Shirley Mann
AUTHOR

Shirley Mann

Literature & Fiction
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Hello and welcome to my author profile. I now have four books to my name and what a journey it's been! All my books are inspired by real, amazing women who served in WW2 and I felt their roles were unsung so I decided to change that! The legacy these WAAF, ATA pilots, Land Army girls and now a policewoman left has rocketed the place of women in society to new heights- and we're still on the way up. The latest book is 'Bridget's War' and it's about a young policewoman who is forced to go back to her home on the Isle of Man to, as she calls it, 'babysit' a pile of alien women who have been rounded up into an internment camp over there. She thought she'd be dealing with petty thefts over hairbrushes, instead she has to use every police skill she possesses to deal with a potential murder and a dramatic escape. It should have helped to have the two Moore brothers that she's known since childhood around, but instead, they bring their own complications. The camp housed up to 4000 women during the war because Churchill didn't know what to do with all these people living in Britain in 1939 and issued the order: 'Collar the lot.' As a result German Jews and German Nazis were forced to live alongside each other behind barbed wire. In addition, there were prostitutes, conscientious objectors, fascists, Italians... you name it, the list went on. I'm so thrilled to be releasing this book because it has a very special significance for me. If you remember, 'Lily's War' was inspired by my parents' wartime romance and although they lived in Manchester when they were young, their retirement was spent in the Isle of Man until my dad died over there. They're both buried in the beautiful Malew cemetery and the Island has a particular place in my heart. I know lots of you have enjoyed the other books I love the comments and reviews you put on here..please keep them coming, I can't tell you how they cheer up an author when we're struggling with plots, deadlines and motivation. 'Hannah's War' came out in 2022 and she presented me with a bit of a challenge because unlike Lily in 'Lilys War' and Bobby in 'Bobby's War,' who were strong from the word go, Hannah had to battle huge shyness to become a Land Army girl. She discovers that once she's tackled the challenges of frozen turnips, a huge shire horse and coming to terms with having her life saved by a German POW, she can finally become the woman she was meant to be. It took me a while to stop wanting to shake Hannah but then, helped by the lovely Dottie and the posh Lavinia, her journey ends up being more of an adventure than either of us ever thought she could tackle! I think she represents so many young girls who were catapulted out of their comfort zones during the war only to find they were far more capable than they- and anyone else- could have imagined. Each book is a stand-alone story but do look out for familiar characters and crossovers when they meet! I've told you a bit about Hannah so let me fill you in on Bobby. 'Bobby's War' actually won the RNA Romantic Saga Novel of the Year Award in 2021. I was very chuffed to be short-listed for that award so you'll understand why I was almost speechless ( I said almost) when 'Bobby's War' was announced as the winner. It was only my second novel, so to be chosen from such an eminent group of established writers was not only a shock but a privilege. 'Bobby's War' is the story of an ATA pilot- one of those amazing women who delivered planes around the country and I was lucky enough to meet Mary Ellis before she died in 2018 to get an insight into the life of an ATA pilot. Her diminutive figure belied the fact that she flew planes on her own normally crewed by up to 7 men. Bobby is a girl who is terrifyingly competent at her job but that calm confidence certainly doesn't extend to her personal life. It takes the arrival of a startlingly familiar young man from France to set in motion a whirlwind of events that takes Bobby behind enemy lines and straight into the face of the enemy. She also comes face to face with herself - a path not helped by an enigmatic civil servant and an attractive RAF officer. And of course, it all started with 'Lily's War,' about an irrepressible WAAF in Bomber Command. It definitely is not my mum's stories but, as with all my books, the anecdotes and incidents in there are based on real events. My mum was a WAAF in Bomber Command and my father was a soldier in the Eighth Army so their wartime romance provided me with a framework for the book but this is Lily's and Danny's story, not my parents'. From being known as the class clown, Lily's helped to grow up by the tight-knit group of girls she meets but that transition is more dramatic when she has to deal with empty chairs of pilots who don't return, a sergeant who seems to hate her and her feelings for a loyal young soldier who is fighting his own, terrifying war up through Africa and Europe. I'm a journalist who decided, somewhat belatedly in life, to write a novel having heard from both my parents about their wartime experiences. I'd spent my working life in newspapers and then BBC radio and television, before starting a media company making films for organisations such as the National Heritage Lottery Fund and Natural England. I wanted to write a good read but an intelligent read and accurate research was crucial to me so I travelled the country to talk to WAAFs, many in their late 80s and 90s. Their stories inspired these books and it was humbling to meet them and share their stories and if I've managed to convey what it was really like to live as young people through extraordinary times, then I feel I'll have done justice to their, and my parents' legacy. I've loved weaving these stories, knowing that so many of the experiences I describe in the books actually happened to real people but all this would be nothing without you, the reader, so I really hope you enjoy my books. Do let me know what you think, it's so lovely to get reviews and I'm thrilled to see how much people are enjoying them. This has been a personal journey but I'm delighted to see how many people are engaging with it and finding a world that they can relate to. Many people have said the books have made them look again at the rheumy-eyed person behind the zimmer frame to find a young person facing the same challenges we are all still facing- be it Covid or uncertainty. I do hope so, they deserve a second look.
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