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The Inspiration For The House Of Lost Whispers

April 27, 2025 | By Women Writers Women Books | Reply More

By Jenni Keer

Thank you so much for having me on your wonderful blog again and for inviting me to talk about my quirky historical romances. My visit here coincides with the release of my latest novel, The House of Lost Whispers, which came out on April 27th, and I’m here to tell you a bit more about this alternative reality love story and what inspired it.

I’ve long been aware that my stories don’t fit neatly into genre boxes but the heart wants what the heart wants, and I find myself telling stories that demand to be told, without worrying too much about the genre crossovers. There is romance, history, often a murder or two for good measure… and all served with a side order of speculative fiction – which makes, I hope, for an engaging read. So, the starting point for me, is often taking an idea and twisting it.

My mind, like that of most authors, is constantly asking “what if?” and I love subverting established tropes and character archetypes. Two of my biggest selling books to date do exactly this. No. 23 Burlington Square, which has sold over 100,000 copies, is a 1920s twist on a sliding doors story, and At The Stroke of Midnight, was summed up beautifully by my publisher as Rebecca meets Agatha Christie meets Groundhog Day. You get the idea…

My favourite time period to write about is the end of the Victorian era up to the 1920s, which means I now have a good grounding of the key events, fashions and lifestyles during those fifty years. When I was thinking about possible plot lines for this latest book, my “what if?” brain went into overdrive and one of the ideas that whizzed around in my busy mind was writing an alternate reality story but setting it in the past. Which historical events, I asked myself, would have the most dramatic implications if an alternate universe existed? The sinking of the Titanic and the lives of those people living through The Great War leapt out at me and the germ of an idea began to grow…

In The House of Lost Whispers, young Olivia Davenport is orphaned when the RMS Titanic sinks and she is sent to live with her guardians, the Fairchilds, in their huge Norfolk manor house. Alone and grieving, she connects with a man’s voice she hears through the wall in her tower bedroom. At first, she thinks he’s a ghost, but as the years pass, she will discover that he is from an alternate reality – one where the ship never sunk…

I went overboard (pardon the pun) in my research around the RMS Titanic, streaming hours of documentaries and rewatching the Oscar-winning James Cameron Titanic film. I read several books on the subject and visited the Titanic Museum in Belfast, as I have family out there. The latter was a particularly emotional experience for me and I thoroughly recommend it, if you haven’t been.

It’s incredible, really, that over a century later this utterly avoidable tragedy still captures our imagination, and I knew it would make an excellent hook for my story. However, my novel was never intended to be about the ill-fated ship itself, but rather the consequences of it sinking… or not. What I was most interested in was how it could have collided with the iceberg and remained afloat – giving me a believable alternative scenario. And then I needed to examine what would have happened if the ship hadn’t gone down? For Olivia Davenport it would mean her parents would still be alive and she would never have moved to Merriford Manor or met Seth – who turns out to be the love of her life…

Her story spans nearly a decade so my other big area of research, which was even more poignant, was the Great War, 1914-18. Sir Hugo Fairchild has four sons and three of them will find themselves caught up in this conflict. As a mum to four lads who are currently between twenty and twenty-three years old (yes, I have a set of twins in there!), reading about the horrors that young men of this age went through was heartbreaking. If our family had existed back then, all my boys would have been called up. It simply doesn’t bear thinking about, and I shed a few tears when I wrote this section of the book, especially when I learned that the average life expectancy of junior officers in this conflict was a mere six weeks…

But it is after the war, when Olivia finally accepts that there is a whole other world beyond the walls, and one where her parents are still alive. I don’t want to give spoilers but if you love a quirky book full of twists, then this might just be up your alley, as I focus on the ripples of one small change in two almost identical worlds. And that’s where the fun really begins…

I cannot deny that this was a complicated, and often frustrating, write (most of my books are) but I am immensely proud of the result. It’s a story that will make you laugh, make you cry, but hopefully believe in the power of love.

The House of Lost Whispers is out now in all formats (eBook, audio, paperback and hardback) and I’d be absolutely thrilled if you decided to give it a whirl.

Jenni x

THE HOUSE OF LOST WHISPERS

A spellbinding historical page-turner from bestselling author Jenni Keer! Perfect for fans of Frances Quinn, Eve Chase and Lucinda Riley 💫
What if another world existed… where the Titanic had never sunk?
When the ill-fated maiden voyage of the Titanic leaves Olivia Davenport orphaned, she’s sent to live with her guardians, the Fairchilds, in their huge Jacobean mansion. But the Fairchilds have more to worry about than a grieving young girl – with war in Europe imminent and four sons to protect.

Olivia feels alone and friendless. Until she hears a voice from behind the wall in her tower bedroom. A voice from a man called Seth. Convinced he’s merely a product of her grieving imagination, it’s not until after the heartbreak of war that Olivia discovers that he exists in an overlapping world, just a shudder in time away from her own. A world where the Titanic never sank… Where everything since has been just slightly… different.

All Olivia wants is to find a way into his reality. And not just to see the faces of her beloved parents once again. But also to meet Seth. Who might just be the love of her life…

A totally unforgettable romantic historical novel, perfect for reading groups and fans of Titanic and Outlander, from the bestselling author of No. 23, Burlington Square.

BUY HERE

Jenni Keer lives in the glorious Suffolk countryside with her four sons, three cats but just the one husband. She is often frustrated by their inability to appreciate that when she’s staring into space, she’s actually working, and that watching television counts as research. Keer’s quirky cocktail of romance and history is often mixed with a dash of magical realism and sprinkled with the odd murder or two. Her 1920s sliding doors mystery, No. 23 Burlington Square, was an international bestseller and has sold over 100,000 copies.