R.P.G. Colley Talks His New Novel 'The Lost Daughter'
11 November 2024
In this Q&A, best-selling author, R.P.G. Colley talks to us about the tenth book in the Love and War series, The Lost Daughter, out now in audio!
The series is called Love and War so obviously we know it’s about love and war, is there any other themes your readers can expect from this series?
The whole series are standalone novels but I gathered them into a series as they’re all set during the darkest years of the twentieth century: the world wars, Nazism, Stalinism, etc. The novels often deal with the individual trying to find their way in situations where the odds are stacked against them. For example, in my novel, The Mist Before Our Eyes, set in Nazi Germany, my hero, Felix, is pro-Hitler. He is young and has never known anything different. But as the novel progresses, his beliefs are slowly eroded, sometimes brutally, leaving him to question his situation, the world around him and himself.
Can you sum up for us what the Lebensborn Programme is for those who may not know?
The Lebensborn programme was a scheme thought up by Heinrich Himmler. Attractive, young women were housed in a home where they met and procreated with fine SS specimens with the idea of producing lots of perfect Aryan babies. These babies would, in most cases, then be adopted by politically and racially pure families. The first of ten centres in Germany opened in 1936. By the end of the war, some 8,000 babies had been born in Lebensborn homes.
There were many Lebensborn centres in other German-occupied territories, particularly Norway. The most famous product of the programme, born in Norway in November 1945, was Anni-Frid Lyngstad of the band, ABBA.
What drew you in particular to writing about the Lebensborn Programme?
I’d read a few memoirs of people who’d had experienced Lebensborn yet it’s not that well known. Post-war, the children born within Lebensborn were often ostracized and abused. They suffered through no fault of their own. It has a peculiar horror to it which appealed to me as a writer.
Can you tell us a little bit about Elizabeth’s relationship with her mother?
It’s a strained relationship, to be sure! Elizabeth’s mother is cold and emotionally withdrawn. There are reasons for this which, during the course of the novel, Elizabeth discovers. This leaves Elizabeth with more questions than answers but her mother is suffering from dementia so those answers aren’t readily available. Instead, she has to find out for herself – and this sets her off on a long, difficult journey.
The Lost Daughter also deals with a few other heavy topics such as dementia, is there any other topics or themes your readers may expect?
Yes, I’ve seen dementia from close-up, unfortunately, and was able to draw on that. It also looks at how an apparently happy childhood can, on closer examination, feel tainted when, as an adult, you understand all those undercurrents that, at the time, you were too young to decipher. And a major theme is how the Second World War cast its menacing shadow for decades to come. Other themes I touch on include parental death, bullying and unrequited love. But I don’t want to give the impression that The Lost Daughter is all gloom! There are certainly warmhearted moments, and I try to write with a light touch!
You must find it really challenging when writing about the second World War and other horrific events?
For sure! When writing a difficult or challenging scene, I will shut myself away in my office and play loud emotional music. This puts me in the zone, so to speak, and I write quickly, more concerned with capturing the drama, the emotional and the moment than having it perfect. It can be exhausting. Later, when I’m rewriting or editing, I view it all with a sense of detachment, so then it’s simply becomes a job that needs doing.
This is the first book in the Love and War series with ten books overall so far, can readers expect any more to come in the series?
Yes, there are ten in the series. I also have The Searight Saga, a trilogy that follows the same family from the first world war to the early 2000’s: One family. Three generations. Three epic stories. Next, I’m thinking of continuing Felix’s story from the above-mentioned The Mist Before Our Eyes, and looking at how ordinary Germans fared in the immediate peace following Germany’s surrender in May 1945.
What’s next on the horizon?
I’ve recently completed a six-book crime series under the penname of Joshua Black. Gritty, dramatic but at times humorous, the series is set in contemporary London and features my detective, DI Benedict Paige. The first in the series is called And Then She Came Back.