Drawing on Newfoundland’s rich history, Melanie Martin has woven a tale described as a Royal Newfoundland Regiment love story.
Born in Newfoundland, Martin grew up in Flin Flon, attending school here.
Upon returning to the east coast 18 years ago, Martin took a history course at Memorial University which eventually led to an undergrad and a master’s degree in the subject.
Martin has written several historic academic works in her career, but A Splendid Boy is her first work of fiction.
“It came about as a bit of a lark,” she says about the novel’s beginning.
During a work event she and a colleague were chatting and Martin starting describing her idea of a Newfoundland version of Downton Abbey, set during World War I. The conversation was overheard by a visiting colleague who asked whose work they were discussing. The brainstorming continued and the possibility of writing a film treatment was suggested.
“I had never written anything like that, but decided to give it a go,” Martin said. The straightforward nature of the film treatment format turned into the basic outline of her novel.
“All I knew at the time was that there was so much happening in Newfoundland and Labrador at that time. There was so much history to play with,” she said.
With the encouragement of a local writer’s group, in 2012 she set to work organizing her thoughts on paper and developing the characters.
The novel tells the story of a young man who falls in love with a merchant’s daughter. In the hopes of saving his family from financial ruin, Daniel enlists in the Newfoundland Regiment and departs for training. Emma follows in his wake, joining the Voluntary Aid Detachment in hopes of finding her love.
“In 1916, on the eve of the Battle of the Somme, Emma and Daniel are reunited for a single, impassioned night near Beaumont-Hamel. Can the love they share survive the barriers of class and the horrors of battle? Or are their lives fated to join what would later be called a lost generation?” reads the publisher’s notes.
“Daniel and Emma are fictional but they could have existed,” Martin said. “As some describe it, it’s ‘historical faction.’ History can be written is so many different ways. Everything in the book is rooted in fact in terms of times and settings. People will be learning about the Royal Regiment and all the battles they fought, but it’s done is such a way that the characters will capture their imagination and they won’t even realize they are learning the history. At least that’s what I hope will happen.”
Much of Martin’s writing has been done around the schedule of a professional woman and a busy mom of twin girls. When some people suggested her writing would come to an end when her babies were born, Martin was determined to continue.
“When the kids were three months old we got into a routine. I’d put them in the car, pick up a coffee and drive to the end of the continent, really,” she said. “I’d write as much as I could before they woke up and we went home. I was determined to get a rough draft done before I went back to work [after maternity leave].”
Martin admits that the rough draft of her story was just the beginning, and that much work was to be done before the book was presented to a publisher.
Flanker Press expressed interest in her book, and Martin said printed and electronic copies will be available at the end of this month.
The timing of the novel’s release is fortunate, as the 100th anniversary of the Newfoundland Regiment’s involvement in World War I will be celebrated July 1.
Martin said the reaction of people who have read her manuscript to the relationship between Daniel and Emma during World War I has given her unique insight into people’s hearts.
“What I’ve found most surprising is how important relationships were during the war,” she said. “Whether it was with mothers, sisters, wives or sweethearts, the very idea of relationships kept the soldiers going through the war. It was something to take their mind off of what was happening and give them hope to keep going.”
A Splendid Boy is available for pre-order through Chapters/Indigo and is scheduled for publication on May 27.
“It’s been a remarkable journey,” said the author. “And to think it started as a joke over a glass of wine.”
