Saturday 23 January 2016

Strong People Weep,But They Don't Go Under


'Stories begin with once upon a time.' 

This is the opening sentence of Jigsaw Pieces my YA ebook. It is written in the voice of 18 year old Annie Skjaerstad. She continues: 'Once upon a time when I was 16 years old, somebody I knew died and changed my life forever'.

Jigsaw Pieces traces two pivotal experiences in Annie's life: the suicide of a classmate and her chance meeting with World War 1 veteran Billy Donne. Annie lives in the UK, but was born in Norway. Her father left when she was very young and she never sees him. She is a loner in a strange land who doesn't fit in, says the wrong thing, and is generally disliked and misunderstood by her fellow students. Yet as the story unfolds the reader begins to understand where Annie is coming from. How she has had to develop a strong carapace to survive, and I hope they also begin to see another, softer, more empathetic side to her prickly character.

Where did Annie spring from? Looking back at my own life, I am struck by how many similarities we share. I too was an outsider, growing up in the 1960's as the only Jewish girl in a school of 600 christian ones. My parents were refugees from Hitler's Germany. Like Annie I tried to fit in, but never really did. And then there was the inevitable racism and bullying. I underwent many bad life-events as I matured into an adult, but I firmly believe these were what eventually turned me into what I am today: a writer.

So out of our negative experiences we emerge, Annie and I, strong women, our characters forged in the fires of what we have endured. As Annie says: 'I like the idea of being strong. I've grown up with the concept. It's in my bones and my blood. Strong people survive. They weep, but they don't go under. That's how I am.'

Blurb:
‘He had been part of my everyday life. I hadn’t liked him much, nobody had liked him much, but he’d been there. Now, I’d never see him again.’

Annie Skjaerstad had been searching for her identity since being uprooted from her native country of Norway. With a spiky personality winning her no friends, and family members suddenly torn out of her life, she is left seeking comfort from a growing intrigue into the stories of fallen war heroes.

But one day, a boy from her school unexpectedly commits suicide, changing things forever. Confused by the tragic tale of someone she knew, Annie soon finds herself conducting her own investigation into his death.

What she uncovers will bring her to a dark and dangerous place, as suddenly – her own life is put at risk.



9 comments:

  1. Ah Carol, I think you know how much I love Jigsaw Pieces. Anna is so real that it makes sense she was drawn from experiences in your own life. I still think of the book even though it was the first of yours I read about three years ago now. It moved me deeply especially the WW1 connection through the poetry and the veteran Billy Donne.

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  2. What you went through made you a writer...being a writer you bless so many people. Love your writing. Will have to get this one too.

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    1. aww..thanks. A lot of it was also based on my teaching job...

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  3. I read this book so long ago, but I still remember how much I enjoyed it. It was so real and honest, I in a way it inspired me to be a better writer...

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  4. That is SUCH a lovely lovely thing to say. Thank you xx

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  5. Sounds great, Carol. It’s going on my list.

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  6. This sounds terrific Carol. I've seen the cover before but thinking it was YA wasn't that interested but this post has really intrigued me. Definitely one for the TBR - thanks.

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    1. It's more than YA .... deals with grooming,suicide, all sorts of topics..was being used by an American teacher to alert her pupils to the dangers ...

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