Review: Robert the Bruce: The Champion of a Nation by Stephen Spinks

I suppose like many I thought I knew about Robert Bruce. Leaving aside the inaccuracies in films, it's safe to say that Bannockburn was his triumph, that he probably didn't strike up a meaningful relationship with a spider and that it was he, not William Wallace or Andrew Murray, who won Scotland her freedom.

Well, yes and no.

In this comprehensive yet very readable new biography, Spinks explains the background to the complicated situation in the years before Robert emerged as leader. He begins with a concise but thorough recap of Scottish history up to the entrance of the Bruce family as players on the political stage. He then sets out the family tree, giving brief details of Bruce's forebears  and the family's rise, offering some necessarily speculative information on what Robert's childhood would have been like, based on what little primary evidence is available.

We then read about the rise and fall of King John Balliol, with an excellent summing up of the complex politics (all is very clear, with minimal introduction of characters). Next we learn the details of the rebellion of Wallace and Murray, before the author deals with the knotty problem of Robert's murder of his rival John Comyn. While Spinks feels that he was probably expecting to have to kill Comyn, he also points out how badly that would potentially have affected his chances of winning the hearts and minds of the people he hoped to rule, and how he knew his mortal soul was thenceforth damned. So there is a contradiction here, but one suspects that any researcher of 'The Bruce' would struggle to establish motive/intent. It is a puzzling episode. Notwithstanding this problem, we have a clear explanation of his rise, with the dispelling of myths regarding the legendary cages into which members of Robert's family were placed when taken as hostages by the English. 

As Robert comes into his own, we see him as a canny strategist and wondering in dark times about being punished for murdering Comyn, which maybe suggests that it hadn't, in fact, been planned.

The depiction of the hit and run tactics which won Robert back his kingdom - especially of James Douglas scaling walls, is 'Boys' Own' stuff and marvellously described. We are then treated to a clear retelling of Bannockburn, showing Bruce to be a supreme tactician able to capitalise on every opportunity. It was a revelation to find that the victory almost happened by accident.

And it was a stark reminder that, contrary to Hollywood's enduring belief, Bannockburn was far from the end of it. Robert suffered much personal loss in the following years, endured the continuing worry that he had no adult male heirs, and struggled still to persuade England, and the pope, to accept him as king of the Scots. 

Yet once again we see the clever commander capitalising on the rebellion of Queen Isabella and Roger Mortimer against Edward II, although more personal heartache was to follow for Robert.

I was particularly appreciative of the last chapter, 'Aftermath', where the author discusses in detail the possible causes of Robert's ill-health. The fact that he was often left completely debilitated by the bouts of whatever ailment it was, yet never gave up his fight, demonstrates his tenacity. It may perhaps be a spoiler, but ultimately Robert was not able to establish the dynasty he had hoped for, and there is some discussion here about the horrors of the battle of Halidon Hill, where Scottish forces fell victim to the superior army of Edward III. Nevertheless, his legacy was to put in motion the eventual independence of Scotland. What is also clear is that Robert was a man able to command absolute loyalty from those around him.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The very fact that I can remember so much of the detail contained within, enough to tell people, 'did you know that...' is testament to the author's style. This book is informative, yet accessible. Never once did I have to re-read a passage - the whole book flows beautifully.

I had one tiny niggle, which is that I would have preferred a little more elucidation in the endnotes; there are no comments there, simply text reference page numbers.

However, that aside, this is an excellent biography of a man whom I realise now I knew little about and now feel much better informed about. Highly recommended.

Stephen Spinks wrote his dissertation on Edward II while studying at King's College, London. He works for the National Trust and manages three Medieval heritage sites with 900 volunteers and 150 staff. He is a columnist for 'Midlands Zone' magazine, in which he writes a very well received exploration of life as a gay man today, partly political, partly personal. He has given many interviews on radio and in his capacity at the National Trust, to 'BBC's Escape to the Country' and the 'Antiques Road Show'. He has been studying the primary sources (and locations) for this book over the past 15 years.

