Already an acclaimed bestselling author, Rosalie Fox’s A Tale of Wild Geese was a novel born out of powerful obsession and heart-wrenching emotion. Inspired by WWII-era aviation and capturing the heroism of the brave men taking to the skies during times of conflict, What We Reading sat down with Rosalie to talk about everything from the path to getting Wild Geese published, as well as her hopes for the series going forward!
Thanks for speaking with us, Rosalie! First off, tell us a bit about yourself and what led you to the world of writing.
Well, I’ve been trying to tell stories since I can remember. I was about seven years old when I wrote my first story about a princess, a lion and a horse… my mom said it wasn’t that great. I thought the message went over her head. (Spoiler: it sucked)
I made up dramatic stories for my toy horses and it was a tremendous victory if I could make it so sad and riveting that my playmate started crying…
I’ve written throughout my school career and actually started writing Wild Geese just before I turned sixteen, finishing the first draft at nineteen. (Spoiler: it, too, sucked)
I then studied journalism and taught horsemanship and showed western performance horses for the last decade. I wrote two short stories for an Afrikaans collection when I was fresh out of university and the little book actually became a bestseller here in South Africa. It was called Galop (horse stories for children) and was compiled by Fanie Viljoen, if you’re curious enough to check it out. I wrote under my maiden name, Rosa Vermeulen, back then
Talk to us about A Tale of Wild Geese. What is it about, and where did the inspiration for it come from?
I’ve always been obsessed with aviation, the stories of magnificent men and their flying machines… I read everything I could get my hands on that told of those early pilots and their adventures and bravery.
Wild Geese has a longish backstory. It came to fruit when a few of my obsessions crossed paths. Phil Coulter’s beautiful piece of music “Lament for the Wild Geese” made Danny O’Neal walk into my head. Johnny Reilly was Yeats’s beautiful “An Irish Airman Foresees His Death”. The Wild Geese connection is that of the Irish who had to flee their country centuries ago and so often died in foreign wars, away from their own home.
A Tale of Wild Geese tells the story of three young people who all lose their country through some form of war. It’s set in World War Two, starting just before the Battle of Britain and ending in 1944, in a different country…
Both Danny and Johnny volunteer for the RAF, seeking to lose a part of their past and find some form of freedom in flight. Eleanor is Johnny’s cousin and in love with Danny. There’s no love triangle, but the three of them are bound together by love, brotherhood and family ties. All of them are searching for something, for a destiny, a dream and a chance of white roses and skies at peace.
It’s a story of love and loss and hope against all odds, a story of weaving a destiny.
It’s intense and agonizing and yet a thread of hope is woven through it.
A parallel runs through the story of two wild geese living in a pond in England and the story of the Wild Geese who loved each other.
What is the number one goal you want your work to have with readers?
That’s a difficult question… I think first and foremost, it’s to do right by this story that has haunted me for eighteen years.
Then, it’s a tribute to those boys of nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, boys who flew and faced the enemy in the air. Boys who are now only memories, forever smiling from black and white pictures. Boys who flew and laughed and cried and loved. It’s also a tribute to the women, the wives and girlfriends and mothers who waited and hoped and prayed. Lest we forget…
I wanted to capture the feel of how it might have been to walk and live and laugh in those times.
What do you think makes you stand out as an author?
Obsession, probably, and I do think I can tell a good story. I also have my husband who is as obsessed with WWII as a research partner and man, he’s good. I know how hard this book has made a couple of people cry… including myself. No one cried as much as I did while writing it.
What would you say has been your biggest success so far?
In financial terms, the two little short stories, since they were traditionally published, cost me nothing and brought me a very good amount of pocket money. In pride, Wild Geese. I think I finally did Danny’s story justice and I’m so proud of the cover that I designed and illustrated myself. I think I will probably forever love my Wild Geese’s story the most. It brings out strong emotions in people, even in the ones who didn’t like it and didn’t understand why certain characters made certain decisions… There are people who are mad at me out there! That’s a win too, I didn’t leave them without touching some chord.
If you could go back in time to one book you read for the first time, what would it be and why?
I’m going to choose two, because I don’t stick by the rules. Dalene Matthee’s book Circles in the Forest… and my own. You know how people tell you ‘write the book you want to read? I did that with Wild Geese and man, if I destroyed my own heart knowing what was going to happen… I would have liked to read it as a stranger to it. I’m sorry if it’s obnoxious, but I am, after all, obsessed with that story.
What’s one tip you would give your younger self if you had the opportunity?
Don’t sweat feeling unable to write. You didn’t lose it. You’re just trying to write stories not meant for you. Don’t write things that don’t grab hold of your soul and drive you. Some things are meant to be a grand passion. If you don’t feel it, no one else will.
Also, learn how to engage with an audience on social media and then keep up the conversation. That’ll come in very handy one day…
And finally, what do you hope the future holds for you and your writing?
The sequel to Wild Geese is being released in December 2023 and I hope to draw in a couple of new readers. It’s a more manly story, being told through our wild boy Johnny Reilly’s eyes.
I want a bestseller.
I want my crowd, the people who stand in ruins and under old trees and wonder who walked there and how it was, to discover my stories and love these imaginary people of my heart the way I have loved them for years…
And then, since we’re dreaming big, I have always seen these two books as movies. They are vivid, dramatic and visual and they have theme music in my head…
Make sure you check out Rosalie and all of her work over at her website or on Twitter/X
Check out our interview with Clio Gray
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
