AN ex teacher at Lord Williams’s school in Thame, who left the profession to write, received the most appropriate Valentine’s present, when she learned today that her second published novel has been short-listed for the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s (RNA) most prestigious award – the Romantic Novel of the Year 2014.
Liz Harris, who lives in Watlington, is one of six finalists in the Historical Romantic Novel category for romantic novels, set in a period before 1960, which can also include time slip novels. In an interview today, Liz spoke warmly of her time at Lord Williams’s school, her fondness for Thame, and described how a radio programme about Mail Order brides inspired the theme for her book, A Bargain Struck.
It’s Wyoming in 1887, and Ellen O’Sullivan wants a home, husband and family. Connor Maguire wants a woman to raise his daughter, work the homestead, bear him a son. Each expected honesty from the other, but … A Bargain Struck tells of a man and a woman brought together through need, not love.
Liz explained how the novel germinated : ” After writing my first published book, The Road Back, which is set in 1950s London and in Ladakh, an Indian province north of the Himalayas, I realised that I’d so enjoyed exploring a culture from a different time and place that I wanted to do it again. I just had to decide which culture, and I was thinking about this when driving along to meet a friend for lunch one day. The radio was on in the background, and I heard someone discussing mail-order brides from modern-day Russia.
“A bell rang. I’d always found mail-order brides to be a romantic concept, and I felt a leap of excitement. But it was the concept that had grabbed me, not the idea of Russia – too cold for me. However, having read up a lot about US history when I lived in the States some years ago, I knew that mail-order brides were prevalent in the 19th century American West, and by the time I’d reached the restaurant, my story had been transposed to Wyoming in the 1880s.
“Soon after starting my research, I came upon Wyoming’s devastating winter of 1886/87, and the effect it had on the open range and the life of the West, and I knew that I had found the year in which to set my story, which was to be the story of a second generation homesteading family.
“However, the more I researched the history of Wyoming Territory in the 1880s, the more I found that whilst there was a wealth of material written about 1850s and 1860s, there was very little written about the 1880s, which is after the Indian problems and at a time when the railroad had opened up the south of Wyoming. It became obvious that the only way I was going to find the answers I needed in order to create the period with authenticity was to go there. So that’s what I did. My husband and I spent a marvellous three weeks travelling throughout the State, and by the end of our trip, I’d found the answers I needed.”
Although she lives in Watlington, Liz often visits Thame, not least as a member of one of the regular, weekly quiz teams at the popular Cross Keys pub in Thame, along with her husband Richard, also an ex teacher and Schools Inspector, and fellow Thame RNA member, Catherine Jones. “One of my greatest pleasures is to go to the Cross Keys quiz on a Wednesday evening. Trudy and Pete keep an excellent pub, and the fact that that one has to go there hours early if one wants to get a table in the evening is testament to the popularity of the quiz.”
Liz continued: “I taught at Lord William’s School over a period of a few years on a supply teacher basis. I covered every subject, as supply teachers do, but I taught English and Modern Languages whenever there was an option to do so. I was extremely happy at the school, and only stopped teaching so that I could focus on my writing.
“I come regularly into Thame still. It’s a superb shopping area and one of the few places where you can find a variety of strong, independent shops and also a variety of leisure activities. “
Commenting on her selection for the short list for Romantic Novel of the Year 2014, Liz said: “I am really thrilled to have been shortlisted among such a strong list of authors, and I’m immensely grateful to all of the readers who took Conn and Ellen to their hearts.”
Darcey Bussell CBE will announce the winner of each of five categories at the Gladstone Library, One Whitehall Place, London SW1 on March 17. All category winners will receive an elegant star-shaped crystal trophy to mark their success, and as well as a trophy, the overall winner will pick up a cheque for £5000. The categories from which the 30 final books have been drawn are: Contemporary Romantic Novel, Epic Romantic Novel, Historical Romantic Novel, Romantic Comedy and Young Adult Romantic Novel.
To find out more about Liz Harris and her books – and short stories, visit her website: http://www.lizharrisauthor.com