Buy Robert the Bruce: Champion of a Nation
Amazon
Amberley Books

Review: Written in their Stars by Elizabeth St. John

I was privileged and delighted to receive an advance review copy of the latest book by Elizabeth St. John

London, 1649. Horrified eyewitnesses to King Charles’s bloody execution, Royalists Nan Wilmot and Frances Apsley plot to return the king’s exiled son to England’s throne, while their radical cousin Luce, the wife of king-killer John Hutchinson, rejoices in the new republic’s triumph. Nan exploits her high-ranking position as Countess of Rochester to manipulate England’s great divide, flouting Cromwell and establishing a Royalist spy network; while Frances and her husband Allen join the destitute prince in Paris’s Louvre Palace to support his restoration. As the women work from the shadows to topple Cromwell’s regime, their husbands fight openly for the throne on England’s bloody battlefields.
But will the return of the king be a victory, or destroy them all? Separated by loyalty and bound by love, Luce, Nan and Frances hold the fate of England—and their family—in their hands.
A true story based on surviving memoirs of Elizabeth St.John's family, Written in their Stars is the third novel in the Lydiard Chronicles series.

This is, as the blurb says, the third in the Lydiard Chronicles and one thing I would say at the outset is that ideally readers should acquaint themselves with this family by reading the first two in the series. Reading this book as a standalone is perfectly possible, as Ms St. John makes it clear who everyone is, and offers appropriate backstory where necessary. But to skip the first two books is to miss the nuance, and the development of the characters who now play out the final part of this rich and detailed story.

At the centre of this story is the divided loyalties of a family torn apart by civil war, the continuing struggle for peace and resolution of all conflict, political and personal. This is not so easy for, as one character says, "The war has not ended, not while the king breathes and hope beats in men’s hearts.”

Luce, Nan and Frances have different experiences of life, love, and war, yet they are bound together, and not just by their family connections. They are women who find a way to live through such historic times, and to protect what is dear to them. Sometimes this sees them working together, and sometimes it throws them into conflict. And this is a perfect time for me now to talk about the author's skills.

There is a section of the book where Frances has reason to turn against Nan and the drama works brilliantly because Ms St. John allows only us, the reader, to know the truth.

She is also a master of scene-setting, so that we can see the characters in action and in context. She never forgets who else is in the room and allows for interaction. I particularly liked the distracting chatter at the moment Frances is put at odds with Nan, and when Barbary Villiers is being spoken to by Nan but is constantly trying to look over Nan's shoulder to try to attract the attention of the king. Such little touches bring the tableaux to life.

We aren't just reading about these people, we can see them. We watch the scenes unfolding. The characters so inhabit their world that it's exactly as we assume it was. Yes, this is how 17th-century people moved, spoke, felt. Nothing is anachronistic, nothing jars or jolts us back to the present.

And the author achieves this in a way that makes it look effortless. She has an economy of phrase and yet manages to drop the reader right into the 17th-century world. The dialogue is realistic and appropriate. While the politics direct the wider stage, the story remains personal. We really feel for this family riven by war and divided loyalties.

The book is evidently well-researched. The author knows her history but her characters know it too and there is no clumsy exposition. Everything just flows. It would have been easy for Ms St. John to dump a lot of information (she is a direct descendant of the family) and to let the documented history speak for itself, yet whilst we are reading about people who actually lived, we are also reading about characters who have been brought to life by the authors's research, imagination, and creative pen. Had these all been purely fictional characters, they would still have felt real.

On a side note, since I'm talking about real history, there was a moment in the book where I thought, 'Did that really happen? If it's true, it is shocking and appalling.' And yes, sadly, it is; a terrible and stark reminder of the dangers these people faced. When it is pointed out that two characters speak of “Old history in these times, sir,” the reply comes, “And yet memories are long.”

And just when we think all will be well come the restoration, the reality hits. Not everyone will be forgiven (particularly the king-killers). Perhaps it is naive to hope for a happy ending? The outcome, though, is not a foregone conclusion and the drama and tension continue to the very end. In some ways, hidebound by the historical fact, the author cannot offer a happy-ever-after resolution and yet, here at the end of this remarkable trilogy, the ends of the threads are tied up beautifully. 

Of course, along the way, and again sticking to the known facts, Ms St. John must deliver some bad news from time to time. No spoilers, but again, with a breath-taking economy of words, she made me cry.

You can find the book:
Kobo, Apple, Nook:   https://books2read.com/u/mZBDw5  
Amazon:  https://geni.us/MyBookWITS

Author Interview: John Anthony Miller

I'm delighted to welcome to the blog author John Anthony Miller to talk about his historical fiction books.

