Chideock WI October Meeting
Turning Fact into Fiction Laura Wilde
Author of historical and contemporary fiction, Laura Wilde
entertained us with a light hearted but most interesting account of her reasons for writing historical fiction and her processes in doing so, while using the example of her novel: The Ladies of Llanfairpwl, about the establishment of the first WIs, initially in Canada and then in the UK.
Laura explained that accounts of historical events in newspapers, court reports etc, have often been provided from a male perspective. She endeavours to engage with the female point of view, using artistic licence to weave a story together. Laura explained that the first WI was established by Adelaide Hoodless in Canada. Further to her son’s death from drinking contaminated milk, Adelaide set out to educate other women through giving talks and in time the WI grew from this initiative. Adelaide died in 1910 but her companion, Madge Watt, emigrated to the UK following a family scandal and with the support of Colonel Stapleton Cotton, in 1915 the first ‘Society’ was established in Wales. Both ‘ladies’ and farmer’s wives joined together to support good causes: children’s homes, The Red Cross and provision of clean water among them.
Laura talked us through her own process, as an author and the stages she follows: initial research, visit relevant locations, establish her characters, work out a plot, draft and redraft, proof reading, cover design and publication. She has 17 novels to her credit and these can be accessed mainly via her website www.lkwilde.com and from social media and Amazon.
Laura’s talk struck a strong resonance within our group as our own Diane Benjamin has herself documented the establishment and development of our WI in 1919 when 62 women, a real cross section of Chideock society, first came together. Diane used the well documented meeting minutes to construct her most informative summary which is currently available in Chideock Museum. Over a hundred years later our group continues to thrive with two new members having joined this month and people bringing friends along for a taster.
We meet from 2pm at Chideock Village Hall on the first Tuesday of every month and in between in a variety of sub groups. This month our tireless committee organised an evening out with delicious food, live music courtesy of two ‘Lost Souls’ and dancing. I’m not sure the ladies of Llanfairpwl would have been indulging in quite the same way! Curious?……Do Come Along!