On Tuesday, August 20th, we celebrated the official launch of Donna Alward’s first historical fiction, When The World Fell Silent. 27 people braved the heat at the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia, 1113 Marginal Road, Halifax to hear Donna provide some background about her story set during and after the Halifax Explosion, and do a reading from her book. Our very own Erin O’Neill interviewed Donna with some very insightful questions.
Since 2006, New York Times bestselling author Donna Jones Alward has enchanted readers with stories of happy endings and homecomings that have won several awards and been translated into over a dozen languages. After writing 60-plus romance novels, When the World Fell Silent is Donna’s premier historical fiction and she has been reviewed as achieving this difficult genre switch perfectly. For historical fiction fans, Donna’s writing has been compared to Lisa Wingate and Genevieve Graham. She writes about strong women with an underlying theme of the importance of family. Her new historical fiction tales blend her love of history with characters who step beyond their biggest fears to claim the lives they desire.
A story of loss, hope, and redemption against the most impossible odds. 1917. Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Nora Crowell wants more than her sister’s life as a wife and mother. As WWI rages across the Atlantic, she becomes a lieutenant in the Canadian Army Nursing Corp. But trouble is looming and it won’t be long before the truth comes to light.
Having lost her beloved husband in the trenches and with no one else to turn to, Charlotte Campbell now lives with his haughty relations who treat her like the help. It is baby Aileen, the joy and light of her life, who spurs her to dream of a better life.
When tragedy strikes in Halifax Harbour, nothing for these two women will ever be the same again. Their paths will cross in the most unexpected way, trailing both heartbreak and joy in its wake…
When the World Fell Silent by Donna Alward is a historical fiction novel that follows two women who reside in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1917. War has been raging in Europe for 3 years and the busy port of Halifax with its deep, ice-free harbor and strategic location makes it the perfect location for military support operations for the war. Nora is a Lieutenant in the Canadian Army Nursing Corp, a Bluebird, named for their blue uniforms, and is working at the newly opened Camp Hill Hospital tending to injured soldiers. Charlotte is a mother and widow, having lost her husband in the trenches, and is living with her in-laws, who treat her like a domestic servant. On December 6th, two ships, the Mont Blanc and the Imo, collide in the city’s harbour. One of them is a munitions ship loaded with explosives bound for the battlefields. What followed was the largest human-made explosion prior to the detonation of the first atomic bomb. The blast flattened part of the city of Halifax, killing nearly 2,000 people and injuring approximately 9,000. At the time of the explosion, Nora was at work at Camp Hill Hospital which was partly protected from the blast by Citadel Hill, and Charlotte was out running errands with her daughter, Aileen.
At Camp Hill Hospital, which was sorely unequipped to handle this kind of mass-casualty event, Nora spends the long hours in the aftermath of the explosion cleaning wounds, removing splinters, and glass, and even suturing, a skill that before the explosion she had never practiced on an actual human. Late in the afternoon, she meets Captain Neil McLeod, a Doctor from Aldershot, who has come to help. That evening she offers him lodging at her sister’s boarding house. The following day, Charlotte wakes up on a cot at Camp Hill Hospital without Aileen. She is in a lot of pain and cannot move her leg. She cannot remember the explosion. She had two large splinters removed from her leg and is suffering a concussion.
What follows is a well-written and well-researched story of the experiences of Nora and Charlotte in the aftermath of the explosion, and into the following year. Skillfully woven into the story are ongoing real events, such as Boston’s response to the explosion and the outbreak of the Spanish Flu. In the days and months that follow, we see through both ladies’ eyes the devastation, the widespread injuries, and the horrific details of the destruction. Nora and Charlotte hunt for family scanning the casualty lists, searching the hospitals first, and then the morgues. Donna Alward’s in-depth research is seen in the numerous detailed descriptions. As with many historical fiction novels, this novel will enlighten those who have not heard of the Halifax Explosion or know only the bare bones of the event. The story will relate to readers the importance of Halifax during the war, the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and the response to the explosion, in particular from Boston, Halifax’s sister city. When the World Fell Silent is a highly recommended summer read. Sue Slade The Miramichi Reader June 15th
Erin’s first question for Donna was: How do you create believable and relatable characters? Do you draw inspiration from real-life people and experiences? We live in 2024 and trying to put yourself in the mind and heart of someone in 1917 is a bit of a challenge. Donna believes there are universal emotions and troubles we all deal with, we all want to belong somewhere, and we all have needs and wants, so she thinks if you can tap into those, then it’s easier to write believable characters no matter the time period you write them in.
Is there a particular scene or chapter in the book that is especially meaningful to you? Can you explain why it holds significance? There is a scene where Charlotte learns an awful truth and it is meaningful because Donna tapped into her own mental health journey to address that and put herself in her shoes. She took writing Charlotte’s perspective very seriously and that was very meaningful to her.
Is there a scene that you liked writing the best? There is a scene right after the explosion happens where everybody that are remaining in Nora’s house, is sitting around the kitchen table and they are talking about what happened to Halifax. Nora was stuck in the hospital all day so she doesn’t know what was happening in the greater city around her, it was a way for Donna to relay that to the reader, but it also showed that there was a real bond between the people living in that house. She really liked writing that scene and liked the family feel of it.
Are you currently working on any new projects or books? Can you give us a sneak peek into what we can expect from your future works? Donna is currently working on a book that is partly set on board the Titanic and partly on board the Carpathia, partly in New York, and then heading back to Halifax.
While researching her book, Donna’s biggest rabbit hole was newspapers.com, the largest online newspaper archive.
After the event was over, there were delicious goodies to sip and snack on including a war cake made by Donna herself. The significance is that there was a war cake served in the story.
