If you know me, then you know that I absolutely love biographies and as a founding member of SAWISE, I love reading about Women in Science and Engineering. Earlier this year at a Penguin Random House Book Event I heard about a new book coming out, The Woman at the Wheel, the story of the wife of Carl Benz, I knew it would be a fascinating read. While I was waiting for the book to launch, I discovered that local author, Penny Haw had written a previous book called the Invincible Miss Cust. I was thrilled when Penny Haw agreed to an interview… scroll down for all the details.
I read both of those books AND enjoyed the audible versions, as well. The narrators have a culturally authentic accent, aligning with the main character… I felt that added to the story. If you are an audible reader, then you will love these.
The Invincible Miss Cust
The Invincible Miss Cust, oh my goodness, my absolute favourite kind of book where a down trodden but feisty gal, rises against all odds to outwit, outshine and just generally excel. Aleen Cust comes from an aristocratic English family, in an era when girls were barely educated and it was the norm for wealthy families, like hers, to send their daughters to work as servant girls for the royal family, and for sons to not necessarily work at all. Aleen is a natural when it comes to animals and while she was encouraged to ride out and care for family pets as a child it was more than frowned upon that she should become a veterinary surgeon when she reached adulthood. This is the true story of Miss Cust, who gave up everything, including her name, to go and get her degree at Edinburgh University (an English University would not have her). She was top of her class through out, though never acknowledged as that, she did become the first female vet in the United Kingdom… she worked her way through “road block after road block” to follow her calling and lead the way for girls in science forever after. I loved Aleen, she really was a never-give-up kind of gal. And what a delightful read.
The Woman at the Wheel
The Woman at the Wheel, is the story of Bertha Benz. Bertha grew up in her father’s workshop intrigued by all of his engineering projects and she played a big part in all his experiments. There was one cloud that hung over her glorious childhood, the fact that her father had written “…unfortunately, only a girl again…” in the family bible, next to her name. She realises despite her intelligence and quick grasp of her father’s inventions, she would only ever be a bitter disappointment to him. Bertha marries a quiet and inventive engineer, and while business was definitely not his strength, his personal passion was inventing “the horseless carriage.” Through many trials and endless challenges, Bertha stands by him, working on their invention together, and as their children grow up and come of age, so they join the family project. Carl Benz, is not one for announcing his inventions and Bertha decides to take things into her own hands, by taking a trip across the countryside in their prototype… They encountered so many difficulties on their journey, but the biggest surprise was the folks around them attitude to the invention… some where afraid, several looked for the hidden horses and everyone was intrigued. One can only imagine what it must have been like to see the very first car driving through the countryside. Yet another gritty and determined gal, determined to promote the invention and at the same me tisupport her husband and inventive sons. This is a triumphant story and a great read.
Author Interview with Penny Haw
- Tell us a little bit about your writing journey. How did you become a writer? Did you always want to become a writer?
- Who or what do you think had the biggest impact on you becoming a writer?
- Tell us about your work style:
- Where do you work best? On the couch at a desk?
- Your characters are so real, so full of life, where did you find them? Where do you get your inspiration to create them?
- What made researching for this book great, did you get to do any interesting interviews or visit any unusual places?
- Do you have something to tell our followers who think that they might have a book inside of them, a word of encouragement or some advice?
My enjoyment of storytelling began before I could write. I grew up on a farm and spent hours roaming the hills with my dogs, telling them long, complicated stories, radio-play style. Later, at boarding school, I wrote episodes about the fictitious Ant Family. These were eagerly circulated around the room while we purportedly did our homework every evening. However, the creation of fiction was placed on the backburner for about three decades while I worked as a journalist and columnist. It was only in 2017, when I wrote my first book—a children’s story called Nicko, The Tale of a Vervet Monkey on an African Farm—that I returned to fiction. Nowadays, I’m lucky enough to write fiction full-time. I love the playfulness of it. It’s as if I’ve come full circle; I could almost be wandering over the hills of the farm, reciting my tales to my dogs once again. What joy!
