Meet
Jennifer Robson. She is a historian, novelist, and a working
mother. All of her books are character driven with strong
female heroines that are somewhat independent. They begin
in a place of relative powerlessness while ending in a place
of relative strength.
Her latest project was a chapter in the anthology Fall Of
Poppies, entitled, All For The Love Of You. Through a heart
warming plot she describes what an American Captain had to
endure when his cheekbones were shattered and right eye lost.
He was able to have a mask fitted by the American Red Cross
Studio for Portrait Masks, a civilian based organization that
allowed wounded warriors to get fulfillment, flickers of hope,
and protection from those who might react negatively to the
deformities. But it is also a love story, which emphasizes
the importance of a person’s inner beauty, rather than
their physical appearance.
Moonlight Over Paris is the last book in the World
War I series. It is a follow up to After The War Is Over,
and the first in the series, Somewhere in France. This latest
emphasizes Paris during the 1920s, where the characters experience
a new world after World War I. Readers are able to get a glimpse
of the era as Robson conjures up the fashions, the foods,
and the manners of the time period. Just as the fictional
characters come into contact with the “Lost Generation,”
and its circle of American expatriates, including F. Scott
Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, so does the reader. It is
a story of friendship, change, and choices.
In each of her latest projects the heroines, Daisy and Helena,
gain independence by taking a journey. Instead of being stifled
by their lovers, they are encouraged. Robson said of her characters,
“I write about women I would like to be friends with.
People have to understand during the World War I era many
women were not brought up to be decisive and assertive. I
want to write plausible characters based upon the world they
live in. Through quiet perseverance Daisy and Helena achieved
their goals. I also do not write alpha male characters that
are bossy and will not listen to their female counterparts.
I was influenced by my grandfathers and dad who admired their
wives for their achievements. They valued intelligence, strength,
and ambition in women.”
What is very special about her books is that readers can gain
an understanding of how women were treated in the 1920s through
a gripping story. She noted, “Women excelled during
the wars with the tasks set before them. I found it fascinating
how women who never held a job outside the home were still
able to take up the needed work. While doing my research I
found interviews of women and it was captivating to listen
to direct words of someone who actively lived through it.
They had to do men’s jobs because the men were fighting
the war. From 1916 onward women slipped into the public roles.
I hope anyone who reads one of my books will ask their grandparents
what it was like to live during their youth.”
Her own family members who she greatly admired influenced
Robson. “They taught me to balance motherly duties with
the professional ones. My creative hours usually come at night
after the laundry is done, the dog is fed, and my children
are taken care of. I had the great fortune of being surrounded
by strong women. My grandmother was a newswomen, starting
in the 1930s. My mother who died when I was twenty-one was
such a positive figure in my life. She was a family court
lawyer and towards the end of her life became a judge. She
and my grandmother never let circumstances stop them. I consider
both trailblazers. I will use these influences in my next
book about a female staff writer who is sent to London in
1940, during the Second World War.”
Robson hopes readers will be grabbed by the novels. Besides
reading an entertaining story she wants people to feel they
have gone back in time. “My goal is to write historical
fiction and have it come alive for the reader, allowing them
to feel what it was like and to get swept away in the book.
Hopefully they will see the world through the character’s
eyes. I do my best to get the details correct, making the
world surrounding the heroines as accurate as possible.”
All of Robson’s stories involve young women who are
searching for their own identity, attempting to break away
from their families influence. Anyone who enjoys historical
fiction, sprinkled with a little romance, should read these
powerful stories.
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