Rose & Ivy 1917
Sometimes serendipity lends a hand and a writer stumbles upon an image that jumpstarts the story.
During early research for my new novel The Secrets of Bridgewater Bay I stumbled across this photograph of two World War One, British Voluntary Aid Detachment nurses. I had already decided that two of the main characters in the story would join the VAD and this photograph became a springboard to developing those characters. If you read the novel I think you will realise why.
There was so much strength in those linked arms. The girls didn’t know it then but there was a century of massive change coming. Yet together they looked like they could face whatever the world had in store.
The Secrets of Bridgewater Bay
Not only was the photograph influential in character development, it also became the perfect clue for the contemporary protagonist to discover. The inscription on the rear ‘Rose and Ivy 1917 – Together forever’ sets her on a journey of discovery into the past that changes her life.
Photographs and maps have always been integral to my storytelling. They suggest, provoke, and flesh out the story. Without them I think I might be lost!
JULIE BROOKS 
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