Wonderful Women Interview with Author Rachel Healey

Wonderful Women Interview with Author Rachel Healey.

Author Rachel Healey lives in historic and beautiful Berkshire with her husband, two teenage boys and a very energetic dog. After a varied career working in historical settings such as Windsor Castle and English Heritage, she set up her own family memoir writing business Pages of My Life. This passion for preserving memories for the personal use of future generations led to the publication of her first novel, Our Silent Footsteps, in February 2024.

Our Silent Footsteps follows the true-life stories of Mary Goued (an Egyptian Copt) and Jozef Beker (a Polish Jew). In 2005, an elderly Mary seeks to find more information on the early life of her late husband and the family he couldn’t bear talk about.

She travels to Poland and, in doing so, finds herself confronting her own difficult past. Memories of her Egyptian childhood dominated by poverty and harsh discipline come back to haunt her. She must reconcile herself with these events and confront the question: can we truly love someone if we know nothing about their past?

Our Silent Footsteps is available via Amazon and other book retailers HERE.

 

Describe a typical day for you?
No day for me is typical but that’s what I love! Usually I’m up early as I’m more of a morning person than a night owl. I’m trying to look after myself more as middle age hits so when I get a chance, I will sneak in a bit of yoga to start my day. Then it’s making sure the kids are up before breakfast and then it’s the dreaded school run.

After the boys are delivered safely to school, my attention then turns to the dog. We have a ball-obsessed cockapoo so it’s a short hike around the meadows nearby, losing the ball in the long grass, finding the ball and then losing the ball all over again before heading home for a cuppa. The ‘me’ time then starts as soon as my laptop comes out when I spend some time catching up on social media and emails.

Then it’s time to settle down to some creative writing accompanied by the sounds of Chopin which helps focus my mind away from the endless mum to-do tasks that pop up into my head every now and then. I’m currently working on ideas for my second novel, but I also like to exercise my skills with short stories that deal with the everyday.

Before I know it, it’s the school run again, lose a few more balls on the dog walk, back and forth taxi service for the boys to their various clubs, perhaps say a brief ‘hello’ to the husband and then collapse into bed…

 

What do you feel are your greatest achievements?
One client’s story (from my family memoir writing business) proved so incredible that I was asked to turn it into a novel: Our Silent Footsteps. It was a few years in the making with some meticulous research thrown in, but I feel so privileged to be able to bring Mary’s amazing story into the world.

What’s in your handbag/ satchel?
My handbag is a mess. Who knows what lurks right at the bottom! But, other than the usual wallet, phone and keys you’ll find a compact first aid manual, past receipts and a small bag of 2ps in case the family’s ever passing an amusement arcade…

What are your ambitions in life?
Creative writing for me has always been my primary ambition in life so I guess I would love to keep following my passion in creating stories.

On a personal level, I also want to see more of the world with my family. I would love to take the husband and our two boys on safari in Africa. Years ago, I had the privilege of camping in a nature reserve in Zambia. I remember waking up to find elephants stepping on the tent and baboons stealing the toilet roll!

 

What do you wish you’d known at the start of your career you now know? Sometimes I wish I’d known how hard it can be to follow your dreams and establish a career in something you love. The years have taught me that perseverance is the key and that you have to take the knockbacks and successes with the same breath.

 

You’ve pivoted into different careers at various points in your life, particularly when you became a mother, can you share those periods, the impact they had and how you started writing? From an early age, I was both fascinated by history and loved writing stories. In my early career, I was lucky enough to work at Windsor Castle where I also volunteered in the Royal Archives. I remember handling Queen Victoria’s diary. A member of the public was searching for information on a visit the Queen paid to his Great Grandfather’s sheep farm. Not only had Queen Victoria recorded the visit in her diary, she’d also mentioned the name of the farm’s sheepdog! It was this story that fuelled my interest in preserving the ordinary family story and, from there, the idea for memoir writing grew.

As any mother knows, having children is the most life-challenging event we can go through. We are lucky to have two boys who are an absolute joy. For a while, I took a pause in my career as the demands of motherhood took hold and I don’t regret any minute of that time in my life. Now they are older, I take great joy in the pride they have in my writing career. They are both my biggest fans and my biggest critics!

 

Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
Happy, healthy and perhaps with another two historical novels published!

What advice would you give a budding author?
I once read a brutal piece of advice that stated: ‘You’re alive, the rest is negotiable.’ Perhaps not advice limited to authors, but it’s always reminded me that whatever your career, you have to keep trying your hardest. We all have the ability to achieve our goals. Keep working at it and keep believing in yourself.

What advice would you give to a new parent?
Don’t be too hard on yourself. As a parent you’re always questioning whether you’re doing the right thing. Before you know it, those little bundles of joy will be all grown up and finding their own way in life. Concentrate on building those happy family memories now and embrace everything!

Finally, happiness is…
Family walks with the dog in the beautiful countryside near our home with a strongly brewed flask of tea in my hand (the stronger the better)… Nature is my happy place!

 

Read more Wonderful Women interviews here.

Photo by Jo Scott Images.