Author Q&A with Alice Winn – The Bonus Chapter
Updated: 11 hours ago
Well, hello there, book lovers, and welcome to another cosy episode of The Bonus Chapter podcast. In this lovely episode, our host, Neha, is joined by the wonderful author Alice Winn to discuss her brilliant book, In Memoriam. Alice shares her experience of getting published for the first time, including an all-too-familiar story about a mountain of rejection slips.
One of the really interesting aspects of Alice's debut novel is its historical context. Alice didn't originally set out to be a historical fiction writer, but a chance encounter with a copy of Robert Graves's memoir, Goodbye to All That, led her down a quite incredible historical rabbit hole. She also discusses how British literature from the war focuses on different classes of people. Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon mostly talk about officers, whereas German literature, like All Quiet on the Western Front, focuses on privates.
Alice also explains what the research process for her novel was like and how a series of incredible coincidences – including attending the same college as Siegfried Sassoon – deepened her understanding of the emotional impact on personal relationships. As well as exploring the relationships on the battlefield, Alice also explores the unspoken rules around queer relationships in British boarding schools at the start of the 20th century.
Whether historical fiction is your thing or not, we really believe that In Memoriam is a novel that will appeal to everybody. If you've read the novel, you'll love this episode and the fascinating story of how it came to be. If you haven't read it yet, we guarantee you'll want to after listening to this episode. Please remember to subscribe to get the very latest from The Bonus Chapter.
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