AW: Welcome John and thanks for agreeing to talk on the blog today. Your first four novels are all set during the years of WWII. What particularly attracted you to this period?

JAM: I’ve been fascinated by the history of WWII throughout my life, and it seemed natural to choose that time period when I began writing. I think the global conflict was a classic struggle of good versus evil, and using it as a backdrop offers unlimited opportunities for plots, personal stories and locations. I like to write about ordinary people who become heroes – not admirals or generals or famous politicians – and WWII provides the perfect setting to accomplish that.

 AW: Your latest novel, Honour the Dead, seems like a slight departure in that it's set in the years following WWI. Was this a new area of research for you, and why did you choose to go back and look at an earlier period?

JAM: My last WWII involved the murder of a British spy, and it prompted me to stray from the thriller genre and write a mystery. The 1920’s are another of my favorite time periods, so I set the novel in 1921 Italy. I was intrigued by the utter devastation wrought by WWI, so often overshadowed by WWII, and I tried to show how survivors were impacted, their lives forever scarred, through the characters in my book.

AW: What are you currently working on?

JAM: I have two books in the publishing queue – another 1920’s murder mystery set in New Orleans that will be issued in March of 2020, and a thriller about an escape from East Berlin, set in 1961 just as the Wall was being built, set for release sometime later next year. And I recently finished another novel – a kidnapping during the Cuban Revolution in 1958 – which I just sent to my agent.

Since I’m far ahead in my deliverables, and have more time than I would normally allow to write my next manuscript, I decided to step completely out of my comfort zone and create a Medieval epic. I chose the year 1215, when some of the barons, aided by the French, revolted against King John.  I’m close to completing a rough draft – I’m a sloppy writer who goes through many, many drafts from concept to completion – and I expect to be finished in nine or ten months.

AW: That certainly is a departure! But I'm sure that you'll find some similar themes, even in an earlier period. How important do you consider accuracy to be in historical fiction?

JAM: I think accuracy is important in regard to details when writing historical fiction. I think many writers start with a historical event or location and modify the high-level events to fit their plot and timeline. But I find readers expect accuracy in details – street names, clothing, food, music, etc.  For example, in one of my WWII books, an advanced reader pointed out that I had used a plastic syringe. She suggested I change it to glass, since plastic wasn’t available until eighteen months afterwards. 

AW: Those little details can certainly make authors trip up! Is there a book already out there that you really wish you had written? If so, why?

JAM: I wish I had written the book Centennial, by James A. Michener, which describes a fictional town in Colorado and the people who came from around the world to settle it. For those not familiar with Michener’s many books, the main character is always a location – Alaska, Poland, Texas, for example – and he describes generations of inhabitants and immigrants that live there through the course of a thousand-page manuscript.

AW: A great book to curl up with on a wet winter weekend, definitely. John, thank you so much for popping along to chat today.

JAM: Thanks so much for chatting, Annie.  

You can find out more about John and his work here:

LINKS:

https://www.amazon.com/JOHN-ANTHONY-MILLER/e/B00Q1U0OKO/
https://twitter.com/authorjamiller
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9787380.John_Anthony_Miller
https://www.facebook.com/authorjohnanthonymiller/ 
http://johnanthonymiller.net/

Tudors Vs Stuarts, with Elizabeth St John & Janet Wertman

Well here's a bit of fun. I've read two each of the novels by these brilliant authors and can highly recommend them all. But here's the burning question: Which are best, Tudors or Stuarts?

I asked Janet and Elizabeth to slug it out:

AW: Can you sum up in a sentence (or two) why you are drawn to the era?

JW: As a reader and writer, I am captivated by the stories. Huge reversals – people soaring high then brought low and (usually) executed (Wolsey, Anne Boleyn, Cromwell, Norfolk, Margaret Pole, both Seymour brothers, Northumberland, Essex….) And symmetry in the smallest details and the biggest arcs: Catherine of Aragon spent seven years waiting for Henry to make her his bride, then seven years waiting for him to fall out of love with Anne Boleyn; Anne Boleyn used the promise of a son from a God-approved marriage to unseat Catherine, then was unseated herself by Jane Seymour using the same playbook; Henry falsely accused one wife of adultery, then had her cousin actually do the deed; Thomas Cromwell turned the attainder procedure into an easy way to bring down pretty much anyone – then was felled himself by that same method. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg!

