Writing the book: KINDRED SPIRITS, by Lucy McCarraher - Author also of Blood and Water, Mr Mikey's Ladies, My Wonderful Life, and The Book of Balanced Living

The minute I stepped inside the 17th century farmhouse we eventually bought, I felt I had come home. Not with the psychic connections that Mo has in the novel, but because despite hiccups during the move from South London to South Norfolk – including the house being taken off the market atone point – I never had the slightest doubt that the house would be ours, andin the end everything fell into place with ease.

I'd always had a romantic idea of living in the country,and the reality of doing so didn’t tarnish this at all. Our house is not especially beautiful, nor our village what estate agents would call “sought after”, but the age and ambience of both intrigued and inspired me. I frequently wondered about the generations of families who had lived here, the personalities and incidents that the thick clay lump walls have surrounded and the high pantile roof given shelter to.

So when a psychic friend came to stay soon after we'd moved in and, on a fusion of red wine and a violent summer evening thunder storm, was contacted by the spirit of a man who gave us his name and said he would like me to tell his story and right the injustice of some incident he was unfairly blamed for in the village in 1944, I was particularly excited. Among other things, he told my friend that I should be writing in the bow-windowed room at the end of the house because it would be my “window on the world”; that his story was a gift to me; and that Ishould look for him on the left hand side of the church yard. I completely believe my friend has authentic experiences of this kind – though somewhat sceptical about their significance, particularly in relation to me – but I couldn't resist taking the dog on an evening stroll down to the church. To my shock, on the left hand side, I found a small, flat plaque overgrown by long grass with an empty stone urn at its head, in memory of our ghost.

I asked around and put a request for information in the Parish Newsletter. I was contacted by the man's elderly nephew and then his son, who lives abroad but just happened to be on a rare visit home. Reading between the lines of what I learned, I got an idea of what might have happened – a death, no will, missing funds, the wrong person blamed, family divisions, lives blighted. With no real evidence and the main protagonists passed away, there was nothing I could do to prove my theory or reveal “the truth”.

But the story remained rattling around in my head, so when Blood and Water was going to be published, I knew where my next plot would come from. The characters and story of Kindred Spirits are entirely fictional, but like B&W, takes certain aspects of reality as the jumping off point for fiction. The house I describe is very much like my own, as is the village. One or two friends allowed me to pillage aspects of their lives for my present day characters. I'd love to think I might have conjoured up some emotions or experiences stored in the fabric of the house, but I don't knowingly share my heroine's psychic powers.

Despite my inability to bring him “justice” in any real sense, my ghost has brought me the gift of inspiration - not least from the view beyond my "window on the world" where I now sit and write - and I hope he enjoys my flights of fantasy in Kindred Spirits.

Discussion Points for Book Groups

Does Dottie’s diary read as an authentic voice from wartime England?

Is Mo overly concerned about Jack’s relationship with Kathleen – or is there a disturbing side to the mother/son bond when the two meet for the first time as adults?

Whether or not you are familiar with Hamlet, did you find the thematic comparisons between the stage and real life characters, and between Shakespeare’s Denmark and WW2 Britain, interesting, enlightening, a useful part of the story?

Which era involved you most in Kindred Spirits, Dottie’s world of war and family feuds or Mo’s modern day Haddeston?

Could you suspend disbelief and identify with Mo’s telepathic ability to relive Emma’s memories? If you’ve read Blood and Water, did you find one book worked better than the other on the psychic/historical level?

Other than the two main characters, Mo and Dottie, which of their “kindred spirits” did you identify with most: Emma Jackson, Henry Tinker, Venetia or Laura?

Let me know what you thought by posting a comment on my blog.

Buy a copy of Kindred Spirits from Amazon, or order from any good bookshop.





		Kindred Spirits: Writing the Book The minute I stepped inside the 17th century farmhouse we eventually bought, I felt I had come home. Not with the psychic connections that Mo has in the novel, but because despite hiccups during the move from South London to South Norfolk – including the house being taken off the market atone point – I never had the slightest doubt that the house would be ours, andin the end everything fell into place with ease. I'd always had a romantic idea of living in the country,and the reality of doing so didn’t tarnish this at all. Our house is not especially beautiful, nor our village what estate agents would call “sought after”, but the age and ambience of both intrigued and inspired me. I frequently wondered about the generations of families who had lived here, the personalities and incidents that the thick clay lump walls have surrounded and the high pantile roof given shelter to. So when a psychic friend came to stay soon after we'd moved in and, on a fusion of red wine and a violent summer evening thunder storm, was contacted by the spirit of a man who gave us his name and said he would like me to tell his story and right the injustice of some incident he was unfairly blamed for in the village in 1944, I was particularly excited. Among other things, he told my friend that I should be writing in the bow-windowed room at the end of the house because it would be my “window on the world”; that his story was a gift to me; and that Ishould look for him on the left hand side of the church yard. I completely believe my friend has authentic experiences of this kind – though somewhat sceptical about their significance, particularly in relation to me – but I couldn't resist taking the dog on an evening stroll down to the church. To my shock, on the left hand side, I found a small, flat plaque overgrown by long grass with an empty stone urn at its head, in memory of our ghost. I asked around and put a request for information in the Parish Newsletter. I was contacted by the man's elderly nephew and then his son, who lives abroad but just happened to be on a rare visit home. Reading between the lines of what I learned, I got an idea of what might have happened – a death, no will, missing funds, the wrong person blamed, family divisions, lives blighted. With no real evidence and the main protagonists passed away, there was nothing I could do to prove my theory or reveal “the truth”. But the story remained rattling around in my head, so when *Blood and Water* was going to be published, I knew where my next plot would come from. The characters and story of *Kindred Spirits* are entirely fictional, but like *B&W, takes certain aspects of reality as the jumping off point for fiction. The house I describe is very much like my own, as is the village. One or two friends allowed me to pillage aspects of their lives for my present day characters. I'd love to think I might have conjoured up some emotions or experiences stored in the fabric of the house, but I don't knowingly share my heroine's psychic powers. Despite my inability to bring him “justice” in any real sense, my ghost has brought me the gift of inspiration - not least from the view beyond my "window on the world" where I now sit and write - and I hope he enjoys my flights of fantasy in Kindred Spirits. Discussion Points for Book Groups* Does Dottie’s diary read as an authentic voice from wartime England? Is Mo overly concerned about Jack’s relationship with Kathleen – or is there a disturbing side to the mother/son bond when the two meet for the first time as adults? Whether or not you are familiar with Hamlet, did you find the thematic comparisons between the stage and real life characters, and between Shakespeare’s Denmark and WW2 Britain, interesting, enlightening, a useful part of the story? Which era involved you most in Kindred Spirits, Dottie’s world of war and family feuds or Mo’s modern day Haddeston? Could you suspend disbelief and identify with Mo’s telepathic ability to relive Emma’s memories? If you’ve read Blood and Water, did you find one book worked better than the other on the psychic/historical level? Other than the two main characters, Mo and Dottie, which of their “kindred spirits” did you identify with most: Emma Jackson, Henry Tinker, Venetia or Laura? *Let me know what you thought by posting a comment on my blog. Buy a copy of Kindred Spirits* from *Amazon*, or order from any good bookshop.