A Tapestry of Tangled Lives
Date Published: April 6, 2026
Publisher: Serapis Bey Publishing, Arizona, US www.parulagrawal.com
A story of human connection between twins, between lovers, between comrades in war, set against the shadow of the evangelical religion and its judgments."
Based on a childhood of shadowy secrets surrounding her parents’ marriage and the rigid judgment of the Evangelical religion, the author attempts to find her truth. A work of historical fiction and romance, it spans the era of WWII and beyond, weaving the story of her father, mother and aunt (her mother’s twin sister). The unexpected twists and turns mirror those of our own lives, and readers can empathize and identify with the characters’ humanity as they struggle with their flaws. The power of religious judgement is explored along with the strength and resilience of individuals challenged by the ethics of life. This is also a fascinating study of the complexities of being twins. With the strongest of bonds that overwhelms their very different personalities, their love for the same man creates a gulf between them that threatens their entire adult relationship. It is also a story of a man and how he navigates his own journey after love and loss. When his WWII experience takes him to countries he has never dreamed of seeing, and opens him to the excitement of new cultures, he finds new meaning. At the same time, his bonds to his comrades in arms and their shared experiences of battlefield traumas leaves him with emotional scars. A story of secrets and the power of love, the themes of self-doubt and second chances are embedded in the narrative, along with the acceptance of one’s actions following painful choices.
A story of human connection between twins, lovers, comrades during World War 11, families, and generational trauma, set across the United States and Europe and against the shadow of the Evangelical religion and its judgments. A family saga of secrets, shadows, and unspoken enduring love, and its impact across three generations, based on a true story of lived experience. A work of romantic, historical fiction, The Man in the Middle; A Tale of Tangled Lives is based on the true story of the author’s parents. It follows their youth in the early 1900s in US, through the years of WWII in Europe, and after, and their lives as friends, lovers, parents, and elderly individuals.
This is a story of love and its many forms. There are no heroes or demons, only people dealing with their humanity. Or maybe there are heroes: Luke, as he navigates his life honourably and responsibly, while harbouring feelings for more than one woman; Anna as she comes to terms with her selfish impulses and attempts to overcome them; Pierrette, who recognizes and accepts that she cannot give Luke the life he wants, and that their love is not enough. Karoline is perhaps the true heroine of the book. A victim of the religious beliefs she is trapped by, she finds it impossible to love herself. Instead, she spends her life feeling inferior to her sister and undeserving of Luke’s love. At Luke’s passing, she finally receives the confirmation of her worth and her place as the love of his life.
Interview with Julie Lee Williams
Could you tell us about any research trips you took for this story? Which places did you visit, and what made them essential to your writing?
The book takes place in three main locales, Washington State (Eden Valley, Koonami, Spokane), South Dakota (St. Joseph), and Europe (England, France). I didn’t take special research trips to Washington State as I grew up there and know the area well. As for Europe, my father left notes regarding his time there during the war and I used them to make a special trip to Normandy and on to Cherbourg to replicate part of his own journey. I also made a special trip to Stonehenge which my father had described to me as greatly affecting him.
What's the strangest thing you've ever had to research online for your book?
That would be the place in the book called Lucas, the hamlet near Cherbourg. My husband and I were on a side road travelling from Cherbourg after visiting Normandy when we saw a battered sign indicating a right turn onto an unpaved surface. It said Orval. That was my father’s name (Lucas in the book) and I had never seen it spelled like that in France, although I had sometimes seen it spelled as Orville. The road led to a tiny hamlet with only a cemetery, a hairdresser, a bakery, and at the end of the road a Bed and Breakfast. It was an ancient stone house with an outside terrace and a back area with grass, trees, a hammock and a badminton court. We were welcomed by the owner, Jean, who said we were welcome to stay as he had no guests coming until the weekend (we had arrived midweek) and when I looked at my husband, thinking he would want to move on, he nodded surprisingly! We were given our choice of rooms and spent the next two days getting to know Jean and his wife. We learned that Jean had inherited the home from his aunt who had no children. She had often entertained American GI’s there when they were in the area of Cherbourg and he showed us many photos of them mounted on the walls of his own smaller home behind the large stone house. While there, I felt as if my father were with me and I began thinking about the photos of French women that I had found among his World War II momentos. I wondered about the name of the hamlet and if my father had possibly had a relationship with Jean’s aunt (although there were no photos of my father on the walls nor of Jean’s aunt, so I couldn’t even compare her to the photos I had seen among my father’s things). During the time we spent there, I felt like time had stopped and I was being given an insight into a time in my father’s life that he was sharing with me. After we left there, I sometimes wondered if it had actually happened, if Orval really existed and if it would be there if I went back. Years later, I finally researched it to see if I had imagined it (even though my husband was there to verify that he had experienced it, too!) and found that it does exist. I used that experience as the basis to explore what could have happened given the photos of the women I had discovered and the knowledge that he had spent time in that area.
