By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
The resilience of the British in World War II is a standard to admire – and one of the stories that came out of that historic ordeal is the subject of Port Hope author Kurt Palka’s new book.
The Orphan Girl is his eighth book from publisher McLelland & Stewart. Subtitled Courage Found and a Promise Kept, it explores a relationship between two women that sustains them both with what the author termed the long-term courage to hang on.
The younger woman is Kate Henderson, who has had her house bombed. She is injured and taken in by the other woman, Dr. Claire Giroux. A bond develops between them, and is challenged when the doctor’s husband returns from the war.
“It’s a look at relationships and friendships and a courage that can take you through difficult situations,” Palka summed up in a recent interview.
For this particular writer, the characters he creates drive everything. And as is the case with every person, what’s past is prologue (to borrow from Shakespeare).
“How did life go for you? What happened to you? How did you handle that? My characters tell me,” he said.
“For a writer, I would have to say the best bits come from the subconscious, and it has been down there for a long time. It may have been buried since childhood – early impressions you picked up and put aside – but it’s in there and suddenly they come knocking on the door and you can use them to give them to your characters that you are, in a sense, living with.
“There’s some plotting, of course, but the detail and the meat of the story, the truth of the story comes from character. And, of course, character is a whole different thing altogether from personality.”
Palka readers may recognize the doctor as the daughter of the main character in The Piano Maker. She stayed in England when her mother moved back to Canada and became a nurse. Then she decided to go back to medical school and become a doctor. The end of the war finds her working gruelling shifts in three hospitals.
“But there’s something to her, there’s a need she has after having lost two children earlier in her life, some great inner need for that kind of closeness with a younger person,” he said.
“This is part of the reason for the relationship. From this closeness comes a tremendous support for another human being. Giving that support gives back to you tremendously as well.”
Part of the book does take place in Canada, which the doctor visits in order to see her mother and stay at her father’s horse farm in Nova Scotia. Unfortunately, it’s an ill-fated visit, and another occasion where that kind of support makes a crucial difference.
Palka was delighted to have the book’s launch at Port Hope’s Furby House and to hold some subsequent book signings. And the Toronto Star and Globe and Mail have certified The Orphan Girl as a best seller. And he is delighted with the cover art his publisher obtained for the book.
You can purchase it at book stores, including the independents like Furby House and Let’s Talk Books in Cobourg, as well as in audiobook and e-book formats.
“I am pleased at this stage of my career – it’s all good,” Palka reflected on a story that he wanted to tell that is well on its way.
“I’m happy to have found a good and happy and eager readership.”
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