ESJ: The era chose me. I’ve always loved researching my ancestors, and I was quite happily digging around in Medieval and Tudor times. And then I discovered the English Civil War diary of Lucy Hutchinson, daughter of Lucy St.John. I became hooked on the Stuarts and all that befell them.

AW: Following on from that, what drew you to your particular characters?

JW: Originally I chose the Seymours because they were central to the Tudor era – and therefore provide the ultimate vantage point from which to recount events. They also happen to have amazing stories of their own.

Jane Seymour was in the middle of Anne Boleyn’s fall – the seminal event of Henry’s reign; hers is a story about morality. Edward Seymour was front and center during the second triad of Henry’s wives; his story is about power. And Edward Tudor…the poor boy king who had to execute two uncles… his is a story of betrayal.

ESJ: The story of my family was intriguing – especially when I found the memoirs of the first early modern women diarist that directly spoke of my ancestress. Then to find that Lucy St.John lived in the Tower of London for 13 years, had a secret lover, and raised two children who fought on opposing sides of the Civil War was a story that had to be told. Add to that a wicked stepmother and a hateful sister who was the grandmother of THE Barbara Villiers, mistress to Charles II, and I knew I could keep myself – and readers – entertained for years.

My characters lived on the edge of court life. As I researched the lives of James I, Charles I and Charles II, as well as Oliver Cromwell and nobility and generals, these personalities came alive. Their experiences presented a parallel in so many struggles for power and political freedom we are experiencing today. Many times, in reading letters and diary entries, especially of the emerging women’s voices, the distance between the centuries disappeared.

AW: You both live some distance from your locations - does that present additional research challenges, and if so, how do you get round those?

JW: Thank heavens for the internet! There are so many primary resources available – state papers through British History Online, chronicles and histories, letter collections – not to mention the other wildly cool stuff out there (Ordinances of the Royal Household, Cobbett’s State Trials, The Good Housewife’s Jewel, Privy Purses expenses, Anne Askew’s examinations…I keep a list of my favorites and send it to people when they subscribe to my blog). My latest obsession is The Private Life of an Elizabethan Lady: The Diary of Lady Margaret Hoby (1599-1605).

Still, there are some serious limitations to these resources – they don’t really give the true feel of the place. Like when characters were inside a castle, looking out, what did they see? That’s not the kind of thing you can get from photos – photographers aim at the castles, not away. For that, I am profoundly grateful for the trips I have taken to England and Scotland, visiting castles and churches, walking the streets and the countryside, looking out over the Solent and sniffing the sea air….Those details make all the difference.

ESJ: I’m really fortunate that my family lives in England, and I have the opportunity to spend a lot of my time there. So, whether researching the archives at Lydiard House, the setting for my stories, or exploring locations such as the Tower of London or Nottingham Castle, I always combine research with family time. Fortunately, they are all as equally historically obsessed as I am, so they never need a reason to pile in the car and go “St.John-hunting”, explore a castle ruin or crawl around on their hands and knees deciphering ancient gravestones. 

For the time I need to read primary documents and accounts, I access digital records by the National Archives, and British-History Online, as well as the History of Parliament. I use their document ordering services for copies of original wills, letters and court hearings. And then the Bodleian has a wonderful online library. Oh, and the Calendar of State Papers…and on, and on down the rabbit holes!

AW: What would you say was the most far-reaching event of the Tudor/Stuart period, and why?

JW: Anne Boleyn’s refusal to become Henry’s mistress – one of the seminal events of the Early Modern Era. It was wild enough for a maid of honor to refuse a king, but that simple “no” toppled an entrenched power structure, leading to a new church, a new way of governing, and a new morality. It created the world as we know it.

ESJ: Probably the English Civil Wars, for the complete shift in transitioning power to the people and challenging the previous divine right to rule, initiating an open debate about personal and religious freedoms, limiting the power of the monarchy, creating liberty of the press, and forming the foundation for ideas that developed the American political and constitutional thought.

AW: In a sentence, (or two!) why is your period the best?

JW: I always go back to the stories – there are just so many of them, and more specifically so many that we all know. I see a parallel here with the Beatles: they put out so many songs, and almost any person you ask can actually sing along to more than forty of them (seriously – try it). What other period/band could you say that about?

