Interview with Caroline Beecham author of 'Esther's Children'

Interview with Caroline Beecham, Author of Esther’s Children

To read my review of Esther’s Children ...

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The novel is available now at all your favourite book sellers!

Published by Allen & Unwin

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INTERVIEW

What was it about the historical figure Esther Simpson that first captured your attention and then inspired you to write a novel on her life and work?

When I first read about Esther in an article about Cara, the Council for At-Risk Academics, and it struck me what a hidden heroine she was. The history and work of the organisation was so interesting, and I had never heard about them before and was certain that other people would find it interesting too. The work of the Kindertransport in rescuing children from the Nazis has been written about in fiction and non-fiction but not the academic refugees. It was such an inspiring story and Esther a fascinating woman, and I also loved the fact that she had this whole other side to her as an accomplished musician.

Is there a special meaning behind the book’s title?

Esther referred to the refugees that she helped as ‘her children’. She didn’t marry or have any biological children, but she thought of these men and women as her family, and their children as her grandchildren. She had scrapbooks of all their achievements and accomplishments; cuttings from newspapers and magazines, particularly those of the sixteen Nobel Prize winners and Fellows of the Royal Societies. This quote from 1940 when the refugee scientists were interned by the British government reveals the depth of her feelings:

“I faced one or two anxious moments last week. One naturally has something to worry about when one has a family of six hundred.”

What five words would you use to describe Esther?

Selfless, kind, determined, hardworking, empathetic

Please share the history and purpose of the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning and Esther’s part in the organisation?

Esther joined the Society in 1933 as assistant secretary, and worked for them until her death in 1996. The Society for the Protection of Science and Learning was founded by Britain’s foremost academics after Hitler expelled hundreds of scholars from German universities on racial grounds. The founders’ goal was ‘the relief of suffering and the defence of science and learning.’ It was Esther’s job to write letters to British universities and institutions to find positions for the academic refugees, to help secure their grants and then offer each grantee practical help in their new role and life in Britain. She was the first person they were in contract with and she might help them with bank accounts and accommodation as well as advice for any dependents, and many of the grantees became friends. She also wrote thousands of letters, not just to secure freedom for the scholars once, but also a second time from 1940 to free them after the government interned enemy aliens.

Which scene was the hardest for you to write and why?

The scenes of brutality were hard to write; the one when a Jewish man is beaten by the police on the Viennese streets and later when Esther and Harry are put in danger in Semmering, probably because I haven’t written any direct violence before. But the scenes in the Internment Camp were also hard because it’s a different kind of cruelty, stripping someone of all their rights and their humanity as well as their possessions. It’s one thing to know this violence happened, and still happens, but another putting yourself in their shoes and trying to imagine how it felt. Very confronting.

Did you run into any obstacles in the writing of Esther’s Children?

There were physical obstacles with the inability to travel to the UK to do research. However, I was able to find two PHD students to help me; one at Oxford University and another at Leeds University but then the libraries went into lockdown too, so I’m grateful to them for their work while it lasted. Luckily a lot of what I needed was online and Stephen Wordsworth, the Executive Director of Cara, gave me access to their archives at the Bodleian Library and I was able to get digital copies. The emotional obstacles were a lot harder; it was a tough time with what was going on in the world to sometimes summon the emotional energy to write, with concerns for my children here and my family overseas who we were unable to visit. Plus a few other things that were going on. Ultimately, I was able to get back on track as I was reminded of how lucky I was compared to the men and women I was writing about and all they went through.

During your research, what three things did you learn that surprised you about Esther’s life and her work?

The first is probably how hard she worked; until ten o’clock at night and no holidays for years. She combined working for the Society with fire-watching duty and her music. Secondly, that despite this, there was still time for music and friendship and Esther had several friends and ensembles she played with. Thirdly, that she didn’t seem to have a romantic life (although I didn’t go through all her personal papers at Leeds University). I felt that she probably didn’t have time for a relationship given all the work she did helping others, which is why I decided she should have a love life in the novel.

Was musician Harry a real person or is he a character created from your imagination? What purpose does he serve in the story?

Harry is a fictious character but one that I created after researching the men and women the Society helped. I read through several individual profiles of the scientists and academics and so he really was a composite of them. I also got the sense from her interviews and what others wrote, that there was an intellectual meeting of the minds with some of these scholars and academics so she would have been attracted to them, I’m sure; perhaps she did have a love interest but was very discreet. Harry is the man Esther falls in love with and whose family she fights to save and bring to Britain, despite Harry’s father’s reluctance to leave his homeland.

What do you hope your readers learn from reading Esther’s Children?

Primarily I hope they enjoy a compelling story, well told, and then that they discover a part of history and a woman they may not have known about. If they are moved by the kindness and humanity that Esther shows, then that’s a good thing too.

