I
started writing Precious Moon many years ago while I was travelling around
South East Asia, having spent the previous few years alternating working in the
UK with long trips backpacking around Europe, New Zealand, India and Asia. I was on my way to Japan, where I’d just
accepted a job teaching English.
The
primary theme of my story was displacement - that feeling of not quite feeling
at home anywhere, and not really wanting to settle down in your place of origin
either.
In
Precious Moon, Katie and Alex both feel this, for different, fascinating and
touching reasons. Katie won’t go back to
Kenya, Alex stays away from England, and both decide to stay in Argentina,
despite warnings from the British government that they should leave.
I
initially chose to set the story in Argentina because it was a country I was
fascinated with in a romanticised way, probably because of books I’d read and
films I’d seen and music I’d listened to.
As I researched more, I realised just how deep and profound the
country’s history, and in particular recent history, was. Argentina was the perfect setting and
backdrop for the story I wanted to write and themes I wanted to explore. The wars I wanted to incorporate in my story
tied in perfectly with my aims, as well as the time frames linking it with the
back flashes to Katie growing up in Kenya.
The
story is set in 1982 and the Falklands War has just broken out. Living in a remote Andean village far from
the hostilities down South, Katie and Alex can have no way of predicting how
bitter the war will become, and how it will affect their lives, now that they
are citizens of the enemy nation.
The
Argentinean military Junta supposedly re-ignited the animosity with Britain
over the sovereignty over the islands as a way of distracting its people from
their disillusionment with their military rule, and to garner popularity. Argentina had been suffering under their rule
of fear since 1976. Thousands of innocent
civilians disappeared in the dead of night, never to be seen of or heard from
again. The Junta denied the existence of
any of The Disappeared, and any involvement with the missing people.
Precious
Moon explores the traumatising affect of inexplicable disappearances on those
left behind; children, parents, lovers all suffer this unanswerable loss.
But
Argentina surrenders in the Falklands War, and its people are left bruised,
bitter, humiliated, defeated, and anger towards the Junta leads it to step
down, and a new nation free of fear can now rise up.
Katie
and Alex’s friendships with some of the Argentinean villagers are tested and
strained as they insist on remaining in the Andes, despite the fighting in the
freezing South Atlantic Ocean. Precious
Moon’s cast of strong characters are fiercely loyal to the country they believe
in, and are prepared to fight for liberty from its oppressors.
As
the story unravels with unexpected twists providing suspense and intrigue, the
characters reveal their complexities, strengths and motivations, as ordinary
people who survive and find a way forward in extraordinary circumstances.
Precious
Moon is a light and easily readable read that deals with heavy and powerful
issues of war, loss, disappearance, courage, escape and exile. It fluidly takes you backwards and forwards
from Kenya in the 60s to England in the 70s to Argentina in the 80s in a manner
evocative of the times and places.
It
took me about seven years to complete writing, researching and publishing this
story as I had an overwhelming necessity to get every detail right, out of respect
to the countries and history I wrote about, and the people who would have lived
through these eras.
Writing
Precious Moon was a wonderful experience; challenging, enlightening and
satisfying.
Now
that I’ve published, I’m enjoying interacting with other readers and
writers. Please feel free to connect
with me on www.facebook.com/siobhanprattauthor or on twitter @siobhan_pratt
Siobhan
Pratt