ESJ: Fabulous clothes, brilliant thinking and the epic struggle between the Cavaliers ("Wrong but Wromantic") and Roundheads ( "Right but Repulsive") (thanks to 1066 and All That).

AW:Finally - and on a lighter note - who has the best costumes, and why?

JW: Tudors! They just feel more accessible: you can look at the pictures and understand all the elements that go into the outfits, the layers that create the looks. And you can actually imagine yourself wearing them as you go through life – which is hard to say that about the farthingales and ruffs that came later (admittedly even during the Elizabethan era). Plus, as a woman with short hair I adore the headgear – the gable hoods and French hoods! The thought of having to create elaborate “dos” every day just makes me roll my eyes…

ESJ: Really? Men in tights with codpieces, or a dashing Cavalier. Is there a competition?

 

Thank you so much Ladies! I shall remain totally impartial but I think you both stated your case really well.

Find out more about these wonderful authors:

http://www.elizabethjstjohn.com/

https://janetwertman.com/

Anglo-Saxon Historical Fiction, with Millie Thom & Theresa Tomlinson

I've read two of Theresa's novels and two and a half of Millie's. It occurred to me recently that novels about Anglo-Saxon England can almost be of completely different genres. Sons of Kings is a saga, telling Eadwulf's story, while the Fridgyth stories are more like murder-mysteries. Allow these wonderful authors to explain:

AW:You both have fictional people as your main characters. Does this make it easier, or harder, when plotting a story against a backdrop of real historical events?

MT: I must admit, I don’t find keeping Eadwulf’s story within the framework of King Alfred’s, unduly difficult. I do have to make sure their timelines are coordinated, but my principal fictional character, Eadwulf, lives with Danes who actually feature in Alfred’s story anyway, and are mentioned in ‘Asser’s Life of King Alfred’ and the ‘Anglo Saxon Chronicle’, as well as in numerous other reference books and online sites. I searched through many such texts in the hope of finding less well-known events that the Danes of that period were involved in – like Bjorn and Hastein’s sacking of Paris in Book 1 and their great ‘Mediterranean adventure’ in Book 2. Some of these incidents and events have become much better known in recent years, thanks to various documentaries and TV series like ‘Vikings’, which include incidents such as the death of Ragnar Lothbrok and the blood eagle ritual. I tend to fit wholly fictional events into gaps in the historical timeline, during which nothing major is happening. By the middle of Book 3, Alfred’s and Eadwulf’s stories are closely linked anyway.

TT: I think the answer is a bit of both! 
For many years I thought that somebody ought to write a historical novel with the exciting time period and dramatic setting of Hild’s double monastery at Whitby – I also assumed that the writer should be a historian, who’d studied the period in detail. Initially I felt daunted by the prospect of describing such iconic characters as Abbess Hild, Caedmon, and Princess Aelfleda. Time went by and it didn’t happen – though Melvyn Bragg touched on the subject with Credo. Eventually I decided to have a go at writing a Young Adult mystery/adventure using this setting – this seemed to be a less formidable prospect. Inventing a fictional character, Wulfrun the weaver’s daughter as my main character brought a sense of freedom, but once started on the project I realised that if my protagonist was to be surrounded by those well-known historical figures, I should try to set my story in a specific time frame. This made it necessary to study and check out both the local history and the wider Anglo-Saxon period in detail, hopefully making my invented storyline believable and realistic. Random House Children’s Books eventually published Wolf Girl - my first Anglo-Saxon setting.

AW: When you wrote the first book, did you already know that it would form part of a series? How did you go about deciding whether the story would become part of a longer collection and how easy do you find it to write the end of each book, knowing another will follow on?

MT: Now, this is a question and a half for me! I am now writing the fourth and final book of the Sons of Kings series, which is quite laughable when I think that I set out to cover the whole of King Alfred’s life in a single book. As I delved into research with relish, it very soon became obvious to me that a single book was out of the question. And that was before I decided to include a second protagonist. Once I got carried away with Eadwulf’s story, I soon realised I needed a trilogy. Then, lo and behold, I was writing the second half of Book 3 before I knew for certain that I wasn’t going to finish the story in that book, either! So, a four-book series it will be.

