"It Started With A Place I Had Never Been To."

I am delighted to welcome my friend Jane Cable back to my blog to talk about her latest novel, The Collaborator's Daughter, written as Eva Glyn.

It started with a place I had never been to. And as it turns out, it’s unlikely I ever will.

There is a scene in my first Croatian novel, The Olive Grove, where my character Damir gazes out over the sea near Dubrovnik from a friend’s luxury villa. All I needed to know was the name of the island he could see, but research rabbit holes are easy to jump down and I discovered not only its name but the fact Tito’s partisans had executed collaborators there towards the end of the Second World War.

There was something about the story that intrigued me, so I filed it away in my memory bank, but it wouldn’t quite leave me alone. There was nothing like due process before the men were killed, they were thrown into mass graves, and from that day to this no local willingly sets foot on the island. However in 2009 there was an archaeological dig to try to identify the bodies, and that is where my heroine Fran’s story starts.

Even today I found it impossible to find a boatman to take me. Fran had similar struggles, until a barman who befriends her suggests his uncle, Jadran, for the job.

Which takes me to the second important location; Dubrovnik’s old harbour. Lying just outside the city walls it is a magnet for visitors, with trip boats for the island of Lokrum and Cavtat along the coast leaving from here, magnificent views and a handful of cafes, complete with cats who all seem to possess a doctorate in effective begging.

It’s important for locals too, because those living in the old town can keep their boats here, as Jadran does in The Collaborator’s Daughter. So this is where Fran and Jadran first meet, in front of the arches of the Arsenal restaurant on a bright, sunny day in early spring.

But the harbour is also key to Fran’s father Branko’s story. It’s where he and his fisherman friend Vido celebrate the Nazis leaving the city, and where, just a few days later, he is marched into the imposing fortress of Svetog Ivana that guards the entrance. As a writer I loved the contrast between the two events happening at the same place.

The third and final location I’d like to tell you about is a personal favourite of mine, Dubrovnik’s green market, which has been held in Gunduliceva Square for at least a hundred years. I was delighted when I found a photograph dating from the 1930s because it meant that while Fran shops there, unknown to her there is an echo of her father desperately trying to find food to feed his family sixty-five years earlier.

But for Fran – and for me – it is a joyful place, full of colour and warmth, with seasonal vegetables covering the tables along with locally made fig cakes and olive oil. Having rented an apartment in the old town for a few months Fran needs to feed herself and delights in cooking the fresh produce and chatting to the women selling it. It’s the place that first makes her feel part of the city and somewhere I love wandering around when I visit too.

While The Collaborator’s Daughter is very much Fran’s tale of self-discovery and new beginnings once her time of caring for others is over, I’d always hoped it would be a love story to Dubrovnik too, so when I received a review that said as much I was more than delighted. If you do choose to read the book, I hope you agree.

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The Collaborator’s Daughter on Amazon