An introduction

Land of Broken Promises is the name I gave to the trilogy of novels I planned many years ago to be set in the British Mandate of Palestine covering the years 1938-1948. I chose to concentrate on this period and this location because I spent my childhood in Palestine when it was being governed by the British. So far only the first novel in the trilogy has been published and in some ways I wish it hadn't (although I was grateful at the time for the money received from the publishers!)

The trouble is, once one part of a trilogy is set in stone, it limits what one can do with the rest. One can't change the names of the main characters, nor alter their previous history, however convenient it would be for the novel one is currently writing.

The title of the novel that has been published is Struggling Free and covers the period 1938-1941. It centres on three very young women, one English, one Jewish and one Arabic who between them are unintentionally responsible for the death of two men.

The second novel has the working title Spreading Tattered Wings and covers the period 1941-1945 It has not yet been published. I learnt my lesson on that with Struggling Free.

I am working on the third novel (working title Home to Roost) and am about two thirds of the way through. It will cover the period 1945-1948.

Some people seem to be able to dash away at their novels and do their research later. I can't do that. I do my research first but am constantly discovering while writing how much more research I need to do and find can't continue writing until the facts are clear

In the course of this blog I hope to show some of the things, not necessarily of a literary nature that I have learnt during the years I have been writing this trilogy