A few years after the terrible events of 9/11, I read an article about premonition in the context of tragedies such as the World Trade Center attack. It discussed whether it really was possible for people to predict the future – and whether it could save their lives.
As well as 9/11, the article mentioned a few other cases, including the Titanic. According to reports at the time, a number of passengers on board the ill-fated ship were said to have reported a sense of foreboding before setting off. One passenger, JP Morgan, even cancelled his passage thanks to a last-minute ‘feeling’ that something wasn’t quite right.
It has also been suggested that a number of trains that have crashed or derailed over the years have had fewer passengers on board than they usually do at the same time of day. And on 11th September 2001, the hijacked flights that crashed into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon were reported to have been much less full than usual.
While I have no idea whether it could be true that some sort of premonition is what kept people away on those particular days, or whether something else was at play entirely, it got me thinking.
What if there were alternate universes for every choice we make? From small decisions such as what time to leave the house to bigger, life-changing choices such as whether or not to get on a flight, it would mean the possibilities for the way our lives end up were almost infinite.
And as a writer, that fascinates me.
For years I wanted to write about this. I’ve always loved the film Sliding Doors for this very reason: the different way her life went depending on whether she caught the Tube or missed it.
Last Christmas is the result of my decades-long desire to write a parallel universe story: a story where one split-second decision changes the course of someone’s life. Bea know she needs a change, and she’s planning to go to New York to start all over again. But will she get on that plane and make a fresh start – or will she go home?
I loved exploring the two outcomes, and I really hope you enjoy reading about her two different, but inter-twining lives.