Ella Carey | Real Life Characters in search of an Author

I'm coming to the conclusion that as writers, we have little choice in what we
write. I find that once a story is with me, it takes hold and the characters
take on a life of their own. I feel compelled to write their story. If I don't,
then they will still niggle me anyway.

This was how it was with my novel, THE THINGS WE DON'T SAY. Consciously, or not, I find I am drawn to the stories of women who somehow, did not fit in with the world in which they found themselves. With my three French novels, the inspiration was the life and famous abandoned apartment of the Parisian Belle Époque courtesan Marthe de Florian, with SECRET SHORES, it was Sunday Reed, a leading figure in the Australian art world, along with Joy Hester, an unsung Australian artist, and with THE THINGS WE DON'T SAY, I became drawn in by Vanessa Bell.

Vanessa Bell was Virginia Woolf's sister. Vanessa was an artist who painted most
days of her life and a central figure in the Bloomsbury group, the famous group
of artists, writers and intellectuals who fascinate me for their avant garde
views, for the way they struck out independently during the turmoil of the early
twentieth century and for the relationships that swung between them, drawing
them in emotionally, in spite of their beliefs in acceptance, and tolerance…

In THE THINGS WE DON'T SAY, I explored the love between my character, Emma Temple, a Bohemian Artist who lived in Bloomsbury and in a farmhouse in Sussex and who is inspired by Vanessa Bell, and her fellow artist, Patrick Adams, inspired by the real life Duncan Grant.

During the process of writing and researching the book, which is set in London,
Sussex and in the South of France, a retrospective exhibition of Vanessa Bell's
paintings was held in London, and having ordered and read the catalogue (which
didn't help when it came to temptation) I flew to London for a week from
Australia to see it, and at the same time, I visited the Bloomsbury group's
country house in Sussex, while staying right around the corner from their houses
in Bloomsbury, and visiting an exhibition at the Tate which featured Duncan
Grant's work.

It's one thing to read and research your characters, and another thing to write.
But to visit the places which inspire the novels, to walk where the real women
walked who led me to my story is quite another, and a privilege of which I am
more than aware.

What evolved into the novel became a personal, involving story for me, an
exploration of the role of music and art in our lives, a consideration of these
deep thinking Bohemians and their views on how to live a peaceful life based on
the appreciation of art, and tolerance. At the same time, I wrote a mystery and
a love story that I hope will keep you all entertained.

I hope you enjoy reading THE THINGS WE DON'T SAY as much as I loved researching and writing it. The process was an emotional and moving journey for me, and an exploration of a group of truly remarkable and talented people who grappled with many of the same questions we still face today…