Ann Victoria Roberts's Blog, page 2
August 12, 2013
Full Circle? Answers on a postcard please
The discovery of a WW1 diary – coupled with some intriguing family stories – sparked the desire to write a novel based upon the diarist’s life. At the time I was still at school, studying Thomas Hardy, so perhaps it’s inevitable that the first part of that story, LOUISA ELLIOTT, should have emerged as a kind of homage to the great man, despite being written some 20 years after the original idea took root.
Set in 1890s York and Dublin, the plot of this big Victorian novel is driven by three main characters, and by the effect of past mistakes upon their relationships with each other.
An instant success, LOUISA ELLIOTT became a bestseller around the world, and was translated into several languages. But it also put pressure to bear on producing the second novel to a deadline.
In part, the sequel was the story I’d started with, the one I had always intended to write. In a more profound way, however, LIAM’S STORY in its present form needed LOUISA ELLIOTT to be written first.
It was originally intended to be one book and, in true Victorian tradition, I took time over telling the tale. But after almost five years, I was having doubts that it would ever be finished: I had to find a point where the reader could say farewell to Louisa, Robert and Edward. The tale could then be picked up a few years later to continue into the First World War and beyond.
Only as I started to plan the second book, did I see the difficulty. Had I continued in similar vein with LIAM’S STORY, it could have worked only if I’d been prepared to romanticise the whole thing. But I couldn’t do that: the truth was too important. With publishers waiting for a synopsis, I was in a quandary. In the end, the way forward came in a powerful moment of inspiration, with a plot connecting past & present, its roots in the writing of LOUISA ELLIOTT.
Beneficial coincidences had been the norm since the very beginning of my research. They led on like clues in a treasure hunt, for ten amazing years. The chain of events came to an end only with the publication of LIAM’S STORY in late 1991.
I’ve had isolated examples since, mostly amusing and only rarely significant. But after 21 years and three more books, two strange incidents brought ‘Louisa’ and ‘Liam’ to the foreground again. Chance put me back in touch with Ned Hoste, who had designed the cover for the first edition of LOUISA ELLIOTT. I’m glad to say that working with Ned has opened doors to indie publishing and the digital world.
A little later, a signed hardback copy of LIAM’S STORY arrived via a book-dealer in the USA. In the States, the novel had been published by Wm Morrow under a different title, MORNING’S GATE. But this was a first edition published by Chatto & Windus in the UK. Even more peculiar, I had signed this book for someone in York. How it had gone to the States and then found its way back to me is another mystery.
The strangeness of it gave me a little shiver. The real Liam – the writer of that WW1 diary – had set the whole story in motion one day in York when I was just fifteen years old. Now, decades later, it seemed he was smiling at me again. A slightly quirky smile to be sure, as though he was saying, ‘Come on now, how many prompts do you need?’
The word COINCIDENCE was clear and inescapable – as were the links to those extraordinary events from years before. Clearly it was time to tell the story of how ‘Louisa’ and ‘Liam’ came into being.
‘A WRITER’S TALE – of Life, Love, Luck & Coincidence’, will appear within the next few months. I’m considering using parts of it as a blog. What do you think?
Once upon a time, such questions were followed by: Answers on a postcard, please. Fortunately, in this digital age, you can leave your comments here…
Set in 1890s York and Dublin, the plot of this big Victorian novel is driven by three main characters, and by the effect of past mistakes upon their relationships with each other.
An instant success, LOUISA ELLIOTT became a bestseller around the world, and was translated into several languages. But it also put pressure to bear on producing the second novel to a deadline.
In part, the sequel was the story I’d started with, the one I had always intended to write. In a more profound way, however, LIAM’S STORY in its present form needed LOUISA ELLIOTT to be written first.
It was originally intended to be one book and, in true Victorian tradition, I took time over telling the tale. But after almost five years, I was having doubts that it would ever be finished: I had to find a point where the reader could say farewell to Louisa, Robert and Edward. The tale could then be picked up a few years later to continue into the First World War and beyond.
