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Alfred Stieglitz, I Love You - Joan Lennon
They have a strange and difficult allure, old photographs, don't they. A power. A poignancy. As a writer, you want to write - to tell the story - but at the same time you can feel you're being...
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Grand National Memories - Katherine Roberts
I have a confession to make. Today I’ll be taking an afternoon off to watch the Grand National, one of Britain’s great sporting traditions. My excuses, if you wish to accept them...1. I’m horse...
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How it all began...by Adèle Geras
When I was seven years old, in 1951, this is what I was reading. There wasn't much of anything else around at the time. I didn't come to Enid Blyton properly till I was about eight, in North Borneo....
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'Boozing with an Old Codger' by Karen Maitland
When I was researching medieval falconry, I was struck by how many modern words or expressions have their origins in falconry terms. Boozing, for example, it sounds like modern slang, but iscorruption...
View ArticleMarch Competition Winners
The winners of the March competition are:Sarah [sic]JulieSarah NisbetKohsamul14Jean BullTo get your prize copies of Tracy Chevalier's The Last Runaway, please contact:Elizabeth Dawson...
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American Downton Abbey?
authentic firearms are good...by Caroline LawrenceGood historical fiction should do five things:1. Show the world the way it was.2. Have something to say about that world.3. Have something to say about...
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The last place that bookshops ought to die – Michelle Lovric
My second novel, The Floating Book, is about the dawn of printing in Venice. It plays on the idea that publishing a book is like throwing it into the water. The lives of all my characters depend on...
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Now You See It, Now You Don't, by Laurie Graham
A theatrical theme seems appropriate for this post. My London debut as a dramatist opens on April 23rd at the Baron’s Court Theatre. The Dress Circle, adapted as a one-woman show and starring Sian...
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When words are not enough... by H.M. Castor
Illustration from the Codex Manesse (a medieval songbook), c.1304-40[Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsThe large measure of the basse dance must begin and proceed with a reverence, then with a...
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DOMITIAN: A MUCH MIS-UNDERSTOOD HUMAN BEING AND EMPEROR, BY MC (Manda) SCOTT
One of the joys of writing historical fiction, as opposed to historical ‘fact’ for academia is the freedom to engage with the personalities of the people I study. I can read between the lines and I...
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The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2013 by Elizabeth Laird
Sir Walter ScottStop the presses! News news news!The longlist for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2013 is completed, and the shortlist will be announced on Thursday 18th April.Why doesn't...
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A Key to Smuggling Terminology
by Marie-Louise JensenLike every area of life, the illicit trade of smuggling has its own vocabulary. I think it's more colourful than most.Firstly the smugglers had euphemisms for themselves. They...
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Queen's Gambit, by Elizabeth Fremantle: reviewed by Sue Purkiss
'Divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived...' So goes the old mnemonic about Henry V111's unfortunate wives. The first, of course, was Katherine of Aragon. Then came Ann Boleyn, Jane...
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New Libraries for Old? by Penny Dolan
Today I went to a meeting of the Friends of my local Library, one of the Carnegie buildings. We met in a small neat room in the basement, next to the children’s library. Back in the first half of the...
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Landscape by Maria McCann
We have today a post from one of our marvellous team of Reserves, Maria McCann.With Jane Borodale, Jane Feaver, Gabrielle Kimm and Michael Arnold, I recently took part in a Historical Fiction Day at...
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The Passing of Baroness Thatcher - Celia Rees
I was going to blog about something entirely different but I've just been watching the funeral of Margaret Thatcher. I wasn't meaning to, you understand, but I was caught by the ceremony of it all, the...
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Looking for Leonardo da Vinci by Theresa Breslin
TAKE NOTE: Our most beloved Architect and General Engineer, Leonardo da Vinci, who bears this pass, is charged with inspecting the palaces and fortresses of our states, so that we may maintain them...
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Landscape by Maria McCann
We have today a post from one of our marvellous team of Reserves, Maria McCann.With Jane Borodale, Jane Feaver, Gabrielle Kimm and Michael Arnold, I recently took part in a Historical Fiction Day at...
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Women Artists in Paris by Imogen Robertson
An early reader of Paris Winter made the mistake this week of asking me if there really were many female artists training in Paris during the Belle Époque. Five minutes later they staggered away just...
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WEEDS AND WEEDING WOMEN, by Jane Borodale
© Valerie Hill‘As oft as nede shall require it must be weeded, for else the wede woll overgrowe the hearbs.’ (Fitzherbert, 1532) This slovenly gardener (I mean me) has been taken by surprise. Lulled...
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