 1950 in the presence of any woman for whom he had even the least respect. Am I mistaken?

[Sara]

I'm afraid so. S

[Juliann]

Sara Sheridan,

Thank you for your detailed replies! Would you be willing to
let us know if Vesta Churchill will be assisting Mirabelle
in any more adventures? Also: was the villian "The Candlemaker" based on an actual WW2 character?

[Sara]

Hi Juliann
Thank you for your question.
Ooh yes - Vesta is in all the books, four out so far and more on the way. I am fond of her - a great foil for Mirabelle and a way into looking at racism in 1950s England. Actually, the next in the series is London Calling which takes Mirabelle more into Vesta's world, up in London - including some seedy jazz clubs. She's in England Expects and British Bulldog too.
The Candlemaker isn't based on a particular Nazi - he's more a general nasty ex-SS officer/high command. My second novel, (then, contemporary - in the 1990s) was called Ma Polinski's Pockets. The story is set in Edinburgh. It's about a girl who inherits a huge amount of money from an old woman she only met a couple of times. Figuring out why that happened leads her into a WWII backstory and at the time I read up a lot about The Final Solution. Still makes me shudder.
Hope you're enjoying the story.
Best
Sara

[Sara]

Hi David
I'm so glad you enjoyed the book. I loved writing it. Now: the message Mirabelle leaves at the station includes making sure to tell Vesta as well as McGregor. So although McGregor told the bobby he didn't want to be bothered, the bobby already knew to make sure Vesta knew. It would have seemed v clunky to put that into the text "The policeman couldn't get hold of McGregor but he knew that I had to be informed" and to be honest, it would just hold up most readers, but that was how she knew which train Mirabelle was on. A timetable and a helpful man with a car (who she knew from her work in the insurance office) was enough to help her find the right train at the right station. Thank Goodness...