Only as I started to plan the second book, did I see the difficulty. Had I continued in similar vein with LIAM’S STORY, it could have worked only if I’d been prepared to romanticise the whole thing. But I couldn’t do that: the truth was too important. With publishers waiting for a synopsis, I was in a quandary. In the end, the way forward came in a powerful moment of inspiration, with a plot connecting past & present, its roots in the writing of LOUISA ELLIOTT.
Beneficial coincidences had been the norm since the very beginning of my research. They led on like clues in a treasure hunt, for ten amazing years. The chain of events came to an end only with the publication of LIAM’S STORY in late 1991.
I’ve had isolated examples since, mostly amusing and only rarely significant. But after 21 years and three more books, two strange incidents brought ‘Louisa’ and ‘Liam’ to the foreground again. Chance put me back in touch with Ned Hoste, who had designed the cover for the first edition of LOUISA ELLIOTT. I’m glad to say that working with Ned has opened doors to indie publishing and the digital world.
A little later, a signed hardback copy of LIAM’S STORY arrived via a book-dealer in the USA. In the States, the novel had been published by Wm Morrow under a different title, MORNING’S GATE. But this was a first edition published by Chatto & Windus in the UK. Even more peculiar, I had signed this book for someone in York. How it had gone to the States and then found its way back to me is another mystery.
The strangeness of it gave me a little shiver. The real Liam – the writer of that WW1 diary – had set the whole story in motion one day in York when I was just fifteen years old. Now, decades later, it seemed he was smiling at me again. A slightly quirky smile to be sure, as though he was saying, ‘Come on now, how many prompts do you need?’
The word COINCIDENCE was clear and inescapable – as were the links to those extraordinary events from years before. Clearly it was time to tell the story of how ‘Louisa’ and ‘Liam’ came into being.
‘A WRITER’S TALE – of Life, Love, Luck & Coincidence’, will appear within the next few months. I’m considering using parts of it as a blog. What do you think?
Once upon a time, such questions were followed by: Answers on a postcard, please. Fortunately, in this digital age, you can leave your comments here…
July 11, 2013
The Castle Museum, York
A nostalgic yearning for the past struck me today. It was prompted by news that there is to be a new exhibition space at York’s Castle Museum. A cause for celebration in one sense – the Museum was one of my favourite places as a child, and later featured strongly in my research for LOUISA ELLIOTT. So yes, I am both pleased and proud to think that the Heritage Lottery Fund is helping to finance it.
But I’m both proud and sorrowful that the first exhibition – opening in summer 2014 – will be to mark the centenary of WW1. Like almost every village, town and city in the western world, York lost many sons – and daughters – to the war of 1914-18.
At the age of 20, my York grandmother gave up packing chocolates at Rowntrees in favour of packing shells. In December 1916 she miraculously survived an explosion at the Barnbow munitions factory just outside Leeds. It occurred in the hut where she was fitting fuses and screwing on caps. 35 women were killed outright, dozens more severely injured.
As a child, when I remarked on the white streak in her hair, Grandma quietly described the horror of seeing bits of bodies, arms and legs, just flying through the air. She suffered ‘just a graze’ as she put it, but to be grazed by a shell-splinter was no mean injury. It sliced past her forehead, opening a gash by the hairline – hence the white streak. Her badge of honour, I’d say, proving she’d done her bit for her country as well as the men at the front. So I hope the new exhibition will pay homage to the women too.
Years later, I was given a diary, written by a York relative who served with the Australian forces in Egypt and France. That 1916 diary was to be the inspiration behind two novels, LOUISA ELLIOTT and LIAM’S STORY.
While researching York’s military connections, I met Dr Peter Newman, who was then the Keeper of Military History at the Castle Museum. Through him I was privileged to see ‘behind the scenes at the museum’ – the store rooms full of uniforms, the gun room with its collection of ancient weaponry. And through him introduced to people whose knowledge became woven into a novel.
My picture of life in York in the 1890s would have been nothing without my visits to the Castle Museum. Even as a child, I found Dr Kirk’s collection of ‘bygones’ a place of magic, where the imagination could run riot. The rooms with their furnishings in context, looking down on ‘Kirkgate,’ the famous museum street with its shops and Hansom cab.
