The Personal History Behind My Historical Fiction

By Madalyn Morgan

From Mother's War Stories to Bestselling Series

I would like to share why I write historical fiction and how I was inspired to write the Sisters of Wartime England series.

I am fascinated by the achievements of women in the early twentieth century, when women worked and served in the First and Second World Wars. My late mother told me about her life in World War II, the work she did, the dances she went to, and the letters she wrote to servicemen overseas. (Mum had a Polish penfriend named Vanda, which is my middle name.)

For as long as I can remember, a brass Wellington bomber stood in our fireplace. It was made for Mum in 1940 by a Polish airman based at Bitteswell Aerodrome, a Commonwealth Aerodrome, a few miles from the village where Mum was born. Mum wanted to give the aeroplane back to him, but he had died. I found his son, John, and, because his parents had divorced when he was a small child and his late father’s medals had gone to the children of his second marriage, John was delighted to have the aeroplane.

My mum inspired me with stories of life during World War 2, and I decided to set my novels in that period. I had too many ideas for one book, so I plotted four: Four sisters, four wartime careers, and four loves. I named Bess in Foxden Acres after my favourite aunt. My aunt was intelligent, but poorly educated in the 1920s, so in Foxden Acres, she is a schoolteacher. My aunt Marjorie dreamed of being a dancer, but my grandfather was a groom. He couldn’t afford to pay for lessons, so in Destiny, she is Margot, the leading lady in a West End theatre. My aunt Dorothy joined the WAAF. I could see Dorothy in the SOE working undercover with the French Resistance, so I wrote Betrayal, called her Claire, and sent her to German-occupied France. My mum, the youngest sister, worked in an engineering factory. She’d have made a great detective, so Ena went to Bletchley Park in my novel, Redemption, later becoming a private investigator.

Published by Storm Publishing, the first four books, set in World War II, introduce the Dudley sisters. Three post-war books follow, then four crime/spy thrillers take the Dudley sisters to 1970. I have written a collection of short stories, poetry and prose called Scenes from My Life. I am currently writing my next novel, Reunion, and making notes for a memoir.

My latest novel, Tribute, is independently published. I set it in 1970, twenty-five years after VE and VJ Day. I had writer’s block for eight months in 2024. Because of that, Tribute is, and always will be, important to me. 

About Madalyn Morgan

Madalyn was brought up in a busy pub in the market town of Lutterworth. From a young age, she wanted to be an actress. Madalyn was offered a television role when she was fifteen, but her mother said she should have a 'proper' job, so she completed a hairdressing apprenticeship. Eight years later, at the age of twenty-four, she won a place at East 15 Drama College. Two years after that, she sold two successful businesses and began a career as an actress, working in Repertory theatre, the West End, film and television. In 2000, Madalyn gave up acting, completed a two-year creative writing course and began writing articles while presenting a rock music show on the radio. In 2010, after living in London for thirty-six years, she returned to Lutterworth, swapping two window boxes and a mortgage for a garden and the freedom to write.