Deborah Burrows was born and grew up in Perth, Western Australia. She is the author of four novels, all set during the Second World War. Her inspiration is her late mother, who was widowed during that war and who loved to tell stories about life in wartime. Deborah's latest novel; Ambulance Girls, is the first of a trilogy set during the London Blitz and in this piece she tells us a bit more about the woman behind the books.
Deborah Burrows
I am in awe of courage. I love to read accounts of bravery, but they always make me cry. This is one of the main reasons I like to write about World War II, because there was just so much heroism, especially during the Blitz. The idea for Ambulance Girls came when I read an account of a petite Australian ambulance driver who had been awarded a medal for extreme bravery during the London Blitz.
My father was a war hero. He was one of a small group of Australian Commandos that fought a guerrilla war against the Japanese on the island of Timor for a year, much of the time without any support from Australia, as they had been given up for dead. My father died at the age of 42, from war-related problems.
My mother was widowed in her forties, when I was four years old, and raised me and my brothers alone. Her mother was widowed in her forties, when my mother was a baby, and raised my mother and her sisters alone in the Depression. I suspect that is why my heroines are all strong, independent women who face life’s difficulties with humour, pluck and courage.
I married late, at age 47. It took me that long to find the man I wanted to commit to spending my life with. I am eternally grateful that I did find him because it was my husband who supported my dream to begin writing. He brought me endless cups of tea and never begrudged the time I spent (and still spend) in front of the computer instead of with him. I cannot see how I could ever have written any novels without him.
My great-grandfather was Finnish. When I found this out twelve years ago I discovered that my maiden name—Williams—was not real, because Finland then used patronymics. Great-Granddad’s name was Carl Wilhelm Mattsson (son of Matts), but when he jumped ship in Australia in 1872 he took the name Charles Williams. This means that my maiden name should have been Deborah Jeffersonsdotter.
I love history, especially British history. I have three history degrees, two post-graduate, and they have helped me to write fiction, because of the imagination involved in the study of history.
I don’t know my left from my right. Of course, I can work it out eventually—left = wedding ring—but it’s never automatic. It makes for some fun journeys with my husband if I’m navigating. “Turn right at the next intersection. No—right! Right! Right!! Where I’m pointing! Oh, yes, I mean left.” (It’s his own fault really, because after more than a decade he should know not to trust me on directions.)
I am very good at meeting deadlines. This is probably because I’ve worked as a lawyer for many years, and the ability to meet deadlines is essential in the legal profession.
I adore Oxford. I’ve both studied and lived in the city and I find it has a marvellous sense of ‘the past’ that really fires my imagination.
I am a great Agatha Christie fan. She gives me a window onto the past, especially her books of the thirties and forties, which I use when writing of dialogue and understanding the mores of that time in my own novels. And no matter how often I re-read her books, I rarely remember who dunnit. This worries me occasionally, as I wonder whether it is a sign of incipient dementia or if Agatha was actually a witch.
Ambulance Girls by Deborah Burrows (Ebury Press, £5.99)