At the age of 12, I remember rushing back from there one day, full of excitement. ‘Grandma, guess what? I’ve just seen your old kitchen range in the museum!’
But it had to come – on a recent visit I saw my own past preserved there: a street-scene from the mid-1960s, featuring a motor-scooter and Twiggy!
But I’m both proud and sorrowful that the first exhibition – opening in summer 2014 – will be to mark the centenary of WW1. Like almost every village, town and city in the western world, York lost many sons – and daughters – to the war of 1914-18.
At the age of 20, my York grandmother gave up packing chocolates at Rowntrees in favour of packing shells. In December 1916 she miraculously survived an explosion at the Barnbow munitions factory just outside Leeds. It occurred in the hut where she was fitting fuses and screwing on caps. 35 women were killed outright, dozens more severely injured.
As a child, when I remarked on the white streak in her hair, Grandma quietly described the horror of seeing bits of bodies, arms and legs, just flying through the air. She suffered ‘just a graze’ as she put it, but to be grazed by a shell-splinter was no mean injury. It sliced past her forehead, opening a gash by the hairline – hence the white streak. Her badge of honour, I’d say, proving she’d done her bit for her country as well as the men at the front. So I hope the new exhibition will pay homage to the women too.
Years later, I was given a diary, written by a York relative who served with the Australian forces in Egypt and France. That 1916 diary was to be the inspiration behind two novels, LOUISA ELLIOTT and LIAM’S STORY.
While researching York’s military connections, I met Dr Peter Newman, who was then the Keeper of Military History at the Castle Museum. Through him I was privileged to see ‘behind the scenes at the museum’ – the store rooms full of uniforms, the gun room with its collection of ancient weaponry. And through him introduced to people whose knowledge became woven into a novel.
My picture of life in York in the 1890s would have been nothing without my visits to the Castle Museum. Even as a child, I found Dr Kirk’s collection of ‘bygones’ a place of magic, where the imagination could run riot. The rooms with their furnishings in context, looking down on ‘Kirkgate,’ the famous museum street with its shops and Hansom cab.
At the age of 12, I remember rushing back from there one day, full of excitement. ‘Grandma, guess what? I’ve just seen your old kitchen range in the museum!’
But it had to come – on a recent visit I saw my own past preserved there: a street-scene from the mid-1960s, featuring a motor-scooter and Twiggy!
June 30, 2013
LIAM'S STORY - ebook
In the wake of LOUISA ELLIOTT, the sequel, LIAM'S STORY, has also been re-edited. It is due to appear very shortly on Amazon for Kindle, and a little later will be available to other ebook readers. These two novels - both international bestsellers when they were first published - will be once more be available as print books later in the year.
April 9, 2013
March 27, 2013
The Master's Tale
'Time & Coincidence: I know the force which draws objects together & ends with destruction. Look back, see how events cluster and collide, drawn in by the celestial wash of Time, leaving nothing but flotsam bobbing in the wake...'
As the 101st anniversary of the Titanic disaster approaches, I'm posting a series of blogs this week from The Master's Tale:
http://annvictoriaroberts.co.uk/2013/...
As the 101st anniversary of the Titanic disaster approaches, I'm posting a series of blogs this week from The Master's Tale:
http://annvictoriaroberts.co.uk/2013/...
The Master's Tale
As the 101st anniversary of the Titanic disaster approaches, I'm posting a series of blogs this week from The Master's Tale:
http://annvictoriaroberts.co.uk/2013/...
http://annvictoriaroberts.co.uk/2013/...
March 9, 2013
ROBINSON CRUSOE – a new French translation
If I tell you that a brand-new translation of Daniel Defoe’s world-famous novel has just been accepted into the curriculum for French schools, you may wonder why you should be pleased, or even interested.
It hasn’t earned big bucks, and it hasn’t made the headlines over here – but it has created a stir in France. So, if you’re a book lover who cares about the literary legacy Britain has given to the world, I’m sure you’ll be intrigued by a peek into the background.
This story concerns my translator friend, Francoise du Sorbier, who spent most of her career lecturing on English Literature at a Paris university, her special field being the 18th Century novel. She has been translating classical and modern authors for many years and we met when she was working on my novel MOON RISING in 2000.
