King James has apparently lost his appetite for hunting witches, so the medical skills and herbal knowledge that saw Frances accused of witchcraft no longer seem to hang over her like a death sentence. The King would rather be hunting stag and boar – and Frances’s beloved husband Thomas is firmly established in the royal […]
Walter Raleigh: stripping away the cloak of myth
How does a fiction writer tackle the well-known myths attached to historical figures? Especially when the protagonist was an expert in self-promotion, and the other person involved was Gloriana herself, Queen Elizabeth of England? Author RN Morris found an ingenious answer, as he tells Historia. The one thing everyone knows about Walter Raleigh is that […]
Blood’s Campaign by Angus Donald
August 25, 1689. The English Army is besieging Carrickfergus in Ireland. Brilliant but unusual gunner Holcroft Blood of the Royal Train of Artillery is ready to unleash his cannons on the rebellious forces of deposed Catholic monarch James II. But this is more than war for Captain Blood, a lust for private vengeance burns within […]
Broken Times by Ethyl Smith
Scotland, 1683. As James Renwick returns to Scotland, accompanied by the young Jonas Hawthorne, in search of adventure, an undeterred John Steel is still living the life of a fugitive, hunted day and night by Claverhouse’s men. When John and Jonas reunite, Jonas soon finds himself caught up in the intrigues of 17th century Scotland: […]
The Devil’s Slave by Tracy Borman
Frances Gorges was accused of witchcraft – and she survived. But if her torturers at the court of King James discover she is pregnant with the child of Tom Wintour, her lover executed for his part in the Gunpowder Plot, it will mean certain death. Then Frances is offered an escape: marriage. She will not […]
The Honey and the Sting by EC Fremantle
Forcibly seduced by the powerful George Villiers, doctor’s daughter Hester is cast aside to raise her son alone and in secret. She hopes never to see Villiers again. England, 1628. Melis’s visions cause disquiet and talk. She sees what others can’t – and what has yet to be. She’d be denounced as a witch if […]
The Honey and the Sting: the novel that didn’t want to be written
What is it like when your novel just isn’t working? EC (Elizabeth) Fremantle had the perfect ingredients for a historical thriller: murder, sex, secrets, danger – but why did her first draft turn out to be unreadable? The Honey and the Sting is my sixth novel. I had the idea that writing would become easier […]
Legacy by John Pilkington
England, 1616. Robert Belstrang, ex-magistrate bored with country life, comes to London to investigate the strange disappearance of Thomas Jessop, son of a poor Catholic neighbour. He locates the youth in Bedlam asylum, silent and starving himself. When he tries to free Jessop, he is warned off the case by a politic lawyer, Anstis. Soon […]