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Holly Webb’s new title for Upper Key Stage 2 or Key Stage 3, A Girl’s Guide to Spying takes readers into war time adventures with under cover Girl Guides.  Set during WW1 it has links to actual events that went on during the war years!

Holly has kindly answered some questions for us about her new novel…

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Your book actually made me aware about the Guide link to MI5 and WWI, how did you discover this and when did you want to create a story from it?

I read a brilliant book called How the Girl Guides Won the War, by Janie Hampton. I was given it by a lovely bookseller team who knew I was a Guide leader! It has just the tiniest mention of Guides working at MI5, and I’ve been thinking about them ever since. All the references to the MI5 Guides say how wonderfully well-behaved they were – but I really wanted to write about them as real girls, with families and worries and arguments…

The period it’s set is well known in theory but perhaps less easy to properly understand in terms of the experiences people had as time passes, how did you research and also how did you decide what to include?

I read a lot of social history, but the fiction from the time too. There are lots of books about early Guides. It’s fascinating to see what authors thought Guides were like, and what they thought girls from the time would like to read! You can also read MI5 documents on the National Archives website, which is amazing.

There’s a bit of peril in Phyl and Annie’s story, what’s it like writing that?

I love it! (And a bit of a spoiler, I would say there’s even more peril in the second book!) I loved writing the dramatic chase scene, and I found it so helpful that it was set in a real place that I could visit and then visualise while I was writing.

Were you a Girl Guide and if so what was your experience like?  Any spying???

Yes, I was a Brownie, a Guide and a Ranger, and now I’m a Brownie and Guide leader. I loved Brownies, I struggled with Guides as I was very shy! Sadly no spying so far, but we do play lots of spy-type wide games (games where you spread out over a wide area) that are like the one in A Girl’s Guide to Spying (my Guides say my games are too complicated!)

This title is better suited to an age range a bit older than lots of your titles, is that tricky?

I love writing for different ages. It’s really interesting moving between different sorts of book – and very helpful when you’re stuck!

Do you think Phyl or Annie would read this book?  Why or why not?

Annie would read it, but she loves magazine stories and comic strips so she’d probably prefer it to be a graphic novel. I really hope Phyl would enjoy it – I do think of her a bit like me, as someone who likes to hide away from the world with a book sometimes!

The idea of espionage, spying and mystery solving is a favourite for readers at the moment, what was it like writing this style of book?

I was obsessed with mystery novels from the age of about ten onwards (starting with Sherlock Holmes, then moving on to Golden Age crime writers like Margery Allingham). I read John Buchan’s books too – Phyl and Annie would definitely have been reading those! I still love reading crime now, so it’s really exciting to be writing my own spy mystery novel. My problem is the codes – I worry endlessly that I’ve got them wrong!

Did the story go where you thought it might when you started?

I had a fairly detailed plan for the book – I usually do plan my books, but it’s especially helpful for a mystery, just to make sure clues happen at the right time and things fit together. I didn’t plan for Hector the bull terrier to have such a starring role, but I’m incredibly glad that he stomped in and took over!

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Many thanks to Holly for answering our questions.  If you would like to read more about A Girl’s Guide to Spying you can use the link below.