THE GIRL FROM THE KILLING STREETS

My revealing novel 

I learned more about the Peninsular Wars from reading Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe novels than I learned in school history lessons. I learned more than the bare facts; the dates and places. I learned what it was like to be there in the heat of battle. I learned what it felt like. A novelist is well-placed to show the reader those emotions. There’s nothing new in it. Through the medium of a novel, Dickens showed us what it felt like to be a penniless orphan.

Why am I telling you this? Because historians try to give an accurate account of the past, but their output often comes across as too academic. So many history books are devoid of that important element: the collection of sentiments, hopes and frustrations felt by the people who were there at the time.

I lived and worked in Northern Ireland in the early 1970s, at the height of the Troubles. I remember more than simply what happened. There are many detailed accounts of that already in the public domain. I now live in England and people ask me what it felt like to live in Northern Ireland in those distant days. Their questions go beyond what happened. I find it difficult to explain in a conversation, in a way that fully captures the feel of the moment. However, I am a novelist, so I had a solution in my writing.

My way around the problem was to write a novel that encapsulates the essence of what it felt like. As Bernard Cornwell did with his Sharpe books, I have used fiction as a means of bringing out the feelings of reality. Fiction in place of reality? Ironically, it seems to work.

The Girl From The Killing Streets is a crime story, but it is more than that. It is a story set against one fateful day in the lives of the people of Belfast. Bloody Friday, 21^st July 1972.

The story begins eight years later when a young woman is incarcerated in Armagh Gaol for two murders committed on Bloody Friday. A journalist interviews her and comes away with the clear impression that her story does not ring true. So he interviews others who were in Belfast that day in 1972 and puts together a totally different story of what happened. It is a story of family intrigue, family secrets and dangerous relationships. It is also a story of how people felt when their city was blown apart.

The Girl From The Killing Streets is published by Darkstroke. With bookshops now closed, it can be ordered in paperback or ebook from Amazon. Follow this link:

http://mybook.to/killingstreets

www.thenovelsofdavidhough.com

“This book is a thriller from start to finish I was hooked. Well written from an expert storyteller.”

Amazon review

A remarkably dark and stylish thriller. The next best thing to being there.

Della Galton. Novelist and creative writing tutor

Worrying news on the coronavirus front. Denmark in lockdown as well as Italy. No travel between US and EU. Meanwhile we live in a block of sixty apartments, all occupied by older people. Will we find ourselves cocooned? We wait and see.

What do I do when I’m not writing fiction? Answer: I’m writing non-fiction. “A Lifetime of Memories” is selling nicely. One reviewer wrote that he bought that book and a similar one for an older relative. He preferred mine and discarded the other. I also write stories for my grandsons, but they are not for publication.

As a writer I have a keen interest in how other writers create their stories. I’m sure I’m not alone in that. We can learn so much from each other. When people ask me where my stories come from I tell them the seeds are all around us in our own lives. The ideas can come from things we see, things we hear or experiences we have been through. The idea for THE GIRL FROM THE KILLING STREETS came from my distant past. Back in the 1970s I was living and working in Northern Ireland. It was an experience I never forgot and I long wanted to write about that time and place. It took a long time to get round to it, but the novel will be published soon.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B085RFN4MM/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1T9JBMMLHTUXN&keywords=david+hough&qid=1583919000&s=books&sprefix=david+hough%2Cstripbooks%2C151&sr=1-3

Writing a Sequel

I enjoyed writing my first WW1 novel, In Foreign Fields. It wasn’t difficult to write once I had completed all the necessary research. I began with a clean sheet of paper, and the main characters, Captain Wendel and Lieutenant DeBoise, developed in line with the plot.

The sequel, In Line of Fire, wasn’t nearly so easy to write. I wonder if it was the additional effort needed to complete the novel that has earned the book praise from its readers.

There was no clean sheet of paper at the start of this novel. I began with two main characters who were already well-developed. The plot had to work in tune with them, not the other way round. In addition, my research revealed aspects of the war that could not be omitted from the story. Commander Smith-Cumming, head of the Secret Intelligence Service, was badly injured in a motor accident. As he was my protagonists’ boss, I had to weave that into the plot.

At the end of the first book, set in September 1914, I left Wendel and DeBoise in Antwerp. In Line of Fire begins with their escape from the city while it is under siege. I needed to study text books and old newspapers to discover the reality of that siege. My characters had to get away from the assault in a realistic manner.

I always intended that the story would end with the Worcester Regiment’s gallant action at Gheluvelt, near Ypres. Getting Wendel and DeBoise into that action required a lot of thought, and the solution had to be credible.

When I submitted In Line of Fire to my publisher, Cloudberry, I was satisfied with it. The pleasing feedback since its release has made all the effort worth while.

Gheluvelt 1914

Gheluvelt

October 1914

What Actually Happened

The German aim was to overwhelm the British and French armies and sieze the Channel ports, but Ypres was in their way, and the British held the town. The importance of Ypres was hard to overstress. If the Germans overran it they would have a clear route to the Channel ports. Critical to the British campaign at Ypres was the village of Gheluvelt. It was the last position which had to be taken before the enemy advanced on Ypres. By noon on 31^st October, the defending regiments of Royal Scots, Welsh and Kings Royal Rifles had been overcome. Loss of Gheluvelt would now open up the serious gap in the British line. The gap had to be closed.

The Worcester Regiment was the last regiment waiting to be thrown into the defence. They were located in Polygon Wood, commanded by Major Hankey. At 1300 hours, they were ordered to attack and hold Gheluvelt. All around them, they saw other defeated British soldiers drawing back. When the Worcesters moved forward, they were the only ones to do so. In front of them the ridge which hid the village was littered with dead and wounded. German shells fell all around them.

When the leading men came in sight of the Germans, the enemy guns were instantly trained onto them, but there was no going back. Hankey decided that the only way to cross the open ground in front of them was at the double. They began their attack with 370 men but 180 were killed in the advance. As the remaining Worcesters burst into the grounds of Chateau Gheluvelt, they met up the South Wales Borders who were making a last-ditch heroic stand. Amidst fierce fighting, they forced the Germans to retreat. Gheluvelt was taken and the gap in the British line was plugged. Ypres was saved, as were the Channel ports.

In Line of Fire

In Line of Fire begins with the siege of Antwerp in 1914. I wanted to end my novel with an account of that heroic action by the Worcester Regiment, but I also needed to bring in my fictional characters, Captain Wendel and Lieutenant DeBoise. I was, in short, in the same position as Bernard Cornwell when he put Richard Sharpe into the battles of the Peninsular War. The plot I devised required me to bring another regiment into the action – a totally fictional regiment which I called the King’s Own Highland Dragoons. I make no apologies for that because I have in no way taken anything from the bravery of Hankey and his Worcesters. People who have read my novel tell me it works every bit as well as any Sharpe story, but what do you think?

In Line of Fire is finally up and running on Amazon. The publisher had problems getting it there. The Amazon system seemed to go temperamental for a while. Now it is time to think about the third novel in the series. The title will probably be, In Harm's Way. The background to the action will be the raid of the Frierichshafen Zeppelin sheds in November 1914.