Tag Archives: Alexandra Walsh

JANE CABLE REVIEWS APRIL’S NEW RELEASES

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The Forgotten Palace by Alexandra Walsh

A dual timeline based around Arthur Evans’ archaeological digs at Knossos on Crete, this book has an incredible sense of place, time and history. The heat and the dust from the excavations rise up from the page as the Victorian characters scrape in the earth and wash dirt from shards of pot.

In 1900 Alice departs on a grand tour of Europe accompanying her aunt and young nephews. She is heartbroken and in terrible disgrace, so her kindly family have sent her away to recover. In the present day timeline Eloise leaves for Crete on the day of her husband’s funeral wearing a red dress and red shoes. It’s clear she is glad he has gone – but why?

The book is packed full of history, myth, and dreams, with italicised sections which could be either of the latter, almost making it a triple timeline. But having read Alexandra Walsh’s other books I was not expecting this to be a simple love story and it is anything but.

A final word: don’t let the cast list at the front put you off – it really isn’t needed as all the main characters are so memorable.

 

The Cruise by Caroline James

I am not a great reader of romantic comedy, but I really enjoy Caroline James’ books. Not just because the protagonists are ladies in their sixties having a fabulous time, but because everything about them and their adventures is so beautifully observed and the pathos and humour eased out.

In The Cruise three single friends (one widowed, one almost divorced and the other resolutely single) decide to head to the Caribbean for Christmas. I loved the descriptions of the islands and it was wonderful to be back in a Barbados I recognised, albeit through the pages of a book. Anne, Jane and Kath, and the supporting cast of characters are bound to make you smile, so book your cabin now.

 

A Village in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd and Angelika Patel

I don’t often review non-fiction but I loved the premise of this book; to follow the life of a single village in Germany from the end of the First World War, and all through the Second.

It did not disappoint, and I would say it is essential reading for anyone interested in the era. It brings the human stories of the inhabitants of Oberstdorf in the Bavarian Alps to the fore, while setting them firmly in their social and political context. Whether dipping in and out, or reading from cover to cover, this in an exceptional history and meticulously researched.

 

The Girl Who Escaped by Angela Petch

This book is Angela Petch at her best, with a purely historical narrative set in her beloved Italy during the Second World War. It’s a gripping tale that explores the plight of the Jewish community as fascism tightened its hold on the country, and the efforts of the Italian resistance to return their nation to the tolerant society it once had been.

The Girl Who Escaped follows the stories of not only Italian Jew Devora, but her schoolfriends Luigi, a clandestine partisan, and Rico who may or may not be a collaborator. Their stories unfold and entwine, with Devora always centre stage as the world she has known crumbles around her when fascism begins to bite.

It’s an incredibly well researched book, so rich in detail that it absolutely transported me to Urbino during the Second World War, to circumstances that were at times so painful it was hard to read on. But, heart in mouth, I persevered, because I just had to know what happened. And that is the mark of a truly great storyteller.

WELSH WRITING WEDNESDAYS: ALEXANDRA WALSH ON APPLYING MYTHS TO FICTION

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Wales is a land rich in mythology and here Alexandra Walsh explains how she researched and applied some of it to her latest novel.

In The Wind Chime, my main character Amelia Prentice is sent on a quest by her dying mother, Joan. Requesting Amelia should tidy the attic of their family home before she made any decisions about selling it, Amelia discovers a box of Victorian photographs, with a hand-drawn family tree. The annotations on the back of the images names them as the Attwater family from Cliffside in Pembrokeshire.

Amelia has never heard this name before but she is intrigued by the family and is drawn to the youngest daughter, Osyth Attwater. When she discovers Osyth’s journal among her mother’s papers, she feels compelled to visit Cliffside and find out more.

The Mythology

At night, the Attwater family of old would gather on their veranda, listening to the wind chime and watching the sun set into the roaring ocean. They told each other stories and Osyth revelled in the tales her Uncle Noah wove around them, using them as a guide to her life.

In order to make to create Osyth’s interior life, I drew on tales far and wide. These included old fairy stories, local legends and Celtic mythology. At the beginning of the book, Osyth is in her late teens and is letting go of her childhood as she enters the adult world, yet she cannot fully abandon the magical world of her childhood. Throughout, I was aware the tales needed to fit in with Osyth’s story rather than distracting from it, so the fairies invited to join the party were chosen with great care.

Tylwyth Teg was the most important tale. This is the Welsh translation for the Fair Folk or Fairy Folk and their magical home can take a number of forms, from the underground land reached through the doorways of the Celtic stone circles or in mysterious green lands that can be glimpsed off the Welsh coast. Osyth is fascinated with Tylwyth Teg and it is from here she draws on other magical creatures who are her talismans and protectors as she discovers bitter family secrets.