My maternal grandmother, Alice Kirk taught me to love stories, books, reading and writing. She was a sharp, independent woman who appeared formidable to some; I idolised her. It was at her side that I discovered how infinite the world is when you’re a reader and how magical it is to imagine and create your own stories. She and I also shared a great love for animals, which, in many ways, shapes my life and writing. It’s no co-incidence that my first book (Nicko) is based on Alice’s experience of living with a vervet monkey and that my first work of historical fiction, The Invincible Miss Cust, is inspired by the life of Britain and Ireland’s first female veterinary surgeon, Aleen Cust. There are animal characters in all my books.
Are you compelled to write when inspiration strikes or disciplined, or do you just squeeze it in whenever you can? I have a business approach to writing. Having worked as a journalist for so long, I’m motivated by deadlines and, where they’re not imposed by others, I set them for myself. I don’t wait for motivation; I go to my computer and get to work. It helps that writing is a pleasure for me. I get such enjoyment from it that I’m happy to be at my desk all day. There’s nothing else I’d rather do.
Tell us about your dream workday. I almost always work at my desk in my office in Hout Bay. It’s my favourite room in the house with a tiny view of the waves crashing against Chapman’s Peak. A dream workday follows a long, cool walk on the mountain with my three dogs and comprises an uninterrupted day at my computer. When he’s around, my husband supplies refreshments and I don’t leave the room for hours. However, at 5 pm, I hear the clatter of paws and claws as the dogs skitter upstairs to remind me it’s their suppertime. After that, I settle down to write for another hour or two.
My works of historical fiction, The Invincible Miss Cust and The Woman at the Wheel, are based on the lives of two real women, Aleen Cust and Bertha Benz respectively. Aleen was Britain and Ireland’s first female veterinary surgeon while Bertha was the wife of “Father of the Automobile”, Carl Benz. As such, I didn’t invent them or other characters in the books who are all on public record for having been involved in their lives. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t have to work to breathe life into all the characters. Although historical records give one an indication of what people might’ve been like, unless the material is autobiographical, writing their stories still requires an author to imagine and speculate about characters’ thoughts, emotions, relationships, and motivations. I loved researching Aleen and Bertha and finding out as much as possible about them and their lives. However, the great joy in writing about them came from trying to understand them and what drove them. I was inspired to write about Aleen and Bertha because they were extraordinary women. I wanted to share their lives with readers and celebrate them and their remarkable achievements.
Researching Aleen Cust and Bertha Benz was fascinating. As one does, I went down some deeply intriguing rabbit holes. As well as being a vet, Aleen bred dogs, which competed in shows. I included a scene at one such show and spent a glorious day or two reading about Victorian dog shows and looking at incredible photographs and illustrations of the events. While researching Bertha Benz, I was amazed by how terrified and mistrustful people were of machinery. I read that in some places people dug up railway lines to try and find out where the horses were hidden, which they believed must be the reason the trains moved. The stories were amazing. Those are just two examples of the absorbing things I discovered while researching the books. As is the case with all research, the temptation is to continue researching endlessly. There comes a time though that one must shift focus and concentrate on the writing.
If you want to write a book, do it! I get so much joy from writing that I love the idea of others experiencing it. The thing is to sit down and “tell” yourself the story you want to tell by typing or writing the words out. Don’t expect them to be the perfect, final words or even the final story. Write them as you would if you were describing the story to your best friend in the comfort of your own home. No judgement involved. Once you’ve done that, you can begin sprinkling the magic. Writing is as much self-editing as it is imagining and creating the story. If writing gives you joy, it’ll show in your words. Find the subject that moves and excites you and enjoy the process. However, don’t be fooled by how much work it might mean to shape your words and story into something that others might enjoy. Writing can be hard work, but if it brings you pleasure, it’s the best kind of work Go for it!
You can find Penny on her website: PennyHaw
And on Instagram at: PennyHaw
Amazon Affiliate Links for Books Mentioned in This Post.
These books were all given to us for review purposes by Penguin Random House South Africa. This is not a sponsored post and opinions expressed are entirely my own.