Award-winning Whangarei author J L Williams has released her third book in three years with The Secret Staircase taking readers aged 8 to 12 on an exciting time travel adventure set in Russell, Northland.
What inspired you to set The Secret Staircase in Russell, New Zealand, and the historical period of 1845?
I wanted to write a book reminiscent of the ones I loved as a child—stories like L M Boston’s Green Knowe books and C S Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia. These books sparked my imagination with their magical portals and old houses filled with secrets.
Russell is a charming historic town, and the sacking of Kororāreka in 1845 felt like a natural choice for the time-travel destination. It’s a pivotal event in Northland’s history, and I wanted to bring it to life through the eyes of modern children.
How did your favourite childhood books, like Green Knowe and The Chronicles of Narnia, influence the writing of this story?
Those books, along with the more recent The Secret Lake by Karen Inglis, delighted me with their modern-day children encountering extraordinary events. These stories often featured mysterious old houses and wise adults who seemed to hold some key to the magic at play.
In The Secret Staircase, I wanted to capture that same sense of wonder and discovery — where children stumble upon a portal to another time and uncover layers of history and adventure.
Why did you choose time travel as the central element of The Secret Staircase, and what does it add to the story?
Time travel is magical and exhilarating — it lets children imagine stepping into a completely different world. It allows Jay and Poppy, and readers along with them, to witness history as it unfolds, experiencing both the excitement and the dangers firsthand.
Whether it’s searching for hidden treasure or navigating the tensions of the past, time travel brings history to life in a way that feels vivid and immediate. It’s a way to make history feel personal.
What challenges did you face when blending real historical events, like the sacking of Kororāreka, with fictional elements in the book?
Writing historical fiction means balancing a mountain of research with the need to tell a compelling story. It’s easy to get bogged down in details, so I focused on weaving historical accuracy into the story naturally, researching specifics as I needed them.
The world of 1845 is brought to life with touches like Te Reo Māori, which was essential for communication between European settlers and Māori at the time. I aimed to use Māori words in a way that feels authentic while ensuring their meanings are clear to readers who might be new to the language.
What do you hope young readers will take away from experiencing history through the eyes of Jay and Poppy?
I hope readers feel immersed in the sights, sounds, and challenges of 1845 Kororāreka. I want them to love Jay and Poppy, and to see all the characters — whether historical or fictional — as real people with motivations and struggles that are relatable, even today.
Above all, I hope readers gain a deeper understanding of the complexities of history and feel empathy for those who lived through it. Whether it’s the excitement of uncovering treasure or the gravity of being caught up in conflict, I want readers to walk away feeling both entertained and enriched.
About J L Williams’ books
In 2024, Janine was announced as the inaugural winner of the Lynley Dodd Children’s Writers award.
In 2023, Holding the Horse was a finalist in the NZCYA Book Awards in the Best First Book category. Like the Wind was selected as a Storylines Notable Book.
In 2022, Holding the Horse was selected as a Storylines Notable Book.
