Jacqueline Winspear: On the Kindling That Starts a Story
New York Times bestselling author Jacqueline Winspear discusses writing her new historical fiction novel, The White Lady.
Jacqueline Winspear is the author of the New York Times bestsellers A Sunlit Weapon, The Consequences of Fear, The American Agent, and To Die but Once, as well as 13 other bestselling Maisie Dobbs novels and The Care and Management of Lies, a Dayton Literary Peace Prize finalist.
Jacqueline has also published two nonfiction books, What Would Maisie Do? and a memoir, This Time Next Year We’ll Be Laughing. The Maisie Dobbs series is currently under option with Hilary and Chelsea Clinton’s production company.
Originally from the U.K., she divides her time between California and the Pacific Northwest. For more on Jacqueline Winspear, visit jacquelinewinspear.com, and follow her on Facebook.
In this post, Jacqueline discusses writing her new historical fiction novel, The White Lady, her advice for writers, and more!
Name: Jacqueline Winspear
Literary agent: Amy Rennert
Book title: The White Lady
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release date: March 21, 2023
Genre/category: Historical; war; thriller; mystery
Previous titles: Maisie Dobbs and 16 other books in the series; This Time Next Year We’ll Be Laughing (Memoir) and What Would Maisie Do? (nonfiction). The Care and Management of Lies (historical/literary fiction)
Elevator pitch for the book: The White Lady follows resistance operative and trained killer, Elinor White, from girlhood to womanhood, through two world wars and then into the crosshairs of organized crime in post-WW2 London.
What prompted you to write this book?
The story and characters wouldn’t let me go until I wrote it—that happens more often than authors might admit.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
I guess you could say I had the idea from the time I first saw the woman who inspired the story—and that happened in early childhood. I wrote about it in my memoir, This Time Next Year We’ll Be Laughing.
In my experience, every story starts with “kindling”—the idea/observation/overheard conversation/event witnessed that starts the writer on the path to a story. But kindling is no good until fuel is added, so that comes later—another observation, an idea, something the author feels strongly about or an interest.
Then comes the spark, that final push, the point at which you just have to write the story—for me that was learning about a network of women and girls in WWI Belgium who were tasked with resistance against the occupying German army. It was called La Dame Blanche—the White Lady—and was bankrolled by the British government.
Whether young girls, mothers, or elderly women, their bravery knew no bounds—but I wondered how it would be if a young girl, a member of La Dame Blanche, was called upon to fight another war of resistance years later. What would that be like? More than anything, I wanted to explore the fact that (as one of the characters says in the book), “In wartime, childhood ends early.”
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
No surprises. The publishing process for a book is pretty much the same from one book to another—it’s a process I’m very familiar with and truly, despite any rhetoric around the issue of technology from production to launch, it hasn’t changed that much for decades.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
Yes, there was one—but I can’t tell you, as that would give away a vital piece of the story, which wouldn’t be fair on readers.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
First and foremost, a novel has to be compelling, it has to “entertain” in that the narrative has to bring the reader back to the story until they reach the end. The noted historian, Simon Schama has a new series launched in Britain, The History of Now, in which he makes the point, ““It is not always politicians, but artists, musicians, and writers who rouse us from indifference and become the true agents of change.”
I wish we could change a lot more than we do, however, in writing this book I was able to explore a subject close to my heart, which is the impact of war on children, and how children have served in wartime—and most important, how they suffer in wartime and how that impacts who they become as adults.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Always read—and read out of your realm of interest, across genres, and taking no notice of so-called genre categories. For example, I have seen my books shelved in categories from anti-war to historical fiction to thriller, mystery, and literary fiction. My WWI novel, The Care and Management of Lies, is not a mystery, but it is often found in that category—which makes me wonder how disappointed a reader might be to find there is no actual mystery in the book.
But writers should read widely and deeply. I’m always fascinated by the work of other writers, whether from the past or different cultures and countries; how they use language, how they construct sentences, create tension, etc. For a writer, reading and paying attention to what you read is your masterclass.
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
