Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1472871
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 JULY 2022 13 OPINION owed to their surgeon, became the core of Stuart's character. But the emotional link to Malta itself, though, came from much closer to home. A family story Back in 1956, my grandpar- ents lived in Malta while my grandfather was stationed with the Mediterranean fleet. My late grandmother, Marian Scrimgeour, kept a diary which was ideal for providing distinc- tive detail. She didn't experience the fierce air raids of the siege of Malta, but she did navigate the Suez Crisis with two young children in tow. So, her account of daily life includes notes such as: "Watched review of Nato ships whilst hanging out wash- ing on roof. Cook. Dinner. A and J to sleep". That steadfast continuation of the everyday domestic tasks while tensions escalated provided valuable in- sight for imagining life on the island during the war. I also found an entry in which she is passing notes with a friend via the "ice man", and there is a mention, in late April, of the milk going sour over- night. In the novel, I used those small allusions as a way of the characters noting the arrival of the hot Maltese summer. These real experiences had the benefit of feeling period-specific and would have been nigh-on impossible to gain from my own trips, some 60 years later. I was also fortunate in being able to speak with my grandfather, Mur- ray Scrimgeour, about his mem- ories before he passed away. I have scrawled notes about his ship, the HMS Duchess, and the position of the admiralty in Malta. But the most valuable elements I gleaned from him were the specific naval refer- ences, such as Lord Mount- batten, second in command of the Mediterranean fleet, being disparagingly referred to as the "straw-boss"; and the "two- tier" wardroom, or officer's mess, with the Maltese taken on mostly as stewards for the British officers. My grandfather told me what it was like to be moved to a "war footing" and having to evacuate his young family from the island by way of a flight on a decommissioned WWII bomb- er with a faulty fourth engine. He also related just how dan- gerous driving his hired Morris Minor had felt, and it is as a nod to him that the character of Stuart observes that the lo- cals all "drove like ricocheting bullets". The historical and the personal Reading back over the fin- ished novel now, it is lines like these which make me smile. It is easy to search out a newspa- per article or an official report for the facts, but finding that kind of detail which sharply evokes the experience of living in that historical moment is so much more important for the novelist. As Man at Sea is released in- to the world, then, my hope is that the "poignant trivia" Wa- ters speaks of provides a sense of connection and immediacy. My bookshelves are filled with authoritative accounts of the second world war and detailed analyses of Malta's journey to independence, but the passag- es in the narrative which read- ers will hopefully relate to are those provided by the Guinea Pig Club and especially by my late grandparents. I've learned that the key to writing historical fiction is not providing all of the facts and figures, but combing through your research and pinpointing the one detail in ten which the reader can emotionally connect with. It is the human experi- ence that truly resonates. My bookshelves are filled with authoritative accounts of the second world war and detailed analyses of Malta's journey to independence My grandmother's diary (Liam Bell)