On continuing my readerly pursuit of Women’s Historical Fiction:
There is a bit of a back-story I need to share ahead of the conversation I had with Ms Lanigan. For quite a few years of the recent past, I constantly would seek out stories rooted in two branches of Historical Fiction: Feminist Historical Fiction (which sought to illuminate stories about the Women’s Movement and the Suffragettes in particular) *and!* Women’s Historical Fiction which was casting a wider net of choice in respect to what a novel could encompass. Either about Women’s History itself or about the journey of women across time, continent and lifestyle.
What I loved the most about seeking out these kinds of stories was the knowledge I was gleaming out of History through fictional accounts of stories which were rooted ‘in real life’ (ie. IRL). These were stories about women who had once lived and who had lived lives that many of us could not quite fathom how they were able to survive them – much less survive them well and achieve the accomplishments they did. Other stories were more harrowing and turbulent – somewhere more uplifting and soul-catching whilst some rooted us so directly into a particular time and era, it felt as if we were re-walking in that person’s shoes as if their life had merely been lived yesterday.
Most of the stories I read of this nature in the past were independently published – and I can bet you already know why that might be the case. It is hard to find publishers (not always but it can be true) who will want to tackle the topics and subjects’ writers of this branch of #HistFic love to pursue. Whilst at the same time, I love to celebrate ALL authors and their voices who are re-establishing a living narrative about Women’s History – from all women and all eras in which tey can reaffirm a connection to highlight back into the present.
When I read the premise behind this particular story of White Feathers, it felt like the next chapter of my discoveries in this branch of the genre I love to read. I hadn’t heard of the concept behind ‘white feathers’ previously – as apparently, I just missed that part of living history when it comes to war era revelations. I also can’t imagine how hard it was for the women of the time to use the white feathers as they were being directed to do and not have a hold over effect on themselves, too.
Another component of the story is a May to December romantic connection – meaning, there is a romantic thread of the story which has two characters who are of different ages and generations falling in love with each other. I haven’t read too many stories about this kind of romance, but I have seen this play out in tv serials and/or films or read about them in Biographies especially within the Entertainment Industry where sometimes people who find each other to be their soul mate can find that person either years younger than them or years older than them. Depending on the person, of course. I felt this might be an interesting part of the plot as well. Especially to see how it was handled and how it all played out in the end.
And, when it comes to why read about a wartime romance? The truth of it is there is so much life to be understood during times of war. War can take on different meanings in different eras of History – it can be the more direct route of actual wars, and it could be the different kind of wars we find ourselves in as a global society where the very structure of our lives are becoming redefined. I used to read a lot of wartime romances and war dramas – then, I had to step away as after a while it all felt a bit too much for me. My heart was too full. White Feathers perked a renewed interest in me to re-open that door. There was something unique about the story Lanigan was telling and I wanted to experience it.
I think even with everything on fire (as that classic song refers too by Billy Joel) we still need to take stock and time out to ruminate on life, love and the ways in which we’re all connected. Art, literature, music and all the creative passageways we can celebrate life as it is lived both present and in the past is one way of lifting up our humanity and remaining interconnected to each other.
Thereby when it came time to selecting my questions for Ms Lanigan, I wanted to stay rooted into the premise of the story and potentially discuss elements of the story and/or the characters as well as highlight her own writerly approach to this kind of storytelling. I leave you with our words and our conversation to contemplate picking up a copy of White Feathers.
White Feathers
by Susan Lanigan
Source: Author via The Coffee Pot Book Club
In 1913, Irish emigrée Eva Downey receives a bequest from an elderly suffragette to attend a finishing school. There she finds friendship and, eventually, love. But when war looms and he refuses to enlist, Eva is under family and social pressure to give the man she loves a white feather of cowardice. The decision she eventually makes will have lasting consequences for her and everyone around her.
Journey with Eva as she battles through a hostile social order and endeavours to resist it at every turn.
Places to find the book:
ASIN: B0DVDRPQLX
Published by Self Published
on 21st March, 2025
Format: Trade Paperback
Available Formats: Paperback, Ebook
Converse via: #TheCoffeePotBookClub, #HistFic, #HistoricalFiction, and #WhiteFeathers
About Susan Lanigan
Susan Lanigan’s first novel White Feathers, a tale of passion, betrayal and war, was selected as one of the final ten in the Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair 2013, and published in 2014 by Brandon Books. The book won critical acclaim and was shortlisted for the UK Romantic Novel of the Year Award in 2015. This edition is a reissue with a new cover and foreword.
Her second novel, Lucia’s War, also concerning WWI as well as race, music and motherhood, was published in June 2020 and has been named as the Coffee Pot Book Club Honourable Mention in the Modern Historical Book of the Year Award.
Susan lives by the sea near Cork, Ireland, with her family.