As for the ending of each book, I like to leave some indication that the story is ongoing, without making it into a blatant cliff hanger – which I know some readers really detest. I’d like to think that the endings of my three books leave readers speculating as to what could happen next, without leaving them unhappy that the story abruptly ended in mid-crisis, or feeling they’ve been tricked into reading the next book! I’d like to believe that any of my three Sons of Kings books so far can be read as ‘one-offs’. However, having said that, the character development throughout the series is ongoing, and reading Book 2 alone, for example, would mean readers meet the two protagonists as young men without knowing what they went through as boys – or how they changed, particularly Eadwulf. I imagine the same could be said about all book series which involve the same characters. 

TT: My original plan was to write a Young Adult trilogy, but when Wolf Girl was published it didn’t sell very widely and the publishers didn’t feel confident enough to take on another Anglo-Saxon setting. I was left with a half written sequel, a head full of ideas, a large library of Anglo-Saxon history books and growing interest in the period. I had for a while been thinking of trying an adult historical novel, particularly as I was finding that I wanted to focus more on older characters, as I too was growing old. When I re-read Wolf Girl, a secondary character, Fridgyth the herb-wife seemed to step forward and tell me that she’d been waiting patiently for me to notice her properly. She again fitted the bill as a fictional character, but one who could be there at the centre of the story and interacting with real historical events and people. So, I took up my original ideas for a second and third story and used them with the herb-wife as my protagonist, also moving the story onto a more adult level. A Swarming of Bees was eventually followed by Queen of a Distant Hive.

Now that I’m working on a fourth story I’m finding it quite difficult, as this wasn’t part of my original plan, however readers are asking for another book and I love stepping back into Fridgyth’s world - so I’m attempting to do it. The way to move forward seems to be to study what happened next historically both locally and in the wider world of that time and try to see where my herb-wife could have another adventure. I haven’t totally got things worked out yet, but real events around the death of King Oswy- and Queen Eanfleda’s move to Whitby seem to be offering scope and Fridgyth will get the opportunity to travel a little more. I haven’t really worried too much about finishing a book off, with another sequel in mind – I’m just happy to find a satisfactory ending and grateful that another story is completed.

AW: Millie, what drew you to the Anglo-Saxon period?

MT: I do love the Anglo-Saxon period, Annie. It’s a turbulent and violent period of history, but it is also a very long period of cultural, religious and political importance and change – as your fabulous book, ‘Mercia: The Rise and Fall of a Kingdom’ so brilliantly describes, and more! (AW: Blushes!) The years I cover in my books are set at the very beginnings of the unification of the kingdoms that leads to the development of England, and I’ve tried to show that throughout the series. But I have to admit, it was not the period that inspired me to write my Sons of Kings books, but Alfred himself. 

I first became interested in Alfred when we lived in Wantage for six years in the 1970s. Alfred was reputedly born in the town (in Berkshire until 1974, and in Oxfordshire after the county boundaries changed at that time) and there’s one of the two most famous statues of him in the Market Place there. The other one is in Winchester, which became Alfred’s

‘capital’.

I’ve loved writing my books about Alfred and Eadwulf, but now I’m looking forward to a new challenge, I’m a history lover in general, and often become engrossed in other periods. 

I have a number of ideas for my next full novel, and none of them involve Anglo-Saxon times. My next book will definitely be historical, and I’m presently wavering between Roman Britain and the 1950s. So, you can see how wide a range that is! 

AW: And Theresa, what drew you to the period?

TT: As children growing up in the Whitby area, we were told that the large numbers of ammonite fossils found along the coast were once poisonous snakes that had been turned into stone by the magic of Saint Hilda. This saint always sounded a little more interesting than other rather pious religious women of the past. Later, as an adult, I learnt that she had ruled over a large monastery of monks as well as nuns, this seemed to suggest that she had been a very powerful person indeed. I began to study the history of her time in more detail and found the sparse information known about Caedmon and Princess Aelfleda fascinating too. When excavations at Street House, by archaeologist Steve Sherlock, uncovered a mysterious Anglo-Saxon cemetery with high status graves and gold and garnet jewellery, very close to where I’d lived as a child, I was completely hooked.

AW: Both of you also write in other genres/periods. How easy is it to swap from one to the other? Do you have a favourite?

MT: I realise I’ve answered some of this question in my previous answer, but I’ll add that there are many periods of history I’m interested in, and not only British history. I used to think I only really liked ancient history – Greeks and Romans fascinated me – but I know now that many periods can fire my imagination. Delving into research is part of the fun of writing a book to me, so I’ll happily ‘get stuck in’ to whichever period I choose to write next time. 

