Roxane Dhand's Blog

My writing process always begins with a kernel of truth—a historical detail that sparks my imagination and sends me on a quest to tell a forgotten story. For my next book, that quest took me to Krakow, a city that holds a powerful and complex place in history.

Before the trip, I re-watched Schindler’s List to immerse myself in the atmosphere of wartime Krakow. When I arrived, the beauty of the city was breathtaking.

Horse-drawn carriages lined up in Krakow’s Market Square, showcasing the ...

Many of you know me for my historical fiction, tales like The Pearler’s Wife, The Orphan of Good Hope, and The Trouble with Tigers. If you’ve read them, you’ll know my writing process usually begins with a kernel of truth – a forgotten detail, a whisper from the past – that sparks that ever-present question in my mind: “what if?”

That “what if” then becomes a relentless tug, driving me into the heart of history, sifting through records, and imagining the lives of those left out of the grand n...

Many of you know me for my historical fiction, tales like The Pearler's Wife, The Orphan of Good Hope, and The Trouble with Tigers. If you've read them, you'll know my writing process usually begins with a kernel of truth – a forgotten detail, a whisper from the past – that sparks that ever-present question in my mind: "what if?"

That "what if" then becomes a relentless tug, driving me into the heart of history, sifting through records, and imagining the lives of those left out of the grand narratives. My passion has always been to give a voice to the voiceless, particularly the women whose stories deserve to be told.

My next book is no different in its origins, yet it's been an incredibly profound journey. It started, as usual, with a true story – a set of remarkable events I uncovered from a period of immense challenge. This time, I'm taking you to Poland during the Nazi occupation.

While the core of the story came from meticulous historical accounts and personal testimonies, I knew I needed to truly see the world I was recreating. So, I embarked on a three-day research trip to Krakow. It was essential for me to walk those streets, to feel the atmosphere, to put "colour on my blank canvas" and ensure every detail I depicted resonated with truth. It’s one thing to read about a place, but another entirely to stand there and let it speak to you.

And that's the heart of this new project: every scene in this book is true in history, grounded in real events and personal accounts. I've fictionalised the narrative, of course, to bring these incredible people and their experiences to life, but the foundation is solid, built on the very fabric of the past.

It's been an intense but incredibly rewarding experience, and I can't wait to share this deeply personal and meticulously researched story with you all. Stay tuned for more updates as we get closer to its release!

In the run-up to the publication of my latest book – The Trouble with Tigers – I  posted this photograph from my research archives on my Facebook page:

The inspiration behind the novel: This photo shows the women of Harmston’s Circus getting ready for the performance.

I had no idea who these other circus ladies might be other than I knew for certain my real life heroine is sitting second from the right. In the book she appears as Lilly, but in real life I knew her to be known as Kiddie.

...

The character Duffy, in The Trouble with Tigers, is based on this real life tiger trainer:

Old signed photo of a man with a tiger strung across his shoulders

I can’t properly read the caption on this, and history has lost the meaning of the message. However the photo was found in the personal photo album of the real life Lilly on whom the novel is based, so I like to imagine the message had significance to her.

We do know that the man in the photo is Charles B Franks. He performed in Ha...

My new novel, The Trouble With Tigers, will be published by Orion Dash in 2022 and is based on a true story.

I had been thinking of writing a novel set in India for a while when I became friends with a woman with Anglo-Indian ancestry. She told me about her grandmother who ran away to the circus in India to escape an abusive marriage. She left her home in Cawnpore in the 1930s leaving behind her husband and 7-year-old son and joined Harmstons – a small circus with its permanent home in Bu...

With only 2 weeks to go until publication date, I’m pleased to offer you a short extract from The Orphan of Good Hope to give you a taster.

the-orphan-of-good-hope_extractDownload

Want more? Find out about the book and pre-order The Orphan of Good Hope

The pearling industry in Western Australia stretches back to the mid-nineteenth century, with Broome emerging onto the scene in the mid-1880s. Mother-of-pearl was in worldwide demand for use as buttons, cutlery handles, watch-faces and inlay for marquetry. The rich beds of pearl oysters (Pinctada maxima) off the beaches of the north-west coast provided a ready supply of the sought-after shell.

By the turn of the twentieth century, Broome was a town of enormous wealth derived almost entire...

Catharina’s story gave me the barebones of a book, but I needed more to flesh out my novel.

I decided to look into the administration of the Cape of Good Hope at this time in history.

My research took me to Amsterdam from where the Dutch East India Company – also known as the VOC, the most powerful trading company of the era – administered the Cape in the seventeenth and eighteen centuries, until British forces landed in 1795 and claimed it for King George III.

While researching the Dut...

A few years back, on holiday in South Africa I had dinner in the lovely restaurant Catharina’s which forms part of the Steenberg wine estate in Constantia, Cape Town.   The restaurant was named after Catharina Ras, the first owner of the estate.  In September 2019 the restaurant underwent a major revamp and reopened as Tryn, the contraction of her name by which Catharina was more familiarly known.

Her fascinating story was printed on the back of the menu and as I read it, I saw the earliest o...