Sarah Siddons grew up as a member of a family troupe of travelling actors, always poor and often hungry, resorting to foraging for turnips to eat. But before she was 30 she had become a superstar, her fees greater than any actor — male or female — had previously achieved. Her rise was not easy. Her London debut, […]
Dr Kahn and the Victorians’ fascination with anatomy
Essie Fox writes about the Victorian obsession with human anatomy — often as grotesques — and the bizarre tale of one museum owner whose success resisted scandals and attempts to close his establishment for years. It’s part of the background to The Fascination, her latest book. My new novel, The Fascination, is a Victorian gothic […]
Magicians and film-makers, masters of illusions
Liz Hyder is enchanted by the magicians and film-makers of the 1890s, whose extraordinary inventions inspired her new novel, The Illusions, set at a time of great technological and social change. A few years ago, I went to the Wellcome Collection’s Smoke and Mirrors exhibition, which explored the psychology of magic. It was a feast […]
Music hall and musical inspiration
Music hall and other old songs can provide musical clues in historical fiction — clues which carry even deeper meaning than the remembered snatches of tunes themselves do. Sarah Rayne, who took inspiration from such songs for her latest book, Chalice of Darkness, explains how it works. Old songs and fragments of faded music can […]
The Victorian theatrical world of mystery and illusion
With the closure of our theatres, it only seems fair to bring a little old-fashioned footlights-and-greasepaint magic to Historia. So, ladies and gentlemen, I present for your especial enjoyment… the effervescent, the estimable, the essential Essie Fox! There has been quite an upsurge in Victorian-era novels published over the past few years. As a writer […]
Farinelli and the King, Duke of York Theatre
It’s fair to say that a year ago a lot of people had not heard of Mark Rylance. He is one of our greatest actors and yet, until recently, he’s flown under the radar, largely keeping himself to one of the less commercial corners of British culture – the floorboards of ‘serious’ theatre. This all […]
Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, National Theatre
The political landscape of Britain is in upheaval. There are debates on electoral reform, the rise of smaller political groups calling for radical change, and an attempt to overthrow the beleaguered political powers currently in place. Throw in a few nods concerning the rights of immigrants and you might be forgiven for thinking Light Shining […]