It was the beginning of a rich and lasting friendship. Since then, my husband Peter and I have been able to assist occasionally with knotty little literary problems: obscure dialect and allusions in DH Lawrence; strange phrases in Elizabeth Gaskell; slang and odd references in more modern works.
But it was when Francoise told us that she had been commissioned to undertake a new translation of Defoe’s ROBINSON CRUSOE that our joint abilities came to the fore.
Familiar with the novel in English, Francoise had never studied either of the French translations. Prompted to examine the first one, done in 1720, just a year after the novel was published in England, Francoise could see that it was inaccurate and confusing. The later translation – based on the first – had been done in 1836, and its elaborate prose was quite unlike Defoe’s hasty, breathless style.
Defoe’s novel of shipwreck and survival tells an amazing story, but even in English some of the writing is hard to grasp, while detail regarding Crusoe’s journey, and his attempts to leave the island, is obscure. Francoise wished to translate in language true to the era but clear enough for her French readers to understand.
When she asked if Peter and I would be willing to help with some of the difficult passages, we agreed at once. To assist with such a well-known English classic was an honour indeed!
From time to time I would receive an email referring me to certain pages in my copy of the edition from which Francoise was working. Previously, I’d read only an abridged version at school, so studying the original was a surprise. I had forgotten that the fictional Crusoe was a native of York, like myself, and that he sailed out of Hull, the North Sea port where my husband began his nautical career.
A surprise, yes, but also a shock as I read on. In one of my previous blogs I have referred to my early fondness for semi-colons and lengthy sentences – but in Defoe’s prose, half a dozen semi-colons are commonplace – one remarkable sentence contained fifteen!
I found these sentences so long, by the end of them I’d lost sight of the opening words. Peter and I started referring to the author as ‘Daniel the Foe’ – no wonder Francoise was baffled at times!
It wasn’t often that she needed my help, but when she did, I was able to break these passages up to find the meaning, see the connections, grasp the whole and then translate into modern English. Understanding, my friend was then able to find the appropriate French – the French of Defoe’s time.
I enjoyed the challenge – at times it was rather like solving a crossword puzzle. But then we reached the point beyond which I could not go. Towards the end of the book, Crusoe describes his attempts to leave the island on which he has been marooned. He has provided us with a map, but the location is debateable, as are some of his directions.
It was time to hand over to an expert – namely Peter. Francoise had spotted a couple of navigational errors in the text, but having become thoroughly confused, she had to ask Peter to explain. He then spent a couple of days reading the relevant passages, making notes, and comparing the detail with his own hand-drawn copy of Crusoe’s map.
From there he was able to work out what Robinson Crusoe did, when he did it, and what hazards he faced – tides, hidden rocks and shoals, and variable winds. Peter marked these hazards on his map, together with Crusoe’s courses around the island, and sent it off with notes to Francoise. He explained the navigational aspects – and the errors – so that she had a complete grasp of what was going on in the narrative.
It was so far from his usual challenges, Peter was delighted to have been able to help. And Francoise was so grateful – as she said, Peter’s clarity made her translation accessible to a whole new realm of keen French readers. (Who, incidentally, read far more books than we do in the UK.)
As she phrases it, in translation it is important to get ‘beneath the text’ – to understand not just the words, but what is going on in the author’s mind. Several months later, with the work complete, it was enthusiastically received by her publishers, Albin Michel. When the new translation appeared a few months ago, there was quite a stir in the French press: glowing reviews from Paris Match, Le Monde, Liberation, and Le Figaro. One French critic said that Mme du Sorbier had had to ‘shake off’ the semi-colons in order to make Defoe understandable. (That made me smile.)
In a radio discussion, another critic declared that, ‘the best book of the literary season had been written in England in 1719.’ !!!
Did we feel proud? You bet we did! Proud of Eng. Lit., proud to have been able to assist with such an important work – and proud to see our names in the Acknowledgements.
But most of all, we were proud of our friend. Francoise du Sorbier’s passionate attention to meaning and detail is but one aspect of the book’s success. For as a German friend has pointed out, good translation is also dependent on the translator’s ability as a writer. That this new edition has now been adopted into the curriculum for French schools, illustrates its excellence.