Kindness shines through in this novel but there are also terrible acts of prejudice. Please provide at least one example of each from your novel.

Esther shows considerable kindness by extending her personal friendship to many of the refugees, not just professionally in fighting for their freedom. Fritz Saxl and Gertrud Bing, art historians who were amongst the first grantees of the SPSL and brought the Warburg Institute to Britain, were also extremely kind and kept an ‘elastic house’ that was home for a revolving door of refugees. Prejudice comes in many forms, from the direct antisemitism of the Austrian Gendarmes and Nazis in Vienna to the cruel Oswald Menghin, Rector of Vienna University. There are also the British men in an Oxford pub who are aggressively antisemitic. It’s a scene where Harry and Esther should be celebrating but they are forced to leave because of the level of hostility.

Music is a vehicle of creativity. What part does it play (pardon the pun) in Esther’s Children?

Esther really did go to Europe and Vienna every summer for the concerts from 1932 to the outbreak of war so it was key to include the importance music held for her. In the world of the novel, where there is so much darkness as well as light, music was a creative outlet and connected Esther and Harry and the other refugees. Historically, the educated were often musically trained too and Esther recognised music as her passport to different worlds; ones she might not have had access to otherwise, which was also valuable for her work.

What limitations or restrictions did Esther have back in the 1930s and 1940s that would not be present today?

There were barriers for women professionally and social expectations. In the novel her family really want her to stay local and get a job, which would have been typical of the era. But Esther wanted to travel Europe to feed her love of music, so she upskilled, teaching herself typing and shorthand, and with a first-class degree in French and German she was able to follow her heart.

 

What do you think Esther would say was her greatest achievement?

Gosh, hard to say. She was very proud of her children and had scrapbooks with newspaper cuttings of all their key accomplishments. Probably her sixteen Nobel Prize winners and seventy-four fellows of the Royal Society and thirty-four of the British Academy.

Please tell us about your journey to publishing. Do you write full time or share it with another profession?

I wrote a lot for film and television in my first career as a producer and so thought I would give writing a go when I had a career break to have children. I did a MA in creative writing at UTS and then continued learning about craft through courses at the Faber Academy and Curtis Brown in London. I always thought you’d reached a point where you knew what to do to start but I realise now that you never stop learning, you just reach a stage where you are ready to tell your story. Lucky for me my publisher at A&U liked Maggie’s Kitchen and I was in England on a holiday with family when I received the email saying she would like to publish it; I didn’t frame the email but it’s safe to say that its treasured. Now I write full time; there’s a lot of research that goes into historical fiction writing and I have published four books in eight years so that’s a two-year turnaround for each title. That time includes research, writing and the editing process which is quite complex when there is a lot of historical information that needs to be accurate. Lots of fact checking and so I’m grateful to the wonderful editing team at Allen & Unwin.

Have you always wanted to be a writer or was it an interest you developed? Was there a book or an author that inspired you or a special moment when this passion sparked?

I’ve always like creating whether it was poems as a kid, sending ideas for campaigns off to advertising agencies, which I did, or just making up stories. As I mentioned, I’ve been lucky enough to write in my career as a producer and now as a fiction writer. There is no one particular author who inspired me as different writers have affected me at different times but if I had to signpost authors who guided my journey they would include Thomas Hardy, Emily Bronte, Sarah Walters, Maggie O’Farrell, Rachel Joyce, Chris Cleave, Frances Liardet, Sarah Winman, William Boyd, M.L. Steadman, Natasha Lester, Anthony Doerr, Kirstin Hannah, Paula McLain, Maggie Shipstead, and Kate Quinn—as you can see it’s a long list!

If you could time travel to the past to do research for a novel, when and where would you like to go and who would you like to meet?

I would like to go back to 1930s and 1940s Britain and America to meet some of the film-making pioneers and the stars; you can guess why!

Would you like see Esther’s Children as a movie? If so, who would you like to see play the main characters?

I would love to see it as a TV drama and my dream cast would be Saorise Ronan as Esther with Jonathan Bailey as Harry, or Clare Foy and Nicholas Hoult. Dream big, right? But I would also love to know who readers see in these roles...

Are you working on any new projects? Are you able to share a little of what you are writing?

I am working on a new project and have put two ideas on the back burner when this one came along. It’s a wonderful setting and another story set during the Second World War and again, another part of history that’s unexplored. It’s also a world I am familiar with, so I’m really excited about researching it, in fact I’m off to England at the end of June to visit some locations and access archives. I can’t say any more than that as I don’t want to give too much away but the main thing is that I’m excited to get to my desk and start writing each day, which is a truly special feeling.

Thanks so much Caroline for being my guest and sharing the background of your story. I wish you much success with your inspiring new novel Esther’s Children!