Widow has become the world's oldest debut novelist after she penned her first book - at the grand age of 93
A widow has become the world's oldest debut novelist after she penned her first book - at the grand age of 93.Margaret Ford has based her book, A Daughter's Choice, on more than 600 love-letters between her and her late husband, Jim.The poignant but heart-warming book follows her life growing up in Lancashire between both world wars and finishes when she marries Jim in 1946.Jim, who served in the Border Regiment during the second world war, would write daily letters to his sweetheart.Those letters proved the inspiration for the novel, which took three years to write, with the help of a ghost writer, and Margaret is delighted with the finished product.She said: "It's amazing to have my story out there and for people to read it."The book is all about things that happened in my life."I have 633 letters from my husband which formed the basis of the story."People like it, the reaction has been really brilliant."I know men who have read the book and someone phoned me to tell me it made him realise how good his childhood was."It was never meant to be about me, but it starts when I was born and finishes when I married Jim."It became about my life. It builds up the point where a boy falls in love and stays in love."I wanted to show the difference between people back then and how people are today. "People cared for everyone, not just their immediate family. "You wanted to help each other back then. It feels as if everyone is in competition with each other now." Margaret opened military bookshops in Egypt and Singapore in her younger days, but never thought about writing one.That changed when she heard an interview on television about the use of a ghost writer.She added: "I've sold books, I was asked to proof read, but I'd never really thought about writing one. "So I searched online for ghost writers and eventually found a local number. I read the lady a letter from my husband, and she was immediately interested in it and asked for more details."Margaret, who was born during the general strike of 1926, recounts tales of working-class life and how she met her future husband while he was on leave in advance of patriation from Burma during the second world war.Her novel, based on incidents in her early life, tells how her father deserted the family and touches on work, family and relationships.It tells how she grew up at her grandparents' rural pub and her parents' small terraced house, the break out of World War Two when she was 13, and the period leading up to her wedding day.She added: "I wished my father dead at the time. At school, if your father has died you get sympathy."You can't say to people he's ran off with a blonde."But what I didn't know at the time was that he was in the Sherwood Foresters when he was 16 and was wounded at 17."He was taken prisoner during the first world war and that obviously affected him."Margaret is already eyeing up a second book based on further letters from Jim while he served in India and what happened after they got married.Jim sadly died in 2013, but Margaret has fond memories that she holds dear and will form the basis of the follow up novel.She added: "For me, my life began when I got married."It's amazing how many stories you have and how much you remember when you start thinking of them."The letters are there and the story is there. I just need to write it."A Daughter's Choice is available in paperback online and in book stores from Pan MacMillan.Proceeds from the book will go to Cancer Research UK.