As for different genres, I also write flash fiction and I love it! My short book ‘A Dash of Flash’ is a collection of 85 pieces ranging from 100 to 1,000 words. I enjoy the challenge of writing a story with a beginning, middle and end in so few words. But in all honesty, writing a novel is so much more satisfying and I get a real buzz when I actually reach the end.

TT: I like working on two books at the same time. I have found that it works well to be writing a young adult, or adult historical novel, alongside a much shorter time-slip story, usually aimed at primary school children. Inevitably I get stuck – or a bit worn out with one project and find it a relief to set it aside for a while and turn my attention to the other story. It seems that by taking the pressure off for a while and focussing on something else, solutions miraculously emerge to sticky problems. 

I really can’t say that I have an absolutely favourite time period, but as well as the Anglo-Saxons, I have developed a special interest in the Victorian period and also in the history of steel.

Fascination with the beautiful Victorian and Edwardian photographs of fisher people by Frank Meadow Sutcliffe led to an interest in Victorian Whitby and its many industries. Until I was eleven, I lived next door to the gates of Skinningrove Steelworks in Cleveland. The dust and noise, the sights and sounds of the men walking into work every morning has always stayed with me. At a later date I lived in both Rotherham and then Sheffield, so the history of steel has become a regular theme that I’ve used especially for time-slip stories for younger children. Meet Me by the Steelmen, now published by Award Publications, is often used in schools in the South Yorkshire area and Forged in Steel, a sequel, is due to be published in Spring 2020.

AW: Thank you both for telling us about your books and writing processes. Readers who wish to discover more can do so here:

https://milliethom.com/

https://www.theresatomlinson.com/

Review: The Thieves of Threadneedle Street by Nicholas Booth

"Late in 1873, London was gripped by the astonishing story emerging from the highest court in the land, where four American conmen were on trial for attempting the greatest financial scam the world had ever seen. Their leader, Austin Bidwell, had hatched a plan of devilish ingenuity that, were it not for one tiny stroke of bad luck, would have ended with him walking out of the Bank of England with £1 million in cash a heist that would have plunged London into financial meltdown and put Bidwell's name alongside the legends of criminal history."

So far, so intriguing. But the story is not so straightforward...

1st March, 1873: Bank of England cashier, Frank May, notices that something is wrong with a bill of exchange which has been accepted and paid out. It is, in fact, counterfeit, and is not the only one of its kind. The main problem is that officials think they are looking for a man named Frederick Warren who, incredibly, has been able, despite having no address or references, to 'cash' this and many other such bills.

So begins one of the most bizarre stories I've ever read, and astonishingly, it's all true.

Newspaper report about George Macdonnell,
a member of the 'gang'

Nicholas Booth has traced the extraordinary tale of the Bidwell Brothers and their associates, all of whom used various aliases (hence the use of the name Frank Warren), their dealings with Pinkerton's Detective Agency, their various fraudulent schemes and their frequent ability to escape the law, even incarceration.

The narrative jumps back and forth, across time and across oceans, but the story absolutely has to be told that way. It comes together slowly, piece by piece, much as it did to 'Pink' Pinkerton and the others following the forgers' trails. 

The 'caper' even took those involved
to Cuba

As an author myself I can see what a difficult book this must have been to put together. Assembling all the evidence must have taken  huge amounts of research, and then it must have been a daunting task putting all the various strands together and deciding how best to tell the tale.

I'm happy to say that Nicholas Booth has pulled off an incredible trick, introducing each character and then going back in time to show how they arrived at their part in the overall tale, and what happened to them along the way.

Much of the story is lifted from the court transcripts so we read what was actually said, verbatim, as these thieves finally got their comeuppance. What is especially delicious is that we know almost from the outset who the forgers were, but I was captivated as I read, desperate to know how they were finally brought to justice.

For it transpires that this was not their first heist. From train crashes to prison breaks, this story romps along, using the criminals' own memoirs, whilst casting doubt on some of their more outlandish boasts.

I confess to not understanding some of the finer details of the scams, but what I did marvel at was how utterly simple some of them were. But for a forgotten signature, the thieves might even have got away with their most audacious plan, that of relieving the Bank of England of a substantial amount of money.

