Please welcome award-winning author Ros Rendle, and a fascinating choice of books which mean most to her. I agree, Ros, it’s an impossible decision! Over to you:
Hello, and thank you so much, Georgia, for this opportunity. Three books is a great idea but hard to whittle it down to only three.
Here goes!
What book would you have liked to have written?
The book I should like to have written is Random Harvest by James Hilton. It was written in 1941 and became a best seller, so in some senses might seem dated, but the themes stand up today. As with his other books – Goodbye Mr Chips and Lost Horizon, lost innocence resulting from war experiences affects the characters and what they do. There is a stark contrast between the recent life of the protagonist, Charles Rainier, and a life he lost, and there is a yearning for the simpler times he spent before, with Paula. There are also parallels between Rainier’s sense of impending doom but his inability to do anything about it, and the British government’s paralysis in responding to Hitler’s manoeuvres preceding World War 2. There is a magnificent twist near the end, which I shall not disclose because it’s so good. The film didn’t work half as well because of the visual medium which made the twist impossible.
One of the characters in my Strong Sisters series (three sisters and three times of twentieth century turbulence) is named Rainier. He’s a Frenchman. There has to be one since I lived in France for so long.
And the one which inspires you the most?
The book that has inspired me to write may come as a surprise. I could have chosen any of Emma Davies’ books or even The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan. However, it’s Fuzzypeg Goes To School by Allison Uttley.
I read this when I was four with occasional help from my mum as I sat cuddled on her knees. She was also a published author of twenty-one books. The three main characters, Little Grey Rabbit, Hare, and Squirrel all live together as did my dear granny, bumptious grandad, and great aunt and so the parallels were in-built for me. I related very much to Fuzzypeg, the young hedgehog because I had a mass of very wild and curly hair. I loved the school scenes in the story and when he learned his A B C (C is very wet when he falls in the river, something I also did), the ideas were set for me to become a teacher and use those letters to tell a real story. Now, a retired headteacher and ten books later, with another soon to be published, I fulfilled both dreams.
And now tell us about your newest release …
My latest book is Finding Happiness. It’s the third in a series set around a large country property, Moondreams House. Each book is a stand-alone, but characters from previous books pop in and out. People tell me it’s good to know what happened to them, while meeting new characters and a fresh story. This book has an enigmatic Frenchman, of course, with a secret,and a rural rough sleeper. They both have advice for Angela when she needs to move on from tragedy.
The rough sleeper is based on a man who my mother used to see in a quarry where she walked her dog. To begin, he used to scuttle away in fear, but eventually she started to leave a plastic box of food and a thermos with a hot drink behind a rock. She would collect these the next day when they were empty. After a while he began to speak. He seemed strange when he told her about his ‘digitaries’ – odd sums he did using the numbers from telegraph poles. One day he was worried because it was very cold and he thought people shouldn’t keep leaving their freezer doors open. After some time, and hearing that she wrote stories and poems, he wrote her a sensitive little poem of his own. Such a gentle character had to appear in my story.
In the book, Angela discovers meaningful advice can come from surprising places. As for the handsome Frenchman well…
Thank you, Ros! If you want to find out more, read on:
Ros Rendle was a head teacher previously but is now an award-winning author of contemporary and early 20th century fiction. She has eleven novels either published or about to be. She became an Amazon best-seller.
Inspiration comes from ten years living in France as well as a myriad of ideas from time spent with family and friends.
What with writing, and between dog walking and dancing, though not always at the same time, her hours are filled.
And the linky things are here:
The universal book link is – viewbook.at/FindingHappiness
www.Facebook.com/RosalindRendleAuthor
Huge thanks for coming on and reminding me about Random Harvest and Goodbye Mr Chips! Good luck with your new release.
Love,
Georgia x
