We chat with author Heather Marshall about The Secret History of Audrey James, which is an astonishing historical novel of one woman’s dangerous journey through World War II Germany and her life-changing friendship with a young woman decades later.
Hi, Heather! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hi! I’m a Canadian author based just outside of Toronto. The Secret History of Audrey James is my second novel; my debut was called Looking for Jane, which released in the US in February of 2023.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
My parents and grandmother read to me pretty much from birth, and I’ve been writing since I could spell and hold a pencil! My love of words is one that will last a lifetime.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: Probably something by Robert Munsch.
- The one that made you want to become an author: Ohhhh tough call, but likely The Pact by Jodi Picoult or The House at Riverton by Kate Morton.
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Your latest novel, The Secret History of Audrey James, is out February 25th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Emotional, suspenseful, cautionary, evocative, hopeful.
What can readers expect?
Historical immersion with emotional pre-war content, plenty of feminine strength and resilience, a moody old hotel near the Scottish border, and a family-history mystery.
Where did the inspiration for The Secret History of Audrey James come from?
I talk about this in the author’s note, but I didn’t actually set out to write a WWII novel. But when I stumbled across the real-life history of a war heroine named Mona Parsons, I was inspired to mold a character after her life. Her story was so incredible that I found I couldn’t not write about her!
Can you tell us a bit about your process when it comes to research?
When I first have an idea for a story, I do a deep dive upfront to make sure that there’s enough ‘meat’ in that particular era/historical setting for me to work with, and that research process often inspires certain plot points and characters, and I go from there. Then I research ad-hoc as I write, both minor details (what kind of heating systems were in upper-class homes in Berlin in the 1930s? What were the names of magazines girls would have read in that time and place?) and major ones (dates of battles and historical turning points, etc).
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I can’t say a whole lot without giving too much away, but I think this one is on the book jacket, so it’s okay: I was fascinated by a piece of history I uncovered about a woman who hid from the Nazis in her own attic when the officers confiscated her home. She hid right under their noses because she figured it was the last place anyone would look for her. This inspired my character Ilse.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
I think the toughest part of this book’s writing process was the emotional taxation. I think when any author sets out to write a WWII book, they know they’re in for a heavy research process, and we have to depict on the page some of the most horrific things humans have ever done to one another. So I had to take breaks from the writing and research, step away from it from time to time to ground myself. As an author, you have to be wiling to do that emotional labour, because you need to absorb it in order to be able to channel it so your reader feels what you felt while writing it. But that can weigh heavily.
What’s next for you?
I’m just closing in on the draft of my next novel, Liberty Street, which will publish simultaneously in the US and Canada in spring 2026. I’ve been researching and thinking about this story since 2021, and I can’t wait for it to be in readers’ hands! In two sentences: a young journalist goes undercover at a women’s prison/psychiatric hospital in the early 1960s to expose the horrific treatment of the inmates. But getting into the prison will turn out to be the easy part—it’s getting back out that’s the problem…
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up in 2025?
I’ve just started Jodi Picoult’s By Any Other Name, which of course I’m loving. I’m also looking forward to The Three Lives of Cate Kay, and I’d like to catch up on Celeste Ng’s backlist.
