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hazel gaynor is an irish historical fiction author. she is also the author of ‘keep writing’, a popular guest blog on wrting.ie, a national irish writing website. She is also the author of Featured Author Interviews for the website and has interviewed the likes of Mary Beth Keane, Phillipa Gregory, Daisy Waugh, Sebastian Faulks and Cheryl Strayed. In October 2012, she won the Cecil Day Lewis Award for Emerging Writers. gaynor grew up in yorkshire, england, but spent much of her time in fraisthorpe, flamborough and bridlington, near the sea. After finishing college, she spent some time working in professional services before venturing into authorship. Since 2001, she has been living with her husband in Kildare while working for A&L Goodbody. When she got fired from her day job, she decided to become an author and published “The Girl Who Came Home” in 2012.
gaynor began working in london for various professional services firms. she had a very good career with a & l goodbody a law firm in dublin until life changed when the recession hit and she was out of a job. With two children to care for, she had to adapt quickly and decided to try her hand at writing. she started with a cathartic and honest blog documenting her transition and it is this blog that gave her the confidence to write her first novel. She was forty-two years old when she was offered her first publishing deal, but since then she hasn’t looked back. She has discovered that writing is an amazing career, as she has time to devote to her children, although she has said it can be frustrating to see lists, scholarships and awards for authors under the age of thirty. Hazel Gaynor believes that many women writers come into their own at 40, and she thinks these too should be celebrated despite her advanced age. In 2015, she was named to the list of Top Ten Outstanding Authors by Library Journal. Her novels have been translated into more than fourteen languages around the world. Hazel Gaynor began writing surrounded by children’s Legos and breakfast plates around the kitchen table. It was only when HarperCollins offered her a publishing deal in 2013 that she graduated from the penthouse. after the signing of the publishing contract, she broke a glass of champagne and sat at the kitchen table to celebrate all the years of frustration and failure that had finally paid off. the attic where she writes from is a bright and lovely room and she can usually close the door and forget about all the chaos around her. Her attic doubles as a break room, guest bedroom, storage room, and library, and thus isn’t perfect for writing. however, she has stacked all kinds of notebooks and research books on her desk. she also has a sofa where she occasionally leans back to read and relax after turning in a new manuscript. As for how she came to write historical fiction, Ella Gaynor has stated that she is a confirmed nerd when it comes to history. she loves to re-imagine black and white photographs of moments in history by slowing them down and adding human emotion and color. In addition to writing, she is also the co-founder of “The Inspiration Project,” a creative writing event company that she runs with other like-minded authors.
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“the girl who came home” by hazel gaynor is a story set in ireland in 1912, where fourteen inhabitants of a small town board the rms titanic. They sail to America where they hope to find a better life. maggie murphy is a seventeen year old girl who finds the journey bittersweet. while she has a future in america, her heart goes out to seamus, her boyfriend, who stays in ireland. Maggie is lucky enough to be one of the few passengers to survive a disaster and wakes up to find herself in a hospital in New York. she swears never to speak of the panic and terror on that fateful night. Sixty years later in Chicago, Grace Butler is in turmoil after the death of her father. But Maggie, her great-grandmother, tells her about the Titanic (which is something she has never talked about for decades) and her revelation changes her life. both women come to experience unexpected reunions with people they thought were lost forever. Combining fiction and reality to explore the impact of titanic tragedy, it’s a riveting story.
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“A Memory of Violets” by Hazel Gaynor is the story of twenty-three-year-old Tilly Harper, living in 1912. She leaves the tranquility and beauty of her hometown to become an assistant housekeeper in London. She will be working for the Flower and Watercress Girls, a home that has cared for the crippled and orphaned children of London for years. the children live on the dirty streets selling watercress and bunches of violets for a living. Shortly after she arrives, she finds a diary written by Florrie, a young orphan. in it she talks about a flower girl who lost her life in grief after she was separated from her sister rosie de ella. Tilly is moved by the emotion of the poem and sets out to investigate what had happened to Rosie. It won’t be an easy quest as she is full of surprises and twists that take her to unexpected places.
“the girl from the savoy” by hazel gaynor is the story of an oppressed maiden who dares to dream. dolly lane dreams of one day performing on a london stage, even if her life has been fractured by war. she has memories of deep loss, secret shame and the soldier she loved and lost, all of which drive her to do something with her life. when she finally gets a job as a waitress at the savoy, she is overjoyed that she is finally stepping into the brilliant lives of the elite and especially the “bright young ladies” known for her love of rebellion, jazz and the champagne but for the moment she needs to be content to live on the fringes of glamour, wealth and power, which means she must remain invisible and unimportant. But there’s an unexpected twist when she answers an ad for a muse and lands on London’s exhilarating theater scene working for Loretta May, a celebrated actress. she’s living the life she aspires to, but she’s also on a quest, and just like her, she needs to make some tough decisions.
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