Keren asked Jacqueline Winspear:

Hi, I'm fairly new to the Maisie books so I'm looking forward to reading more. I see that you live in the USA now. When you write about Maisie travelling through London or further afield, do you go back there to walk the route, or is it all from your memory? Also, how did you come up with the name 'Maisie Dobbs'? Thanks very much.

Jacqueline Winspear Hi Keren, I was not a child when I left the UK and I am a frequent visitor, so there is no chance of forgetting anything. The challenge is to know how a place looked and felt some 80-100 years ago - and for that I have used both the recollections of the elders in my family along with old maps and photos. So much of London, in particular, changed during WW2 - the blitzes that continued throughout the war took out entire streets, so the city changed dramatically during that time - it's important for me to know how it was before that happened. And the name Maisie Dobbs - it just came to me, along with the story.

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