We chat with author Rose Prendeville about The Unknown Birds, which follows Charlotte and Alex who find love in the trenches of World War I, only to be separated for decades before fate brings them together again as another war looms.
Hi, Rose! Welcome back! What have you been up to since we last spoke for the release of Maggie and the Pirate’s Son?
Thank you for inviting me back! Oh my goodness, I have been so busy. Since Maggie, I have published 2 contemporary romance novels, and now I’ve returned to my beloved historical. It’s been exhausting but so incredibly fulfilling.
Your latest novel, The Unknown Birds, is out September 8th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
War-torn soulmates finally reunited.
What can readers expect?
The Unknown Birds is a little different than the rest of my catalog. It is a single POV, dual-timeline romance, set during WWI and the cusp of WWII. Kirkus called it, “A wartime novel that hits familiar romantic beats but also offers beautiful moments of shared humanity.” Readers can expect a rosy-realistic setting in the wartime trenches that leans into the poetry written by soldiers of the day. I say rosy-realistic because the story definitely explores the brutality of the war, but it’s softened around the edges by the love story.
Where did the inspiration for The Unknown Birds come from?
I initially started working on this book, in a rather different form, 13 years ago. The earliest inspiration was from Peter Weir’s masterpiece film Gallipoli, which I wrote several papers about in film school, and also the second season of Downton Abbey. I was fascinated by how life went on in different ways during the war. Over the years that I was working on the novel and the years during which I had put it away, I continued to find inspiration in the WWI poets and just by visiting museum, particularly The National WWI Museum in Kansas City and The Imperial War museum in London.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
This book is the book of my heart, and I have loved every minute from the earliest research to the special edition Kickstarter that just finished, and every moment in between. One part that was especially fun to do was when the main character, Ash, overcome with pain and too many emotions, writes a sonnet from her hospital bed.
Ash is a character with a great love of Shakespeare and Charles Dickens. She turns to their work for solace throughout her time in the trenches, and after the war she finds comfort in studying the poems of the other soldiers, so it always seemed fitting for her to write a poem, but I was never happy with the earliest versions I had written. Not until I realized it needed to be a sonnet, and then everything fell into place. It was magical.
Can you share some insight into your research process?
Whenever possible, I love to read correspondence or historical records from the period, but I will say, I learned early on writing this book that it is actually possible to research too much. By that I mean it’s important not to lose sight of the fact that at the end of the day, you are still writing fiction.
My public library had an amazing interlibrary loan program, and on my behalf they acquired a 3 volume set of the Surrey Regimental papers. It was an incredible resource. But for a little while I did get too caught up in troop movements—where the regiment would have been, what days they engaged in battle, versus what would serve the story best. It was an important lesson to learn early.
Now, one of my favorite ways to research, is to visit a museum where I can immerse myself in physical items from the period. Seeing uniforms and tools and everything up close and in person really brings them to life in a way that photographs and descriptions might not do. I love to learn about all the little items that made up people’s lives at the time, alongside reading those written records, and sprinkle it all into my work like lagniappe, just adding to the authenticity and flavor.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
The biggest challenge with this book was that the story I was originally telling wasn’t the story it was meant to be. Perhaps I wasn’t ready to write that story yet. I worked on the first version for longer than WWI even lasted, and I think I also fell into another trap that inexperienced or unconfident writers can make, which was taking onboard too much disparate feedback and losing sight of the story I was trying to tell. It got to a point where I knew it wasn’t working, but I didn’t know how to fix it, and so I put it away. That was heartbreaking. I loved the book so much. I told myself it was’t necessarily forever, but I didn’t believe it. But then I let it marinate for about the same number of years I’d spent writing it, and I kept writing other things and improving my craft, until last year I realized I knew the story I wanted to tell and everything fell into place. It was such a joy to come back to it at last.
It was a double-edged sword though. I was gripped by the new story, I mean it had me in a chokehold. I was afraid of losing it again, so I leaned into it, but I really did exhaust myself, until by the end of the last few polishing revisions I was incredibly burned out. I had to force myself to put it aside for awhile and go do other creative but completely different things: Lego, painting, crochet. I had to force my brain to rest so I could come back and finish it.
What’s next for you?
I’m not entirely sure. There are a number of books I want to write, both contemporary and historical, and I keep changing my mind where to go next. I’ve been very focused on this upcoming release, and just letting myself recover from the burnout. But the plot bunny that’s most enticing to me right this second is a time travel romance.
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up? Any you’ve read so far this year that you’ve enjoyed?
Oh I love this question. Like everyone else, my TBR list is a million miles long. I’ve been deeply obsessed with Sarah MacLean’s back catalog recently. I just read her Bareknuckle Bastards series for the first time back-to-back-to-back, so I’m really looking forward to her new book coming out in February (Mastermind). I’m also really looking forward to The Gilded Age coming back so I’ll probably pick up some Joanna Shupe soon.