It pleases me to think of young people in France opening ‘the set book’, and being enthralled by Robinson Crusoe’s famous tale, instead of being merely bored and baffled by words on a page.
The story of Alexander Selkirk, cast away – deliberately – on one of the Juan Fernandez Islands off the coast of Chile in 1704, was well known in its day. There are many similarities, and it was no doubt the inspiration behind Daniel Defoe’s novel.
The author was not a seafarer, and in writing the adventures of Robinson Crusoe – his castaway in the Caribbean – Defoe would have needed to consult a Master Mariner for navigational details. His advisor was possibly a friend, at home between voyages. Pondering that, Francoise remarked on the fact that she had been fortunate in having a friend in Peter – a modern British sea-captain – to explain what Defoe had written almost 300 years previously.
That coincidence makes a neat circle, real life inspiring the first work of realistic fiction in the English language – while a modern sharing of knowledge has now opened an English classic to new generations of readers in France.
It hasn’t earned big bucks, and it hasn’t made the headlines over here – but it has created a stir in France. So, if you’re a book lover who cares about the literary legacy Britain has given to the world, I’m sure you’ll be intrigued by a peek into the background.
This story concerns my translator friend, Francoise du Sorbier, who spent most of her career lecturing on English Literature at a Paris university, her special field being the 18th Century novel. She has been translating classical and modern authors for many years and we met when she was working on my novel MOON RISING in 2000.
It was the beginning of a rich and lasting friendship. Since then, my husband Peter and I have been able to assist occasionally with knotty little literary problems: obscure dialect and allusions in DH Lawrence; strange phrases in Elizabeth Gaskell; slang and odd references in more modern works.
But it was when Francoise told us that she had been commissioned to undertake a new translation of Defoe’s ROBINSON CRUSOE that our joint abilities came to the fore.
Familiar with the novel in English, Francoise had never studied either of the French translations. Prompted to examine the first one, done in 1720, just a year after the novel was published in England, Francoise could see that it was inaccurate and confusing. The later translation – based on the first – had been done in 1836, and its elaborate prose was quite unlike Defoe’s hasty, breathless style.
Defoe’s novel of shipwreck and survival tells an amazing story, but even in English some of the writing is hard to grasp, while detail regarding Crusoe’s journey, and his attempts to leave the island, is obscure. Francoise wished to translate in language true to the era but clear enough for her French readers to understand.
When she asked if Peter and I would be willing to help with some of the difficult passages, we agreed at once. To assist with such a well-known English classic was an honour indeed!
From time to time I would receive an email referring me to certain pages in my copy of the edition from which Francoise was working. Previously, I’d read only an abridged version at school, so studying the original was a surprise. I had forgotten that the fictional Crusoe was a native of York, like myself, and that he sailed out of Hull, the North Sea port where my husband began his nautical career.
A surprise, yes, but also a shock as I read on. In one of my previous blogs I have referred to my early fondness for semi-colons and lengthy sentences – but in Defoe’s prose, half a dozen semi-colons are commonplace – one remarkable sentence contained fifteen!
I found these sentences so long, by the end of them I’d lost sight of the opening words. Peter and I started referring to the author as ‘Daniel the Foe’ – no wonder Francoise was baffled at times!
It wasn’t often that she needed my help, but when she did, I was able to break these passages up to find the meaning, see the connections, grasp the whole and then translate into modern English. Understanding, my friend was then able to find the appropriate French – the French of Defoe’s time.
I enjoyed the challenge – at times it was rather like solving a crossword puzzle. But then we reached the point beyond which I could not go. Towards the end of the book, Crusoe describes his attempts to leave the island on which he has been marooned. He has provided us with a map, but the location is debateable, as are some of his directions.
It was time to hand over to an expert – namely Peter. Francoise had spotted a couple of navigational errors in the text, but having become thoroughly confused, she had to ask Peter to explain. He then spent a couple of days reading the relevant passages, making notes, and comparing the detail with his own hand-drawn copy of Crusoe’s map.