Newspaper reports, surviving photographs, court drawings - all are used to great effect. This is history, but not so far removed that these characters are necessarily 'distant'. One feature of the tale is that the women were, I think it's fair to say, sorely used. Austin Bidwell's wife was dominated by her redoubtable mother, and seemed willing to believe anything her husband told her. When the truth emerged, she was a fragile and broken witness. 'Nellie' Vernon was cut from different cloth, and it was delicious trying to work out how much she really knew about what her 'husband' George Bidwell was up to.

It is a fascinating tale and if one were to write this book as a novel, the plot would be fiendishly complicated and even less credible. I was astounded at how much this gang got away with. Even in their early days, they managed to persuade suppliers to give them stock on credit, with no intention of ever paying for the goods. It almost seems a shame that such audacious, clever people should have been caught out by such a simple mistake.

This is a compelling piece of history. But that doesn't mean that it was a gift for the author. It must, as I've said, have been a daunting task researching all the details of the elaborate scams and then presenting it all in such a readable way. Congratulations to Nicholas Booth for piecing it all together and telling a ripping yarn.

[Thanks to the author who supplied the above images. I must make it clear though that he did not supply the book, which I bought myself.]

Review: Blossom on the Thorn by Loretta Livingstone

1195
"I should have had nothing to do with those accursed Angevins. I should have run like hell in the opposite direction."

Giles de Soutenay can scarcely be blamed for his disappointment. Promised an heiress by Queen Eleanor, he is dismayed to discover that, although young and attractive, his bride has all the warmth of a stone effigy.

For the newly widowed Isabella, the reality of a new husband is no cause for celebration. She will do her duty but no more. She will give de Soutenay no reason to complain but he will not have her heart, for any belief in love and tenderness died during those brief years of her first marriage. However, she has reckoned without Giles' perseverance.

After the snows of winter, spring brings hope, until the arrival of a stranger threatens Giles and Isabella’s blossoming happiness. A stranger who might tear them apart before they have truly found each other. Only if Giles can learn patience and Isabella can learn trust can they hope to find lasting love.

So runs the blurb for this, the third in Loretta Livingstone's Out of Time series. The first two books are 'time-slip' novels but this third is not (apart from one brief mention of a 21st-century character in the abbey). I read this as a standalone, but it's as well to know that the other books are time-slips, otherwise that scene in the abbey might prove something of a shock!

But, that said, all the other characters are from the twelfth century and behave as such. By which I mean that Ms Livingstone has clearly done first class and painstaking research. I was never once jolted out of the medieval world and each scene was beautifully and accurately depicted. The hall of Giles and Isabella teems with medieval servants going about their medieval chores, and all are clothed according to the fashions of the day. Isabella is very much a woman of her time. She has guts, and fortitude, but nevertheless she is a medieval lady, not a modern woman, and her reaction to what happens to her never strays beyond the limits of the options available to a woman of her rank during that period. 

Giles is a bit of an anomaly. He's certainly a surprise to Isabella; I wondered at times whether his attitudes have been shaped by his coming into contact with modern-day characters in the other books? I guess I'll have to read them to find out! When he exacts revenge though, he is every inch the medieval soldier. So once again we have drama, but that which sits perfectly in its period setting.

There are plot twists and turns, despicable acts, and characters who left me itching to watch them get their comeuppance. At the heart of this story though is the romance between the two characters and it's a satisfying story arc which sees them struggle with initial wariness, disagreements, misunderstandings and the efforts of others to thwart them and drive a wedge between them. 

I enjoyed watching Isabella grow and develop, and appreciated the occasional reminders of just how young she is. This of course was not unusual, and it made me stop and think just how much this poor lass has endured by the time she's seventeen.

Ms Livingstone knows the world she's writing about, but uses her research sparingly; she tells us what we need to know but mainly uses her knowledge of the period to paint the scenery. The dialogue flows naturally, and nothing jars.

I especially loved the scene involving the window. Sometimes it's nice to be reminded that people from history were modern-day characters in their own world. I'll say no more, except that it made me smile that Giles and Isabella have a lovely moment of 'keeping up with the Joneses'.

Romantic fiction is perhaps not my usual read, but I have to say that this is a wonderful example of its genre.

Find it on Amazon UK and Amazon US
and find more about Loretta HERE