The Lavender Keeper (42 page)

The inspiration for this story came from reading about the Bridestowe Lavender Farm in northern Tasmania. It’s one of Australia’s quiet secrets and true success stories. I was certainly impressed at what its present ‘curators’, Robert and Jennifer Ravens, are achieving with their purple meadows first sown by the Denny family at the turn of the last century. All power to you, Robert and Jennifer, as you forge ahead with Bridestowe as a world leader in pure lavender oil production.

There was so much to learn about the Second World War before I felt comfortable to use it as a backdrop for a story. I’ve lost track of the articles I’ve sifted through, the documentaries I’ve watched, and the tower of books I’ve read just to be able to get a snapshot of the time in my mind. However, I was determined to keep this tale focused on my triangle of characters and what was happening in the microcosm of their lives, rather than trying to wrestle with the bigger picture of world war and all of its theatres and political machinations.

Even so, as small as that focus is, this book has many to thank, beginning with Allison & Busby for publishing the novel in my homeland, which makes me enormously happy.

My thanks to the gentle, generous Blanc family of Saignon for their hospitality during our stay in Provence, and to villagers Christine Bourdin, Liliane Jenselme and Alain Blanc for sharing their memories of wartime Saignon. Also my thanks to Jean Girou, historian and Catherine Richards from the office of tourism, both in Cavaillon. Particularly, though, my thanks to Severine Henin and Laurent Crotet for taking us into their family and for their wonderful generosity.

David Harrison, a UK-based historian, became a precious resource of knowledge on the Special Operations Executive of the War Ministry, bringing alive an era and inspiring me to write about brave people like Francis Cammaerts, Vera Atkins, Maurice Buckmaster, et al. I felt as though I knew them – thanks, David. You were an absolute rock.

Although I have done my utmost to ensure research accuracy of time and place, any errors that may occur are mine alone. Plus, I have taken a few liberties – which is a novelist’s prerogative! – including suggesting that the pure lavandula angustifolia grows around Saignon, when it more likely needs an additional 300 metres of altitude to thrive.

Thank you to my French class for keeping me in the mood, to Isabelle Pernot in Lille for so many helpful translations, and to Jack Caddy for letting me use him in my story. Fly safe always, Jack!

Thank you to Pip Klimentou for all the fast and furious reading of drafts and for your generous friendship always.

Finally, boundless love and thanks to Ian McIntosh for his help with all the research, ordering, purchase and marking
up of so many reference books; for letting me roam London, Paris, Strasbourg, Vienna and Krakow to gather the material for this book; for taking me to Provence to see the lavender in full bloom in that precious three-week window; and for braving the Holocaust halls with me during that harrowing time of research; for carrying my bags, for reading behind me, for understanding and accepting all the lonely times when I’ve been lost in the 1940s; but especially for my beloved coffee machine that got me through some big writing days.

F x

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F
IONA
M
C
I
NTOSH
was born in Sussex, and spent her early childhood in West Africa. After working in PR in London, she moved to Australia in the 1980s and together with her husband set up her own consultancy company, which later evolved into a travel publishing house. She is constantly roaming the world to research her novels and seeking new storylines, hence the authentic and fascinating detail found in her books.

www.fionamcintosh.com

The Lavender Keeper

The French Promise