From there he was able to work out what Robinson Crusoe did, when he did it, and what hazards he faced – tides, hidden rocks and shoals, and variable winds. Peter marked these hazards on his map, together with Crusoe’s courses around the island, and sent it off with notes to Francoise. He explained the navigational aspects – and the errors – so that she had a complete grasp of what was going on in the narrative.
It was so far from his usual challenges, Peter was delighted to have been able to help. And Francoise was so grateful – as she said, Peter’s clarity made her translation accessible to a whole new realm of keen French readers. (Who, incidentally, read far more books than we do in the UK.)
As she phrases it, in translation it is important to get ‘beneath the text’ – to understand not just the words, but what is going on in the author’s mind. Several months later, with the work complete, it was enthusiastically received by her publishers, Albin Michel. When the new translation appeared a few months ago, there was quite a stir in the French press: glowing reviews from Paris Match, Le Monde, Liberation, and Le Figaro. One French critic said that Mme du Sorbier had had to ‘shake off’ the semi-colons in order to make Defoe understandable. (That made me smile.)
In a radio discussion, another critic declared that, ‘the best book of the literary season had been written in England in 1719.’ !!!
Did we feel proud? You bet we did! Proud of Eng. Lit., proud to have been able to assist with such an important work – and proud to see our names in the Acknowledgements.
But most of all, we were proud of our friend. Francoise du Sorbier’s passionate attention to meaning and detail is but one aspect of the book’s success. For as a German friend has pointed out, good translation is also dependent on the translator’s ability as a writer. That this new edition has now been adopted into the curriculum for French schools, illustrates its excellence.
It pleases me to think of young people in France opening ‘the set book’, and being enthralled by Robinson Crusoe’s famous tale, instead of being merely bored and baffled by words on a page.
The story of Alexander Selkirk, cast away – deliberately – on one of the Juan Fernandez Islands off the coast of Chile in 1704, was well known in its day. There are many similarities, and it was no doubt the inspiration behind Daniel Defoe’s novel.
The author was not a seafarer, and in writing the adventures of Robinson Crusoe – his castaway in the Caribbean – Defoe would have needed to consult a Master Mariner for navigational details. His advisor was possibly a friend, at home between voyages. Pondering that, Francoise remarked on the fact that she had been fortunate in having a friend in Peter – a modern British sea-captain – to explain what Defoe had written almost 300 years previously.
That coincidence makes a neat circle, real life inspiring the first work of realistic fiction in the English language – while a modern sharing of knowledge has now opened an English classic to new generations of readers in France.
February 13, 2013
Happy Birthday to LOUISA ELLIOTT!
Re-launching my first novel as an ebook has been a pretty low-key affair with regard to celebrations – a glass of bubbly and a rash of texts and emails, and that was about it! But back in February 1989, LOUISA ELLIOTT’s entry into the world was like a fairy-tale come true.
Carmen Callil, then Managing Director at Chatto & Windus, hosted a very special party at her home in London. As a first-time author it was wonderful to be embraced with such warmth by Carmen, my editor Alison Samuel, agent Caradoc King, and a host of directors and well-wishers from Chatto and Pan and APWatt. There was champagne and a beautifully-iced cake to wish LOUISA ELLIOTT good speed on her way into the world. The evening passed in a blur of introductions, conversation, lovely food, heady drinks, happy faces and warm congratulations.
Surrounded by my family, I was floating on a cloud of enchantment, scarcely able to believe it was happening to me. Looking back it ranks with my wedding day for sheer euphoria, all the good wishes flowing in one direction, like warm air under silk petticoats.
The clock spun round, and it seemed no time at all until midnight was striking and it was time to say goodnight. Next morning, still floating, Peter and I left our hotel like newly-weds. The sun was shining as we walked hand in hand across Kensington Gardens, our hearts dancing like the daffodils – a good month ahead of those at home in York.
Coming out onto Knightsbridge, we reminisced about the first months of our marriage, some twenty years earlier. Then, we’d passed Harrods on a daily basis – me on my way to work, Peter to nautical college in the City. As penniless newlyweds Harrods was not exactly our local shop, but on LOUISA ELLIOTT’s launch day, with new money in the bank and the great department store before us, we decided to venture in.