It is during the celebrations of a family wedding, Osyth’s aunt, Hannah, tells the story of how the world of the Fair Folk was created. It is the tale of a woman who hid her children from Jesus when he visited her home as she was ashamed of her fecundity. However, when she searched for her family later, there was no sign of her children. She was told God had taken them as a punishment for hiding the gifts he had bestowed upon her. In the legend, these children were taken underground and became the ancestors of all the creatures in the Land of Tylwyth Teg.

While dressing for this wedding, Osyth references Gwenhwyfar, the fairy of the White Moon Shadows. This fairy dances through the world leaving tiny white flowers in her wake. White flowers became a theme throughout the story, including the name of her perfume, White Rose, from the perfumiers, Floris.

The most interesting creature I discovered was the gwrach-y-rhibyn, the witch of death from Welsh mythology. This terrifying creature with her red eyes, green-tinged skin and dark leathery wings, gathered the souls of the dead and would visit houses whenever a death was imminent. It calls to mind the Irish banshee, which considering the close proximity of the two coastlines is unsurprising.

I hope this small insight into the fairies and their world will make your reading of The Wind Chime – and Welsh mythology – more interesting.

 

WELSH WRITING WEDNESDAYS: INTRODUCING ALEXANDRA WALSH

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West Wales has always held my heart. Although I was born and brought up in London, I have family in Milford Haven and St Ishmaels – Tish to residents and locals – in Pembrokeshire. My memories of holidays here are wide, varied and full of laughter.

My writing, like my links to Wales, have been life-long. There was never any question about what I would do but, as it was necessary to earn a living while trying to fulfil my ambition of being a published author, I toyed first with the idea of acting and writing for theatre. At the age of 18, I set up and ran a touring theatre company, however, acting was not for me and a few years later I closed the company.

Instead, I moved into journalism. My first job was on a local newspaper, from here I progressed to women’s magazines, national newspapers and prestigious launches.

Yet still, I wrote fiction. For a while, I focused on scripts, both film and TV. I sold three film scripts and, for a while, worked in the British Film Industry but it’s an unpredictable and strange place. In the space of two weeks, due to the large companies who were producing my scripts suffering internal upheaval, I saw my dream vanish. My response was to run away to Pembrokeshire.

Using the last of the money from the script debacle, I took the summer off and wrote my first novel, returning to London to find a new agent and sell my masterpiece. Sadly, it didn’t happen, so it was back to freelancing as a journalist.

Things changed again, I became seriously ill, losing my ability to walk for nearly 18 months. My solace as I battled to regain my health was to write. A new manuscript, a new agent, new hope but still no publishing deal. Another book languished.

Then a new idea arrived, in a direction I had never before explored: an historical thriller.

It centred on the Tudors and as I lived not far from Hampton Court and worked near the Tower of London both places issued a siren call. On my commute to work, I researched the historical thriller, then began writing it every morning in a notebook. The Tudor link to Wales, to Pembroke, to the area I knew and loved spurred me on, even leading me to set the book in St Ishmaels.

Life changed again, resulting in a move to Milford Haven. Settled in my purpose-built writing hut, a few miles from my cousins, I took the story from my notebooks and began to polish it. A new agent made all the difference and The Marquess House Saga was born.

Then, one day, the first book I’d written popped back into my mind: The Wind Chime. Rethinking and restructuring it, I pitched it to my agent and publisher and suddenly, I was in the Victorian era, weaving my own family history into the story. The same happened with the book that had sustained me through my illness, The Music Makers. This, too, became a Victorian time-shift with both drawing on the Welsh countryside, the myths and folklore of Pembrokeshire and the endless backdrop of the sea.

Wales is the land of bards, story tellers, of Merlin, Druids and the Fair Folk. The landscape holds magic in its rolling hills, its jagged mountains, its sparkling streams and rivers. It was the place that always held my heart and is now the place I call home and it has helped me make my dream come true.

 

 

 

 

INTRODUCING WELSH WRITING WEDNESDAYS

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Although it isn’t often mentioned in Frost, I am very proud of my Welsh heritage. I was born in Cardiff and my father was an Anglo-Welsh poet and literary critic, so it is inevitable I have an affinity with other writers with connections to the principality. So much so, I am a member of the Cariad chapter of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, and it is to these wonderful women I looked first when I was considering Welsh Writing Wednesdays.

