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Back When We Meet Again Save as PDF
Chapters (57)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Epigraph
  4. Prologue
  5. One
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. Twenty-one
  26. Twenty-two
  27. Twenty-three
  28. Twenty-four
  29. Twenty-five
  30. Twenty-six
  31. Twenty-seven
  32. Twenty-eight
  33. Twenty-nine
  34. Thirty
  35. Thirty-one
  36. Thirty-two
  37. Thirty-three
  38. Thirty-four
  39. Thirty-five
  40. Thirty-six
  41. Thirty-seven
  42. Thirty-eight
  43. Thirty-nine
  44. Forty
  45. Forty-one
  46. Forty-two
  47. Forty-three
  48. Forty-four
  49. Forty-five
  50. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  51. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  52. POPULAR BOOKS FROM THE ERA
  53. When We Meet Again
  54. A Conversation with Caroline Beecham about When We Meet Again
  55. Discussion Guide
  56. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  57. What’s next onyour reading list?

I discovered a long-held family secret from a few generations ago; that a relative’s baby was sold to a childless couple in a nearby town. I was quite shocked until I started looking into the circumstances and found out how common it was for unmarried mothers who were desperate to find a way of taking care of their illegitimate children. Unfortunately, they were often pressured into going through illegal adoptions and turning to baby farmers. I went through a number of stages trying to understand the desperation that could drive you to part with your own flesh and blood, and I realized how complex it was, and that it wasn’t a new social problem. When I discovered that a law that was supposed to be passed to protect children and stop unlawful adoptions was shelved because of the outbreak of war—the exact time it was needed more than ever—I knew that it was a story worth following.

There were also a number of individuals who inspired me; social activist Clara Andrew, fought to get the Adoption of Children Act passed, and journalist Olive Melville Brown followed the story and kept it in the public eye. Diana Athill was another pioneering woman who had a distinguished career as an editor and worked in the industry throughout the war and was one of the stimuluses for the character of Ursula.

A couple of settings also provided inspiration for the story; London Zoo and Book Row in New York. As soon as I learned how London Zoo, or Regent’s Park Zoo, as the locals called it, remained open during the war and grew in popularity, becoming a refuge to visitors and servicemen, it became a sanctuary for Alice too. There were also such wonderful real stories about the animals and their antics that I had to include some of them too. Once I knew about the important role books played in wartime—the US had a Council on Books in Wartime and a very successful books scheme for their troops—it was great to then discover Book Row. This area in New York had seven blocks of bookshops back then, and although its reduced to only two blocks now, I really hope to visit one day!

One of the novel’s most salient messages is the transformative power of books to unite and inspire during periods of hardship. Which books fill that role for you, either in your personal life or in your development as a writer?