What research (history, mythology, science) goes into your world-building?
In attempting to create the world that the novel explores, I definitely did a lot of historical research regarding World War II. I am sure, however, that there are people still living who would correct me on some things, especially when it comes to describing the life of the GI’s. I attempted to replicate the experiences I read about as described by veterans of that war, but not having experienced it myself, I am sure I fall short at times. That’s why I call it historical fiction. I also researched places such as Newbury, Salisbury, Southampton, Portsmouth and Stonehenge. I especially enjoyed my trip to Stonehenge, trying to imagine what my father must have felt there. As I searched for information on Stonehenge, it felt as if I were doing research into the spiritual realm as it involves a great deal of speculation and mystery.
Have any of the people you've known, past or present, left a lasting impression on your writing journey? If so, we'd love to hear about a memorable experience that stands out to you.
The person that comes to mind is Wendy Yorke. She is an author, writing coach, and agent. When I attended her writing retreat a few years ago in the south of France, my parents had died and I was trying to reconcile my memories of them with who they really were as people. I wanted to get to know them as individuals and, knowing what I had learned during their final days about their lives as a whole, I wanted to honor them for who they were and what they gave me. I hadn’t entertained the idea of publishing at that point. I simply wanted to write to sort out my feelings about them and understand their personalities and motivations outside of being “Mom” and “Dad”. I thought the retreat could help me with my writing plus give me a week to totally devote to the task in a place that nurtured the soul. The location in the soft hills of southwest France, a region known for its spiritual energy, was perfect for that. Wendy ran the retreat. She understood my motives from the start and encouraged me in my endeavor without pressuring me in any way. She did, however, push me to go beyond what was comfortable and to write when I didn’t feel like it. When she became familiar with what I was writing about, she urged me to think about publication and to take my writing seriously. I realized that this actually appealed to me and I began to enjoy the process and the feedback from everyone else at the retreat. That was the first step in the journey I have taken with Wendy. She became my writing coach, then my agent, and most of all, my friend.
Do you write in the same genre all the time?
No, I have also explored writing articles, short stories and flash fiction. I enjoy writing about shared human experiences and the way they affect us all in different ways but also connect us.
If so, have you ever consider writing in another one?
Yes, mainly short stories and flash fiction, although I am also considering a blog about my life in France (although that’s been almost overdone!).
Which character, supernatural or human, do you enjoy writing the most and why?
I enjoy creating human characters and exploring their different reactions to the experiences we all have. I find people fascinating and love to guess at their responses to things and how they manage consequences.
About the Author
"The author lives half-time in San Diego, CA, and half-time in a small village in Southern France. This is her exploration of the unexplained secrets that shadowed her childhood and the consequences that haunt all our choices."
“I wrote this book to come to terms with my past. I wanted to understand the people who raised me, through the fictional characters of Karoline and Luke, who represent my parents and my mother’s twin sister, Anna, who represents my aunt. My childhood was full of love, but as I watched the individuals around me, I sensed a drama that excluded me. I knew my father had been in WWII and experienced Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge and much more during the four years he spent in Europe. The way he talked about the world he had discovered there intrigued me and I knew there was more to tell, which he never spoke about. My mother adored my father, but there was a tension in the room when my aunt was present. A connection between my father and my aunt was obvious despite their effort to hide it. Through the years, there were inadvertent comments that hinted of a previous relationship between them, but it wasn’t until the end of my father’s life that conversations took place that enlightened me. I didn’t ask, but they each wanted to tell their story, their truth about what happened. This book is my truth, my experience in living with them and loving them. It is my attempt to honor them by exploring their humanness and accepting that we are each a complex entity.”
Contact Links
Instagram: @julie.lee.williams
https://mybook.to/TheManintheMiddle