The idea is simple; on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month one of us will bring you an article about writing in Wales. And replacing the ever-popular Sister Scribes’ Reading Round Up on the last Monday will be Cariads’ Choice.

So here are some of the wonderful authors you will be meeting through Frost this year.

Judith Barrow

Originally from Saddleworth, a group of villages on the edge of the Pennines, Judith has lived in Pembrokeshire, Wales, for over forty years.

She has an MA in Creative Writing with the University of Wales Trinity St David’s College, Carmarthen, BA (Hons) in Literature with the Open University, and a Diploma in Drama from Swansea University. She is a Creative Writing tutor for Pembrokeshire County Council and holds private one to one workshops on all genres.

Jill Barry

Jill began her writing career with short stories for magazines and anthologies, winning prizes and being both long-listed and short-listed. She is a multi-published romantic novelist who also writes Pocket Novels for D C Thomson and who draws on her varied career and her travels for inspiration. She has also written one psychological suspense novel which is published by Headline Accent. A member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Society of Authors, Jill enjoys mentoring new writers and is convinced she will never stop learning.

Jan Baynham

Originally from mid-Wales, Jan lives in Cardiff. As well as short stories and flash fiction, she writes full-length novels that deal with family secrets and explore the bond between mothers and daughters. Her debut novel, Her Mother’s Secret, was published by Ruby Fiction in April 2020. This was followed by Her Sister’s Secret in September 2020 and book three will be out next July.

A member of the Romantic Novelists Association, she values the friendship and support from other members and regularly attends conferences, workshops, talks and get-togethers. She is co-organiser of Cariad, her local RNA Chapter.

Jessie Cahalin

Jessie is a Yorkshire author living in Wales. Wales and words have a special place in her heart, and she wants everyone to meet the characters who’ve been hassling her for years. Penning women’s fiction is Jessie’s dream job, but she also writes travel articles and features for her blog and magazines.

You Can’t Go It Alone, her debut novel, was a bestseller in the UK and Canada. For Jessie, a good natter with other authors and readers is a special treat as she usually lives in her tiny writing room with Paddington Bear and a collection of handbags.

Alexandra Walsh

Alexandra is the author of The Catherine Howard Conspiracy, The Elizabeth Tudor Conspiracy and The Arbella Stuart Conspiracy, known collectively as The Marquess House Trilogy. A series of a dual timeline Tudor conspiracy thrillers, published by Sapere Books, the novels explore a secret hidden within history and the potential havoc its revelation could wreak. Her new book with Sapere, The Windchime, is due out in 2021. Another dual timeline story, set in present day and late Victorian times, it explores mental health issues, grief and rebuilding lives after the worst has happened.

Evonne Wareham

Evonne is an award winning Welsh author of romantic suspense – more crime and dead bodies than your average romance. She likes to set her book in her native Wales, or for a touch of glamorous escapism, in favourite holiday destinations in Europe. She is a Doctor of Philosophy and an historian, and a member of both the Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Crime Writers’ Association.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SISTER SCRIBES GUEST: ALEXANDRA WALSH ON HER WONDERFUL FRIENDS

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I’ve come to know Alexandra because we’re both signed to Sapere Books and when she told me how much her wonderful friends had helped her on her journey to publication I just had to ask her to write about it. It’s a proper Sister Scribe story.

 

“I’ll be there for you…” sang The Rembrants in the 1990s on the US sitcom, Friends. It was a great concept because friends are universal and I am very lucky to have some wonderful friends.

In June, Sapere Books, published my second novel The Elizabeth Tudor Conspiracy. It is part two of The Marquess House Trilogy and it is dedicated to four friends: Jo, Deborah, Gemma and Dawn. This particular four have been my lifeline while I have been writing this series. Their support has been invaluable but what they do not know is that it is their friendships that have formed the inspiration for the relationships in my historical novels.

During my research, one of my enduring irritations was the isolation in which historical women are portrayed. They are usually placed with people who are instrumental in their downfall. Yet, I find it hard to believe that women in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries did not turn to each other as women do today.

In my first book, The Catherine Howard Conspiracy, the fifth bride of Henry VIII is my historical protagonist. The only women ever linked to Catherine are those who betrayed her. I created a group of close friends around the young queen, all of whom were real historical figures who had been part of her court. The core of their banter and support was inspired by Deborah, Gemma, Dawn and Jo.

The second book, The Elizabeth Tudor Conspiracy, has Elizabeth I as the driving force. She is often presented as being at odds with the women in her court. There probably were personality clashes but it seems unlikely that she  loathed her ladies-in-waiting as is often suggested. I re-imagined her friendships, particularly those with her Boleyn cousins who were with her throughout her reign, again based on the strength and support provided by my friends.

