Let's welcome my guest author, Rebecca Pells
My guest this month is Rebecca Pells who lives in the heart of the Shropshire countryside. Following careers in banking and the charitable sector, she embraced her creative passions, becoming a full-time artist, with her work collected across the globe. Her focus has now turned to painting with words. Her debut historical novel, Absent Lives, marks the beginning of this new journey — an exploration of memory, loss and the quiet power of untold stories.
Absent Lives is a parallel narrative set in 1915 and 1960. The novel explores the story of the sinking of the Lusitania liner in WWI and takes the reader across continents in a haunting tale of the ripples of war, the endurance of memory and the unbreakable threads of family.
You can connect with Rebecca via her website, Instagram and Amazon.
You can buy Absent Lives on Amazon or at Waterstones.
What is the inspiration for Absent Lives?
I didn’t set out to write a book! It came about following a chance conversation with my ninety-two-year-old father. We were sorting through some family photographs and came across an intriguing little album, with a brown suede cover with the embossed initials EP. After a moment’s thought, my father recalled that this referred to his Uncle Elmore and told me that he and his young family had been aboard the Lusitania when it was sunk by a torpedo fired by a German U-boat in the First World War. Their young baby, John, had been lost and my father had been named after him. My curiosity piqued, I began some research and what I discovered inspired me to write Absent Lives.
Is there a particular theme you wished to explore?
Early on, I decided that my book would be very much character driven, exploring the emotional impact of the trauma that both Elmore and his wife Anita experience in the aftermath of the Lusitania tragedy. The themes of loss and absence weave through the novel, exploring the polarising reactions of Elmore and his wife Anita: his fueled by anger and revenge toward the Germans, which ultimately leads to his own demise, and hers unfolds with each page, a she struggles with a loss of her identity as a wife and mother. In particular, the loss of a child is something which – even today – is not openly talked about, and the book explores the alienating nature of this circumstance. It also explores how her struggle ultimately leads to acceptance and a sense of self which emerges, not merely despite the trauma, but because of it.
What period of history particularly inspires or interests you? Why?
I’m fascinated by the first half of the twentieth century. You have the two world wars which bring about enormous changes, not just on a global level but to societies and individual lives. In the UK, the first twenty years of the century were still embedded in strict Victorian attitudes and, despite promises of change, the Edwardian period was little different. The First World War brought about the disintegration of the landed gentry, of the served and the servant; the Second was the catalyst which finally broke open the fissures created by the suffragette movement, loosening the patriarchal stronghold, and which ultimately led to the women’s liberation movement later in the century.
What resources do you use to research your book? How long did it take to finish the novel?
Initially, I delved into the internet, joined Ancestry and a Facebook group for researchers and relatives of survivors of the Lusitania. I then read other novels about the tragedy and reference books about not just the ship, but society during that period. I also contacted Cornell University, US gaining access to their archives and reached out to other experts I came across, all were very willing to help. The research was completed over three years, the actual writing took eighteen months.
What do you do if stuck for a word or a phrase?
I use an online thesaurus, looking for alternative word suggestions. I also read my work aloud – it’s the best way to see if a sentence or phrase ‘flows’. You will immediately tell if it sounds clunky and, often, it will pinpoint the bit which isn’t working.
Is there anything unusual or even quirky that you would like to share about your writing?
I didn’t start writing at the beginning! I vaguely knew the story I wanted to write but was stuck on how to start it, so I employed a trick I used for my school essays and wrote the bit I was sure of first and then went back to write the opening. After a good day’s writing, I always stop just before I need to, even though I know what comes next. That way, the following day, I can pick up the flow again very quickly.
Is there a particular photo or piece of art that strikes a chord with you? Why?
I’m an artist by profession, and mostly I paint still life but wasn’t sure as to why I was drawn to this genre, until a wise artist friend said to me ‘you don’t paint still lives, you paint absent lives.’ It was a lightbulb moment; she had recognized what I had not been able to articulate in words but had tried to convey in my work. And when I was searching for a title for my book, this popped into my head and Absent Lives was christened! The painting I have chosen is one of my own, although not a still life, it is evocative and full of the absence I carry within, which has both inspired and seeped into the pages of my novel. It was painted in 2024, following time spent at a friend’s old farmhouse in south-west France and is titled Coach House Hollyhocks.
Do you use a program like Scrivener to create your novel? Do you ever write in long hand?
I don’t use any programs. I write notes long hand, I have a large notebook full of ideas which I jot down, long before the actual writing process begins and even once it’s started, if it’s something I might want to include later. I already have one started for my next novel.
What advice would you give an aspiring author?
Read your work aloud. It will iron out any clunky, awkward phrases, you will immediately become aware of repetition, overlong sentences or paragraphs. It will also help you to create natural sounding dialogue. Ultimately, it will help you see if your story has a natural flow and rhythm to the text.
Tell us about your next book.
My second novel will also be a stand-alone, historical novel, again set in the first half of the twentieth century. This time, the location will be my hometown of Shrewsbury and it will involve the arts!
1915. When the RMS Lusitania is torpedoed by a German U-boat off the Irish coast, young parents Anita and Elmore are torn from their happy lives. They survive, but amid the chaos their infant son, John, is lost. Grief drives Elmore to vengeance on the battlefields of France, where he is reported missing in action. Shattered and alone, Anita seeks solace across the Atlantic, carving out a fragile existence on her aunt’s Californian ranch and with the wealthy McKinneys in colonial Nassau, before finally settling in the shadows of New York’s skyline.
Scotland, 1960. Twenty-two-year-old Charles is summoned to his grandfather’s deathbed and handed a mysterious package containing a child’s jacket and a bracelet. As curiosity turns to obsession, Charles embarks on a journey that will span decades, unravel a half-century-old mystery and lead him to a woman whose story was almost lost to time.
Thanks so much, Rebecca. I was aware of the sinking of the Lusitania but not any details so I look forward to reading this book. I love the lyricism of the title in both the concept of art and literature. And your painting is beautiful.
You can buy Absent Lives on Amazon or at Waterstones.
8 Responses
This time period intrigues me. I’d love to win this book !
Elizabeth
Last week I finished your absolutely amazing book, Fables and Lies. I’ve been holding back, to pull together my thoughts, to hopefully communicate intelligently how much it affected me. It is a story of both depth and breadth that will be in my consciousness for a very long time.
I think you brilliantly tackled the questions many children of WWII veterans, like myself, have about the German people’s collective responsibility for the devastation of that conflict. Most of my life I have considered the Germans to be a deeply flawed society – and remained suspicious of and rather hostile to any German I met.
Your book showed me that my Canadian society might well become just as blind, just as self-centred and just as ignorant as the Germans were. In fact, The United States seems to be following Hitler’s playbook and the public seems just as happy to go along with that maniac.
So your book sure made me look inward and outward at the same time. It was a humbling read. Thank you so much. I look forward to your next book and wish you well and happy.
Thanks so much for letting me know, Gail. I’m also a daughter of a WW2 veteran, seriously injured by the Germans at Tobruk, so I grappled with writing this book. However, I did want to show how a populace can be enthralled by zealots which leads to complicity, complacency or denial.
How interesting to focus on the sinking of the Lusitania. I’d be keen to learn more about the history behind this key event in WW1.
Count me in for this! I love hidden family histories.
I have never fully understood the background to the sinking of the Lusitania so I think this would be a fascinating book to read.
The idea of visiting the various locations of France, California and colonial Nassau through this book appeals to me. I’d love to read it.
WW1 stories always appeal to me. This sounds particularly intriguing.