When Rachel Healey got in touch about her highly pertinent historical novel, I was so disappointed not to be able to fit in reading it. However, I couldn’t resist asking Rachel to stay in with me to chat about it as I thought it sounded fantastic.
When you read what Rachel told me I think you’ll agree! Let’s find out more:
Staying in with Rachel Healey
Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag Rachel and thank you for agreeing to stay in with me.
Tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?
This evening, I’ve brought along my historical fiction novel, Our Silent Footsteps. It’s inspired by real events in the life of Mary Goued whom I had the privilege of meeting several years ago. The story follows her life and that of her husband, Jozef Bekerwhom she met under extraordinary circumstances in Alexandria, Egypt during the Second World War. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the war making this novel’s rich historical context even more significant.
It most certainly does. What can we expect from an evening in with Our Silent Footsteps?
An emotional roller coaster ride. One reader once told me she felt as if the story had ripped her heart out and repeatedly banged it against a table before finishing, in the closing chapters, with a much-needed hug.
That’s quite a response!
It’s so difficult to stay true to a real-life story as life doesn’t always work out in the way we’d like it to. There’s sadness in the book, frustration at the unfairness of the world and disbelief at how human beings behave towards each other but, in the most part, I’ve written what Mary recounted to me and tried to stay true to that fact. Mary had a fascinating background, born and raised in Egypt in the 1920s. Without the Second World War, she and her husband, Jozef Beker would never have met but, at the same time, the War destroyed Jozef’s past and created difficulties in his health which possibly led to his early death.
That’s fascinating. Given Our Silent Footsteps is based in real people and events, it must have affected you as a writer.
What resonated with me is that, on the one hand we live in an era of social media when everybody’s lives are available to view at the touch of a button but, back when Mary met Jozef, she truly knew nothing about him. She didn’t know of his pre-war life in his native Poland, she knew nothing of the young family he’d had to leave behind, nor even how many siblings he had. None of that mattered to her. When I asked her why she didn’t know the answers to these questions, she merely said that she’d never thought to ask. I don’t think we can say the same when we view our relationships today – we want to know everything! Does that mean we have to know someone completely before truly loving them? Mary clearly adored Jozef and was still clearly grieving him when I met her, 40 years after his untimely death.
As someone who met her husband, moved in with him in a week and got married ten months later some 42 years ago Rachel, I don’t think we do need to know everything about a person before loving them!
What else have you brought along and why have you brought it?
I’ve cheated and brought two things – I hope you don’t mind!
Not at all!
The first is a 1950s style belt for two reasons. Mary’s Egyptian childhood was fairly traumatic. Her father died young leaving the family effectively penniless. Her mother was left to bring up three children by herself in a very misogynistic world. As the eldest, Mary bore the brunt of her mother’s frustration and the belt symbolises this. On a more positive note, the belt also reminds me of Mary and Jozef’s business which they set up in London in the 1950s. Setting up home in a foreign country must have been incredibly difficult. All they wanted to do was fit in. With the business they made in making belts, they had at last settled down. So, the belt to me represents both the difficult times and the more successful times in their lives.
I’m sure it does. But what’s that second item you’re holding?
The second item is an onion (bear with me!). Food features heavily in the book. I always think that food is a big eye-opener to different cultures. In Our Silent Footsteps the reader travels from Egypt to Poland to Siberia and then to the UK. The book covers a lot of ground to say the least! The onion is particularly poignant to me as, whilst researching Jozef’s story, some of his past remained a blank. He was captured by the Russians in the early 1940s and ended up in a workcamp in Siberia. When the Russians switched sides, the Polish prisoners were simply released with no help. One of the few records we have of this time in Jozef’s life is his recollection of making his way from Siberia to Uzbekistan (mostly on foot) in a terrible state. Half-starving he found a morsal of stale bread in the snow and, to his joy, a half-frozen onion.
And what is so terrifying Rachel, is that history is still repeating itself. Thank you so much for staying in with me to chat about Our Silent Footsteps. I’m even more certain that I would adore it and I hope I can fit in a read before too long.
Our Silent Footsteps
They say that to really know a person you need to understand their past. If that is true, then Mary Beker did not know her husband, Jozef, at all…
Warsaw, 2005. An elderly Mary is searching for clues regarding her late husband’s pre-war life: the first wife and children he had to leave behind; the siblings who vanished. There’s a danger the answers she finds could ruin the memory of the man she adored, memories of their time together. When unravelling his past causes her to revisit uncomfortable memories of her own, Mary must reach a new understanding of the events that brought them together.
Spanning continents, cultures and time, Our Silent Footsteps is based on the true story of Mary, an Egyptian Copt and Jozef, a Polish Jew. A love story transcending the trauma of war.
Published by Troubador on 24th February 2024, Our Silent Footsteps is available for purchase here.
About Rachel Healey
Rachel is a history enthusiast with a captivating background, having worked at both the iconic Windsor Castle and then English Heritage. She now lives in the county of Berkshire in the UK where she feels spoilt by the beautiful countryside on her doorstep. When she is not weaving tales of historical fiction Rachel is on a mission to tire out her spirited dog and two lively children, embracing the joys and challenges of family life.
GFor further information about Rachel, visit her website and follow her on Twitter/X: @RachelHealey20.
English (US) · 