One of the most rewarding moments in my work as a ghostwriter and author came today when Rolf Hess presented me with my copy of From Wald: The Story of the Hess Family.
The brief was both simple and ambitious: to take centuries of genealogical research, historical documents, personal recollections and family anecdotes, and transform them into something far more engaging than a collection of names and dates.
The challenge was to turn genealogy into narrative. To put people back into their own history.
The result is a book of some 85,000 words, tracing generations of the Hess family from their roots in Switzerland through centuries of social, economic and personal change, right up to the present day.
It has involved extensive research, careful historical interpretation, countless conversations and, above all, a determination to make the lives of ordinary people every bit as compelling as those of the famous.
Today, seeing the beautifully produced finished book, and hearing how delighted Rolf, his family and friends are with it, was enormously satisfying.
For me, this is what ghostwriting is really about. Listening, researching, understanding and finding the narrative that allows somebody else's story to be told with authenticity, humanity and respect.
A completed project. A delighted client. A family legacy preserved.
And, personally, an absolute joy from beginning to end.
This is just one of the reasons why I love being a writer.
