A recent review of Daffodils thought its title weak:
“5.0 out of 5 stars. Martin Delivers
Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2022
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Despite what I consider a poor title, this is an historical fiction story that I had trouble putting down. The characters are realistic. The depictions of war , death and the social system In England at the start of the war make for a great story.”
No-one has remarked on this in a negative way before so I, perhaps complacently, thought readers understood it was a play on the theme of the red poppies usually associated with the slaughter of young men in WW1. Daffodils shows the valiant role that women played during that awful time and how their emancipation shaped the way women live today. I admired them all.
But there is a deeper, more personal reason for my choice of title. Whilst writing Daffodils, which took me years, my mother died. I nursed her through her illness, complicated by dementia, and it wasn’t without serious challenges. My Mum was a complicated woman but I loved her dearly and miss her much more than I expected. I chose the title of Daffodils because we laid fresh ones on her chest after she passed on. Mum was born on the first day of spring and died within a week of her birthday. She loved flowers, as do I, and choosing one our favourite ones, the symbol of spring and the emblem of Wales where she was born and I now live, seemed a fitting testament to her vivid, courageous life.
So now you know!
www.intheplottingshed.com 