Angela Lawrence

Rumour - Based on a True Story from World War I Angela Lawrence

On June 28 1914, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, is assassinated in Sarajevo. The following day an innocent holiday postcard arrives from Germany at the home of village schoolmaster William Smith. Months later, with the outbreak of the First World War, this postcard is to enmesh William in a web of suspicion and spy-hysteria. Newspapers fuel the paranoia and before long William and his wife Alma find themselves caught up in one of the most shameful scandals of the day. Based on a true story, Rumour reveals a rural society torn apart by the conflict and how an honourable man is betrayed by those he loves, with tragic consequences. In exposing the careless cruelty of a nation obsessed with gossip and rumour, it holds an uncomfortable mirror to today's media-driven society.