Help me welcome author Anna Jensen as she shares her story of war heroes.

I asked this question of readers at a recent Facebook party I participated in.

It was a few days after D-Day, with commemorations and events held on the beaches of northern France 80 years after the D-Day landings. Dignitaries and celebrities honoured the few men and women seated before them, age reducing their numbers with each passing year. Promises were made to cherish those who fought for freedom, to never forget.

I’ve visited those beaches, and there is a palpable air of reverence all along the windy coastline. White crosses march in neat ranks in the way their owners were never able to. Diagrams and maps show how events unfolded, who was where, when. It is moving and inspiring all at the same time.

When writing my historical novels, I often start with a place; somewhere like the Normandy beaches, where history tangibly entwines with the present, where dying whispers resonate in my soul.

The site of the Battle of Spionkop, a few hours’ drive from my home in Durban, South Africa, is one such place. Fought on 24 January 1900, in the early days of the Anglo-Boer War, the site was christened an ‘acre of massacre’ by one contemporary reporter. There has never been such loss of life on so small a patch of ground in the history of warfare — including to the present day.

Dotted alongside the approach road to the main site, white stones honour those who lost their lives on the slopes. One is marked, as is often the case at such places, as being in memory of an ‘unknown soldier’. That grabbed my attention.

No one is unknown to God the Father. Every hair of every head is numbered. Every family torn apart by the loss of a son, a brother, a husband, a father has the promise of comfort from the Lord.

And so I wanted to tell that story of the ‘known-unknowns’.

And in doing so, I wanted to share the stories of another, more recent tragedy; the Hillsborough Disaster — where a total of 97 people lost their lives as a result of severe crushing at a football (soccer) match at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England in April 1989. The match was a semi-final contest between rival teams, Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. The victims were all Liverpool supporters.

For the last several years, South African fans have held a service at the site of the Battle of Spionkop in memory of the disaster — in the shadow of a memorial to British soldiers who travelled from Liverpool to fight in a war at the bottom of the world.

Remembered Lives weaves together these stories, uniting contemporary football fans and their search for closure with the double-sided story of conquest and self-defence.

This was perhaps the hardest book I’ve written to date, but it wormed its way into my heart. I hope it will do for you! Available in ebook from Amazon via www.books2read.com/rememberedlives for $3.99/£3.99 (FREE in Kindle Unlimited). Paperback releasing soon!

About Anna: 

Hi! I’m Anna, a British expat living in South Africa — where I overlook the Indian Ocean and have the privilege of watching dolphins and whales pass by. I write historical and contemporary fiction, inspirational non-fiction, and poetry.

Connecting Online 

Discover more on my website at www.annajensen.co.uk.

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