Chiswick Library was the setting (sadly for me) for the only event of the 2014 Chiswick Book Festival that I managed to get along to this year. Debut author Juliet West (Before the Fall) and seasoned author Elizabeth Speller (At Break of Day) are both first world war authors .
An enjoyable early evening was spent hearing both authors discuss their novels. Despite The First World War being such a well covered area in literature, it was a time when absolutley everything was thrown into jeopardy. It continues to provide an endless source of inspiration, gifting writers with the opportunity to address powerful themes such as shattered dreams, changed futures and impossible choices. All of this makes for exciting writing and reading.
I am particularly tempted by Juliet’s book. Apart from it having one the most stylish covers I’ve seen in ages it is based on a true story and is about the experience of East End women coping, or in some cases not coping when their men go to war. During a year that marks the anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War, this would seem a fitting book to read.
