Talking Location with author Gill Thompson – PRAGUE

10th May 2020

#TalkingLocationWith…  Gill Thompson, author of The Child on Platform One

Overcoming Prejudice in Prague.

My husband didn’t want to go to Prague. ‘It will be full of beer-swilling Brits behaving badly,’ he said. I grimaced. The accessibility of the Czech capital, combined with the relatively low cost of travel and accommodation, had made it a favourite holiday destination for hen and stag parties. But we are well into middle age and our idea of a wild night out is a white wine spritzer at our local pub. How were we going to cope with marauding twenty somethings hell-bent on getting us onto those mobile pedal-powdered bar things? What with my husband’s arthritic hips and my occasional dizzy spells, we’d be nothing but a liability! Yet if I was to research my new novel properly, I needed to explore the sights and soak up the atmosphere of this famous city. There was nothing else for it. We threw caution aside and booked our trip.

But we needn’t have worried. Once we’d found our hotel, unpacked and started to explore ‘The City of a Hundred Spires,’ we were soon entranced by its gothic splendour and quaint medieval charm. We wandered over the Charles Bridge, admiring its striking statues presiding imperturbably over a kaleidoscope of tourists. We passed musicians, artists, stall holders and magicians all competing for our attention with varying degrees of vociferousness. The whole effect was dynamic and vibrant, a brilliant collision of past and present.

The Jewish Cemetery

Finally tiring of the hustle and bustle, we climbed down to the river and sat sipping drinks overlooking the Vltava as it sparkled in the spring sunshine, and enjoyed the view of the old town as it rose majestically from the far bank.

But we weren’t here just to admire the scenery, stunning though it was. Although I had researched some of the history of the Czech capital in the middle decades of the last century, there were things I needed to find out for myself. First the conservatoire, a large sand-coloured building situated close to the river between two of its central bridges. My novel starts with a young girl and piano-playing prodigy, Eva, having a lesson at this famous musical venue. But she is late – we don’t initially know why – so has to hurry home to her parents who will be anxiously awaiting her. For this reason she takes a short cut through the old Jewish cemetery, a decision with fateful consequences. Initially I had her running past the river, but when we retraced her steps we realised the Vltava would have been behind her – so I had to ditch a description of the statues that I’d been rather pleased with. Sometimes accuracy is more important than style.

We were shown round the cemetery by a wonderful Czech guide, herself called Eva, who stood amused whilst we checked my Eva’s route through the graveyard. Here we were luckier: she agreed with us that Eva would have been able to enter and exit at different points, essential to my plan.

Our next destination was even more sobering: Terezin, the old eighteenth century fortress 60 km northwest of the capital which was converted to a Jewish ghetto for the duration of the war. When I first read about this ‘holding camp,’ the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Although they were prisoners, fed a meagre diet, and worked til they dropped, the Jewish inmates were allowed to paint, sing, dance and act in their ‘free time,’ most notably performing Verdi’s Requiem to an audience of Germans, who were unaware that the choir were singing of God’s judgement on their captors. As we were shown round the camp with its poignant gallery of portraits, reconstructions of dormitories and the terrifying crematorium, we were moved, appalled and inspired in equal measure. What came across to me most strongly was people’s capacity to use their creative talents to make meaning in the darkest of times. It was a tour I will never forget and I hope I have done it justice in my novel.

Dormitory at Terezin

Statue of Sir Nicholas Winton

Our final destination was the Wilson station. It was here, on platform one, that I discovered the statue of Sir Nicholas Winton the British man who rescued 669 children from Nazi-occupied Prague before the start of World War Two. Later in my novel Eva, terrified for the safety of her child, sees her daughter Miriam safely onto one of Winton’s trains before Eva herself is sent to Terezin. It was this episode that finally provided the title for my novel: The Child on Platform One.

The novel is out in the world now, and I am delighted that it is to be translated into Czech, to be sold in bookshops throughout the republic. Eva’s story will finally be shared with the people who inspired it.

The beautiful city of Prague won my heart. We did see the hen and stag parties, clearly having a wonderful time. But we also saw historical and cultural sights that will stay in our memories forever. This is an inspirational place to visit but its history is sometimes dark and terrible. I hope I have done these events justice in my novel, and that never again will innocent inhabitants endure such suffering as they did in those appalling years of World War Two.

Thank you so much to Gill for such an insightful look at Prague and you can of course buy her book from your favourite bookseller via TripFiction

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