The Silence Between Breaths is a short story set in Italy in September 1943, several weeks after the prisoner-of-war camps were opened following the Armistice and prisoners were given the choice – stay or flee. The story follows James, a young Brit who takes off into the mountains alongside Noel, chasing the rumour of a nearby village, but as the days turn into weeks and no village appears, they realise they are lost. The terrain is tough and the weather is worsening too, with the first flakes of snow spiralling on the wind. Growing uneasy, James will do whatever it takes to survive, but he quickly comes to realise that some choices you make change you forever.
In the essay ‘The Arc of Change: Revelation of True Character in Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale’, I explore how throughout the course of the novel the protagonist Isabelle changes completely, maturing from a reckless, naïve teenage girl into a woman who learns the price of war, and who in a single moment comes to realise what it is that truly matters above all. In the conclusion, I illustrate how Hannah’s portrayal of Isabelle influenced my writing of James and reveal what she and others have taught me about writing change effectively.