Going back in time for new novel

A Cleland author has taken a step back in time to 1940 and wartime Britain for her latest book.

Geraldine O’Neill, 65, has already had more than a dozen books published, many of them achieving critical acclaim.

Her latest offering – The Nightingales in Mersey Square – written under the pen name Lilly Robbins, fuses fact and fiction and shares an historically accurate story.

The book centres on trainee nurses Clare and Gaye, and their new friend Diana and set during World War II as 1200 evacuees moved from the Channel Island of Guernsey to Stockport, near Manchester.

“My publishers thought a more generic pen-name would work for this change of genre”, Geraldine said.

There is more than enough suspense and drama in the heart-warming saga to keep readers gripped, and also a few twists in the tale – set in Geraldine’s husband Mike’s hometown.

A place she also knows well having lived and worked there for a number of years.

Geraldine became fascinated by its wartime history and its network of underground air raid shelters which run for a mile below the town.

She continued: “I do a huge amount of research for my books as it’s really important to have it as accurate as possible to ensure the book is really authentic.”

Geraldine’s research for this book included visits to war museums in the UK and the USA; the Stockport Air Raid Shelter; and watching Pathe News from the time, and war time documentaries.

Born in Cleland, Geraldine attended St Mary’s Primary and then Holy Cross High in Hamilton, before going on to become a primary school teacher.

“I love all this research as history was my main subject when I trained as a school teacher, and is something that has always interested me,” she added.

“I tend to work in fits and starts, mixing writing with research.

“As the book flows along, I become more immersed in the story and begin writing for much longer and more intense periods of time.

“It’s not unusual for me to start my day’s writing in the morning and continue working through until the early hours of the following morning.

“My previous books focussed more on young Irish women who emigrated to England, Scotland or America.”

Geraldine and husband Mike moved to County Offaly in Ireland in 1991 and brought up their two children there, it’s where her mother is from.

Four generations of the family now live in close proximity of each other.

The author’s parents live in a cottage connected to her house and her daughter lives in the house next door with her husband and their children.

She revealed: “I am currently working on my sixteenth book, which will also be based in Stockport during World War II and will feature a new cast of characters, and cover another angle of the evacuee story.”

Priced from £4.99, The Nightingales in Mersey Square is available now on Amazon in paperback, hardback and as a Kindle version.