10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Meath author shines light on reality for women during wartime in newly launched book
The book blends historical and anecdotal research with fiction voices to tell the stories of women whose lives were utterly changed by war.
'When an army invades a country, the men in that country have a certain perspective on what will happen to them. Women will have a totally different and frightening perspective on what may happen to them and their young daughters,' Sean said.
He tells the story based on inspiring women that he met during his time in India post war, whilst volunteering as an engineer development worker.
Sean had left his home in Laytown, Co, Meath in 1980 to spend what he thought would be six months volunteering in India.
However, he instinctively felt at home there and made long-term connections, which resulted in a six year visiting stint.
Sean still keeps in touch with many friends living in India and continued to visit during his time in Ireland working as an aircraft engineer for Aer Lingus. He has since retired and focuses on writing.
'Irish people are a bit peculiar, I took to India at the time I visited as if I had been there before. There was no culture shock and I feel Irish people integrate very well when they go places.
'I still have a strong bond for India and I try to visit as much as I can. It's amazing how it gets into your system. For other people, it might be Spain or France but for me it's India,' Sean said.
The main fictional protagonist in the newly launched book is a young female doctor, Doctor Meena, and is based on two real-life doctor acquaintances.
One is a female doctor captain in the Pakistan Army, based in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), during the 1971 War of Liberation. The other woman was involved in the treatment and counselling of women who had been subjected to the whole spectrum of assaults on women.
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The third medic in the story is a German nun based on a woman who was a hospital sister in Germany during World War II. People in her town were fearful of being overrun by the American or Russian armies at the time.
'It seems that nothing has changed in today's wars, as we view assaults on medics and innocent civilians in daily news reports. Niramaya is inspired by the experiences of these people.
'Any villages I visited, it always seemed to be the women who were at the forefront of building health centres or schools so the book is a composite of those really strong women I have met and have been really impressed by,' Sean said.
While the book tells the stories of women living through war, the plot is anecdotal and inspiring, with Sean's intention for it to be picked up by as many women as possible.
