tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post8779562367924137549..comments2024-03-23T12:38:46.260+00:00Comments on The History Girls: From Family History to FictionMary Hoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241989732624913706noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-77294311703426076022011-08-23T12:30:38.151+01:002011-08-23T12:30:38.151+01:00I so enjoyed reading your blog this morning, Lesli...I so enjoyed reading your blog this morning, Leslie. Every storyteller adds something in the telling but I loved your mother's cork-popping version. You give a real sense, here, of the satisfaction you got as a novelist in trying to get to the truth of something through fiction, through a combination of factual research and imagination. And, after Emma's blog yesterday, I think your last paragraph is a great comment on why historical fiction is so compelling.<br /><br />P.S. what a lovely picture of your mother.Linda B-Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01599899073420595717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-32221497376582123332011-08-23T11:06:22.682+01:002011-08-23T11:06:22.682+01:00Lovely blog, Leslie. Doesn't it illustrate ho...Lovely blog, Leslie. Doesn't it illustrate how attitude's change over the years? The story of your mother's 'party' in such terrible circumstances would have been relished today.Barbara Mitchelhillnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-10276331815500855442011-08-23T09:36:03.300+01:002011-08-23T09:36:03.300+01:00That is very interesting indeed. My mother was ask...That is very interesting indeed. My mother was asked to write an account of her life by my sister. She did it reluctantly. It is brief and she claimed it was "factual". Her memory of what happened for the portion of her life that I and my brother can remember is very different from ours. Interestingly my sister decided not to read it at all. I know that some it is due to my mother not wanting some of her memories to be committed to paper but even things that do not matter - such as the colour of a car - have been changed. It is almost as if she wanted to be someone else or wipe out a record of herself.catdownunderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06959328192182156574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-69272319473896079122011-08-23T09:32:43.486+01:002011-08-23T09:32:43.486+01:00This is fascinating on so many levels. The story i...This is fascinating on so many levels. The story itself, for starters. Your writing & research process, Leslie. And then the intriguing story of the difference between your mother's oral and written versions. I'm particularly struck by your suggestion that your father's 'ring-fencing' may have given her a sense of safety... How difficult it must have been to write down traumatic experiences for public consumption, wondering perhaps if you would be judged in ways (I'm thinking of seemliness) that I doubt writers (in our culture at least) would worry about now.H.M. Castorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08716936870601385683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-47379581755420321742011-08-23T09:19:33.404+01:002011-08-23T09:19:33.404+01:00Absolutely - and the most fascinating thing, maybe...Absolutely - and the most fascinating thing, maybe, is your mother's varying accounts of her experience - the oral tradition you remember, and the written-down version which may be less accurate - yet how we depend on written-down versions! Gives one to think.Katherine Langrishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12529700103932422873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-20062757858806527052011-08-23T08:19:46.584+01:002011-08-23T08:19:46.584+01:00Fascinating blog, Leslie. And I totally agree: the...Fascinating blog, Leslie. And I totally agree: there is so much in history that you "couldn't make up", so why not use it?Caroline Lawrencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07249424644829463560noreply@blogger.com