Jenny Ashcroft’s historical fiction reflects her many years living and working abroad. She does captivating romances that have been compared to the big names of popular fiction, people like Lucinda Riley and Kate Furnivall. Stories of family secrets and love doomed by misunderstandings of war set in Bombay, Singapore, Australia, and Egypt.
Hi there, I'm your host, Jenny Wheeler, and in Binge Reading today Jenny Ashcroft talks about her latest book, Under the Golden Sun, set against the epic beauty of a cattle station in rural Queensland disrupted by the tentacles of a far-off European war, and the arrival of American troops in Brisbane.
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Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:
Why Jenny's first book was published in GermanyThe writer's life as a continuous hill climbHow her wanderlust has helped create exotic locationsSurprises she's found in her historical researchWhy writing a book takes a village Brisbane magic, 1941, when US troops came to town
Where to find Jenny Ashcroft:
Website: https://www.hachette.com.au/jenny-ashcroft/under-the-golden-sun-jenny-ashcrofts-best-yet-dinah-jeffries
Twitter: @Jenny_Ashcroft
Instagram @jennyashcroftauthor
What follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.
But now, here’s Jenny.
Introducing author Jenny Ashcroft
Jenny Wheeler: Hello there, Jenny, and welcome to the show. It's so good to have you with us.
Jenny Ashcroft: Thank you very much. It's great to be here.
Jenny Wheeler: You are in COVID – well you’re very successfully combating COVID in Britain these days, aren’t you, but you are in Brighton.
Jenny Ashcroft: Yes, it's been a long winter, a very, very long winter here in lockdown. My kids have only just gone back to school. The schools were shut since December, everything's been shut, so it's been a really long haul with quite a grey and dark winter as well, not a lot of sunshine has broken through, so we're all very happy to see spring on its way.
Jenny Ashcroft Historical fiction author
Jenny Wheeler: You have made your specialty area historic fiction, but outside of some of the more traditional settings. First and Second World War, but also related to India, British occupied Egypt, Singapore, Australia, rather than just the traditional European setting.
You have also included a lot of stories about family conflicts, misunderstandings, and secrets, which I think readers always love – misunderstandings and secrets. What drew you to this particular niche in the beginning?
Jenny Ashcroft: It's a hard one. I think probably the biggest thing is that I have got a lot of experience, personally, of living overseas. I'm married to an Australian, so I've spent a chunk of time in Sydney, but we also lived for six years in Singapore, and they were the years I started writing – when we were still in Sydney and in Singapore, so I think there was a natural inclination in me to write about the experiences of people who were not living where they've grown up.
A preference for exotic settings
Also, I've read a lot of books set during those periods that I've really loved. I think when anyone starts writing, they think about what are the books they love to read most. I feel that's what a lot of authors do, you write the books you would love to read. For me, that was part of what drove me to write, love of those stories that I discovered.
I think those two things together, having enjoyed stories set in those places plus the fact that I was experiencing living overseas myself, drew me to write those settings.
Jenny Wheeler: The very first one you wrote was Beneath...
