Wow – thank you so much, everyone, for your positive responses and interest in my novel!
Many people have asked about the main character. Hélène Aubry Scoffield was my paternal grandmother, my father’s mother. I was always fascinated by my grandmother Hélène’s story, even though I and my siblings never knew her (neither, of course, did my Dad, since she died three weeks after he was born). So, about eight years ago, I started translating Hélène’s letters. She wrote in French to her mother, sister, and daughter in France, and, after she was married, in broken English to her husband, Walter. I had a veritable treasure trove of 16 letters, all written between 1909 and 1918, while she lived in Russia and England.
Hélène signed her letters to her mother with, “and for you, dear maman, a thousand kisses.” I loved those words, which seemed to express her longing for her mother’s love and approval, and I decided to make A Thousand Kisses the title of the novel. To her husband, she wrote, in her charming English, “from you love wife”. In addition to the letters, which are now over 100 years old, incredibly, my family had also carefully kept postcards, photos, documents (birth, death, and marriage certificates), and even a wedding ring.
After I had translated Hélène’s letters, I got side-tracked working on other things for a few years. But I couldn’t get her story out of my mind. I had always thought of Hélène’s life as tragic, but when I reviewed the letters again, started researching world events that were going on around her, and connecting the dots between known facts and what I imagined must have occurred, I started to gain a deeper understanding of her as a person: stoic and dutiful, but also adventurous and fun-loving. Two years ago, I had time to come back to Hélène’s story, and started thinking about characters and scenarios, with the vague idea that I could possibly turn her fascinating history into a novel.
Reading someone’s confidential correspondence allows you to enter their private world in a very intimate and personal way. And it may sound weird, but the more I re-read her letters and started writing down some thoughts, the more I felt Hélène looking over my shoulder, and while not actually guiding me, maybe approving what I was writing about her life.
The photo is of some of Hélène’s letters – don't you think her penmanship was beautiful?
An excerpt from the book will be included in my next blog.