All four, I met at work: Jo and I became friends on the launch of the women’s magazine Now; Gemma and I met at more!, while Deborah, Dawn and I worked together on Chat and Pick Me Up!.

Each of them is wonderful and they all helped me to get through the many years of sitting alone, writing. First with endless encouragement, then in indignation on my behalf as my books were rejected, before the day I finally had a publishing deal. Cards, flowers and champagne arrived the following day!

Deborah, Gemma and I email each other nonsense most days. Dawn and I have long rambling conversations when she drags me back me from the brink of “I’m-so-rubbish-it’ll-be-a-massive-failure”. Jo and I have so many years history, we can ring each other and rant without even saying hello, while we calm each other down.

So, yes, I’ll be there for them, as they’re there for me and I hope hundreds of years ago, the women I write about were there for each other, too.

And, to all my other friends, I love you too. You bunch of awesome, incredible, wonderful, insane women. You make my life a brighter place!

 

Alexandra Walsh is the author of The Catherine Howard Conspiracy and The Elizabeth Tudor Conspiracy, published by Sapere Books. Alexandra was a journalist for over 25 years writing for a variety of publications including Cosmopolitan, Chat, more!, Now, Shine, The Daily Mirror, The Sunday Times, loaded and Goal. History is her passion and she loves exploring a good ruin or museum. She usually has her nose in a book but, if you can distract her, she does make a mean curry.

SISTER SCRIBES’ READING ROUND UP: FEBRUARY

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Susanna:

The Mermaid’s Scream by Kate Ellis

Famous author Wynn Staniland is as well-known for having turned into a recluse after his wife’s suicide as he is for the high-brow books he wrote before the tragedy. Now he has agreed to let Zac Wilkinson write his biography, but what are the startling facts Zac claims to have unearthed? When Zac is found murdered, DI Wesley Peterson’s investigation reveals a series of secrets in a mystery that successfully blends the present with the past.

Kate Ellis deftly handles the multiple threads in this story. As well as being intriguing and drawing the reader further in, the complexities of the plot make it impossible to predict what’s coming next. It is an engrossing, confidently-written story, featuring well-rounded characters.

I listened to the audio version published by Isis Soundings, read by Gordon Griffin, whose narration is in no way showy or intrusive, but who invests each character with their own voice and creates a quietly suspenseful atmosphere.

 

Kitty:

This month I finally finished Penmarric by Susan Howatch – it took ages but allowed me to wallow in adolescent nostalgia, always a favourite activity.

I have started to read Circe by Madeline Miller which I’m loving, my degree was in Classics so I love reading anything that features the Gods, heroes and myths of antiquity and this is beautifully written. She makes everyone so vibrant, I am quite in awe.

I also read Don’t You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane which had me giggling on nearly every page apart from those that made me hold my breath as I raced through. I shall definitely be reading more of hers.

Finally, I have to mention Rachel Burton’s The Pieces of You and Me, a love story so honest, brave and uplifting that I fell deeply in love with it and will keep it forever.

 

Jane:

Although I hadn’t intended to read another Sapere book quite so soon, that’s exactly what happened. I was emailing with Amy Durant, the editorial director, with an idea for a timeslip novel for them and we fell to discussing the structure. As she felt it was something Alexandra Walsh had done particularly well in The Catherine Howard Conspiracy she emailed me an early review copy.

It’s the sort of book you don’t want to say too much about in case you inadvertently slip in a spoiler, but the timelines are split between present day and the early 1540s – not surprisingly, given that was when Catherine Howard was married to Henry VIII. I had expected to enjoy the modern part of the story, but I was completely captivated by Alexandra’s depiction of the Tudor court and the way she brought the historical characters to life.

The book kept me on edge from beginning to end. It was reasonably clear who could be trusted in the historical story but far less so in the contemporary strand and I just had to keep turning the pages. Not only that but the teasing out of an alternative historical truth was done so well that I even ended up almost believing it. The book is everything a classic timeslip should be and I’d thoroughly recommend it. It’s available for pre-order now.

It was when I was in Truro library tracking down local history books for research that I came across Winston Graham’s Poldark’s Cornwall. I’d been hunting for this book for some time and it didn’t disappoint with beautiful photos and the links – real and imagined – between Ross and Demelza’s world. It also contained a couple of pages of useful advice for authors. Most pertinent to me seemed: “…risk of becoming too preoccupied with history… But novels are about life.” I think I should pin that up on my wall.