Meet the author: D J Taylor

Jenny Ruge talks to author DJ Taylor about her debut novel, Anna’s War.

Thank you for taking the time to speak with StoryLinks, Di. 

Anna’s War is your first novel. How would you describe the experience of being a debut author, and can you share any particular highlights of your journey? Since the release of Anna’s War it’s been enjoyable, exciting and busy. It’s been a steep learning curve for me and I wish I could start over knowing what I know now. I’ve found the social media aspect to be quite time-consuming as I haven’t used it extensively in the past. However, as I live in the country I’ve made some wonderful online connections in the writing community who have helped me greatly. My private FaceBook group, DebutKidLitCrew2025, has been a terrific support and I’ve learned much from the other debut authors.

An unexpected surprise is the strong sense of ownership readers have for the book. I feel like I’ve raised the child and it’s now gone out into the world experiencing many different relationships and I hope it has a good life. The highlight for me has been the wonderful reviews. It’s like receiving good report cards. I’m grateful to the many reviewers who have not only taken the time to read Anna’s War but also have written such generous, thoughtful reviews. It’s a strange experience having someone describe and critique Anna’s War and I think, wow, I didn’t think of it that way and they know the story so intimately. Some reviewers have written a great synopsis of the story, so much better than I have done! 

You’ve explained in the Author’s Notes that the book was inspired by the childhood experiences of your parents-in-law and their friend. What, if anything, of your own background and experiences did you bring to the novel, and how have family and friends responded to the final product? As a child I changed schools many times and it was important for me to quickly find new friends and feel I belonged. The close friendship between Anna and Josephine represents that experience of the need for a close connection and to share experiences. Also, I grew up in a loving family where my parents were very supportive and encouraging and that has come through in Anna’s family. My family have been incredibly supportive and proud and helped me organise the launch. It was a wonderful, positive occasion with so much goodwill. It was more a party than a launch and a lot of fun.

My parents-in-law, Catharina and Hendricus Vullers and their friend Matt Theunissen are thrilled with Anna’s War. Catharina is now 93 and living in an aged care residence. She has very low vision so, sadly, has been unable to read the book. When Hendricus visits he reads a chapter to her. There’s been quite a number of re-readings which Catharina thoroughly enjoys and she often says, ‘I’m Anna’. 

Anna’s two grandmothers are strong characters in the story, but each have their own strengths and personalities. Are they based on anyone in particular, and how did you approach the task of keeping the two quite distinct? Is there any character you would have liked to showcase more? I only realised that I had based Oma Jansen and Oma Smeets on my two grandmothers after I had finished a number of drafts. Both my grandmothers were strong, intelligent and loving women but very different in personality and circumstances. One lived with us when I was a child as she was homeless in her later years just like Oma Smeets. My grandmothers had young families during the Depression and living through that hardship never left them throughout their lives. They knew how to ‘make do’ and ‘learn to do without’ as Oma Smeets often says in the book.

I would have loved to have known more of Josephine, Anna’s best friend. Despite everything she remained a positive person and she and Anna have such a close friendship. I do like it when they say to each other, ‘You’ll never get a boyfriend looking like that,’ in the most dire of circumstances and laugh. 

There have been many children’s and YA books written about World War 2. Are there any particular books that inspired you? What makes Anna’s story unique, and what drew you to its retelling? How did you navigate the fine line between portraying the brutal reality of war, but keeping the novel suitable for young readers? As a former teacher-librarian and an avid reader of children’s books I am aware of many excellent children’s wartime books. Many have similar themes of being separated from family, escaping capture and many have a male protagonist. I wanted to do something different. My intention was to show how political decisions can affect innocent families and their ordinary lives especially within the home. I also wanted to highlight how women and girls greatly contributed to the war effort through actions that largely go unrecognised.

Whilst writing the initial drafts of Anna’s War in late 2019 and 2020 I didn’t read any children’s books centred on WWII. I feared I would be subconsciously influenced by them. Thankfully I didn’t as I would have come across Katrina Nannestad’s WWII middle grade book We Are Wolves and Dee White’s Beyond Belief. Both books are brilliant and were released in 2020. If I had read them whilst writing I think I may have given up before completing the final draft of Anna’s War. I’ve learned it’s not good to compare! When I was writing I was always aware that the protagonist was an innocent 14 year old girl whose parents tried to protect her and her siblings as much as possible from the brutal realities of war. Anna, at times, is aware of things happening through gossip etc but doesn’t necessarily see it. This toned down the rawness of what was happening whilst making the reader aware of certain incidents. 

You obviously did a great deal of research for the book, but it doesn’t overwhelm the story. How did you make decisions about what to include or discard, and did you do anything in particular to ensure that the story wore the research lightly? I did very little research before writing the first draft. The exception was reading about the forced deportation of Dutch men to work as slaves in German factories as that is the kernel of the story. After completing the first draft I was conscious that childhood memories can be a tricky thing. I found when I undertook detailed research for subsequent drafts there was a high correlation between the memories and the formal documentation of the war. This gave me a lot of confidence that whilst Anna’s War is a work of fiction it is based squarely on historical facts. 

I know readers are begging to learn mre about Josephine and Karl. Have you always been a fan of historical fiction? What are you working on next? I have always been a great fan of historical fiction. You can read one paragraph in a text book describing a historical event but fiction can turn that paragraph into an entire book on how the event affected the life of a person and subsequent generations. That is what I wanted to do with Anna’s War. I’ve been asked by many YA and adult readers for a sequel to Anna’s War as they want to know if Karl is safe and if he will ever see Anna again, so I have started a sequel. The story picks up after Josephine says goodbye to Anna as they are leaving their town. I’m not sure what happens next. We’ll see.

Thank you again, Di, for speaking with StoryLinks. We wish you every success with Anna’s War and look forward to reading more of your work in the future.

Anna’s War reviewed by Jenny Ruge

D J Taylor

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