SAD LOVE STORY

It was never meant to be a sad love story!

Back when I was a child at my grandmother's knee, she told me that some day I should write her life story.

I remember assuming that all grandmothers were probably famous actresses who had once lived in a castle in Czechoslovakia!

In short, would anyone be interested in reading about grandma's life?

Years and years later, after she had died, I recalled her wish and resolved to fulfill it. Of course by then I had long realized that grandmothers differed quite a bit and that mine had had an extraordinary story to tell.

But she was no longer around to tell it and as my mother had died too by then, there was nobody close by that I could question. So what was I to do?

Well, with my vivid imagination I reckoned that my best bet was to take the tiny thread from her life that I knew from my childhood - and weave a fictional story around it. So that's what I did!

In the process I needed to do extensive research on both World Wars - and masses more - before I could even begin. Had I known the extent of work involved I doubt I'd have ever started the project. But, once started, there was simply no stopping it!

Then, eventually, when the words were ready to be written - wait for it! They essentially wrote themselves. It was as if they were just waiting somewhere to be poured on to paper. Was grandma giving me a helping hand?

Well, that's the essence of how this sad love story happened! It's now 'out there' as: THE FOREIGNER.