In Between Worlds: The journey of the famine girls

Bestselling author and Tallaght native Nicola Pierce is delighted to present her new book, ‘In Between Worlds: The Journey of the Famine Girls’, reports Ryan Butler.

Young Irish women sent to Australia during the famine served as the inspiration for this gripping children’s historical book.

Nicola published her first book for children, ‘Spirit of the Titanic’, to rave reviews and five printings within its first twelve months.

‘City of Fate’, her second book, was shortlisted for the Warwickshire School Library Service Award.

In ‘Behind the Walls,’ Nicola brought seventeenth-century Ireland to life.

‘Kings of the Boyne,’ a gritty account of the Battle of the Boyne, followed.

This week, we sat down with Nicola to discuss her latest book which was released.

What is the synopsis of ‘In Between Worlds: The Journey of the Famine Girls?’

The novel opens in 1935 with a frail but still feisty Margaret Gaffney who is reluctantly celebrating yet another birthday, her hundredth, in an old folk’s home in Australia.

The reader quickly discovers two things about Margaret, firstly, hails from Skibbereen in West Cork and secondly, that she survived the Irish Famine.

Taking the opportunity of this hated birthday to look back over her life, Margaret brings us right back to Skibbereen in 1842, when life was normal, and The potato was plentiful.

Everything changes in September 1845 forevermore with the onslaught of heavy rain and a blight that just about devastated everyone’s potato crop.

In time, and out of sheer desperation, Margaret and her brother, Seán, end up in the dreaded workhouse, where, once again, she feels her life has come to a dead end.

However, in 1849, she will be asked if she would like to leave Ireland and sail off to some place called Australia for a brand-new future.

What inspired the book?

As with all my children’s novels, I was inspired by true events.

The story was new to me, and I am grateful to my editor, Susan Houlden for bringing it to my attention.

Between 1848 and 1850, 4,114 orphaned Irish girls, aged fourteen to eighteen, took up an offer of free passage to another world, Australia.

Ireland was in the grip of famine, and Australia offered a new life.

At that time, British Secretary of State for the Colonies Earl Grey (1802–1894) was in charge of colonial immigration, and the project was named after him, the ‘Earl Grey Scheme’.

Apart from taking some of the pressure off the overcrowded workhouses, it was expected that the girls would find work and/or husbands and help grow the population of the British colony of Australia.

In writing this novel, I had to imagine what the girls went through before ending up in the workhouse, losing their families and communities to starvation and disease.

After that, I needed to explore the courage required to sail away from everything they have ever known for an uncertain future.

How much time has been dedicated to it?

In checking my notebook, I see that I began my research in early November 2021.

I spent the next year writing the novel, though things got a little complicated when Niall, my husband, had two strokes Christmas week last year.

He spent two months in hospital, and I could not get back to work on the book until he came home and showed signs of definite improvement.

What kind of work is involved in preparing to write?

My books always involve historical episodes that are either new to me or I know very little about and, therefore, I am obliged to spend a small fortune on relevant history books. It is like studying for the Leaving Cert all over again.

I also search out documentaries to watch and appropriate music to listen to. After that, I look for visual aids like paintings, maps, sculptures and photographs, as all art inspires me. You do not need words to tell a story.

For example, standing in front of Ronan Gillespie’s Famine monument on Custom House Quay will tell you all you need to know about the Irish Famine.

I write in a ten-by-ten-foot wooden shed in the back garden, which is freezing most of the year, but I love it as it is separate from the house and, therefore, separate from distracting housework waiting to be done.

Do you have any plans for more books in the future?

I am currently working on a collection of women’s lives due out in 2025.

This is my next adult history book is for The O’Brien Press and requires a huge amount of reading, more than I had anticipated, but I am thoroughly enjoying the

research.

Who would you like to thank for helping you get to this point?

Michael O’Brien, my publisher, who died unexpectedly on December 31, 2022, is the reason I write children’s novels.

I was very moved on hearing that he read my manuscript just days before his death, and he loved it.

I framed his email response and have it up on the wall beside my desk. I owe him my career today.