Family diaries kept hidden in the loft of a home in a seaside town have provided the inspiration for a new historical adventure book.
After the death of her mother in law, Kath Smith (nee Goldspink) - who lived in Lowestoft her whole life prior to her death in April 2021 - a "fascinating" discovery was found by her family when they cleared her home.
Daughter-in-law Chrissy Smith, from Hertfordshire, said: "When clearing her house in Pakefield, we discovered in her loft an old suitcase full of diaries which she'd obviously kept hidden for many years and which were mostly written by her mother.
"The earliest of these handwritten notebooks was dated 1942.
"I found them fascinating reading and I told the family I would be happy to transcribe them.
"The war years were very interesting to me and I became inspired to write a historical adventure based around wartime life in Lowestoft as portrayed in the earliest of those time capsules."
Now, the new book - The Lavender Diaries, by Chrissy Smith - has been published.
Recounting wartime life in Lowestoft, the synopsis states: "In 1946 everyone thought the war was over but within the sleepy seaside town of Lowestoft - it wasn't!
"When a suitcase full of diaries is discovered in a loft, they bring to light the story of Stefan, an escaped POW, trapped in the coastal town of Lowestoft at the end of World War Two."
Mrs Smith, who has worked as a senior secretary in many different areas, said: "The genre of the book is historical fiction, based on fact."
After transcribing the diaries for the family to read, Mrs Smith said: "They quickly became a window to another time, another world, and they taught me how different life was back then.
"The story is my own interpretation of the daily events portrayed in the earliest of those handwritten time capsules."
The Lavender Diaries is available now on Amazon.
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