India, Oct. 4 -- Dear Reader,

I am at a writing retreat in Spain, in Romanya de la Selva, a small village on the Costa Brava near Barcelona. It is run by the writers Priscilla Morris and Melissa Fu.

Priscilla and Melissa met when they were on a panel at a literary festival on the island of Alderney in 2024. Both have written historical novels rooted in their family histories and set against war. Priscilla's Black Butterflies is set during the Siege of Sarajevo and inspired by her great-uncle, while Melissa's Peach Blossom Spring begins with the Japanese occupation of China in 1938.

Spending a week with such accomplished writers in an old Spanish country house with a swimming pool, writing and reading all day with fellow writers -surely...