Mesmerised by the artistry of the food halls, I could have gazed for hours, but Peter reminded me we were supposed to be looking for bookshops. Scanning the store directory, he spotted Harrods’ book department on an upper floor and ushered me towards the nearest escalator.
There, to my amazement, we found LOUISA ELLIOTT, resplendent in blue-and-gold, and displayed in a prominent position. What joy! What an unbelievable, dream-come-true moment that was. That my first sight of my first novel – actually on sale – should have been in Harrods, of all places, made me quite dizzy with delight and disbelief!
But for real, glowing-all-over pride, the tour of York’s bookshops next day topped even the Harrods experience. LOUISA ELLIOTT was in every bookshop window, the silhouette of York Minster on the posters proclaiming that this novel was not just about the characters, it was about York. Seeing the book for sale in the city where I’d spend five years doing research, was where heady joy was transformed into deep-seated thankfulness.
I looked back on the five years of the book’s creation – years of ups-and-downs in which following the dream had often seemed like folly – and I knew that the dedication had been worth it.
Twenty-four years later, I’m still amazed by the way that book left my hands and took on a life of its own. One critic called it Dickensian in size and scope – another likened it to Thomas Hardy – and maybe it is in the way that love and high ideals are shadowed by some harsh realities. Certainly Louisa’s story is far from being ‘a romance’. Like York itself it offers a three-dimensional view, and remains a surprisingly modern tale with a 19th century setting.
As a print book LOUISA ELLIOTT has touched hearts around the world. I’m delighted to say that this timeless story is now available worldwide as an ebook.
Carmen Callil, then Managing Director at Chatto & Windus, hosted a very special party at her home in London. As a first-time author it was wonderful to be embraced with such warmth by Carmen, my editor Alison Samuel, agent Caradoc King, and a host of directors and well-wishers from Chatto and Pan and APWatt. There was champagne and a beautifully-iced cake to wish LOUISA ELLIOTT good speed on her way into the world. The evening passed in a blur of introductions, conversation, lovely food, heady drinks, happy faces and warm congratulations.
Surrounded by my family, I was floating on a cloud of enchantment, scarcely able to believe it was happening to me. Looking back it ranks with my wedding day for sheer euphoria, all the good wishes flowing in one direction, like warm air under silk petticoats.
The clock spun round, and it seemed no time at all until midnight was striking and it was time to say goodnight. Next morning, still floating, Peter and I left our hotel like newly-weds. The sun was shining as we walked hand in hand across Kensington Gardens, our hearts dancing like the daffodils – a good month ahead of those at home in York.
Coming out onto Knightsbridge, we reminisced about the first months of our marriage, some twenty years earlier. Then, we’d passed Harrods on a daily basis – me on my way to work, Peter to nautical college in the City. As penniless newlyweds Harrods was not exactly our local shop, but on LOUISA ELLIOTT’s launch day, with new money in the bank and the great department store before us, we decided to venture in.
Mesmerised by the artistry of the food halls, I could have gazed for hours, but Peter reminded me we were supposed to be looking for bookshops. Scanning the store directory, he spotted Harrods’ book department on an upper floor and ushered me towards the nearest escalator.
There, to my amazement, we found LOUISA ELLIOTT, resplendent in blue-and-gold, and displayed in a prominent position. What joy! What an unbelievable, dream-come-true moment that was. That my first sight of my first novel – actually on sale – should have been in Harrods, of all places, made me quite dizzy with delight and disbelief!
But for real, glowing-all-over pride, the tour of York’s bookshops next day topped even the Harrods experience. LOUISA ELLIOTT was in every bookshop window, the silhouette of York Minster on the posters proclaiming that this novel was not just about the characters, it was about York. Seeing the book for sale in the city where I’d spend five years doing research, was where heady joy was transformed into deep-seated thankfulness.
I looked back on the five years of the book’s creation – years of ups-and-downs in which following the dream had often seemed like folly – and I knew that the dedication had been worth it.
Twenty-four years later, I’m still amazed by the way that book left my hands and took on a life of its own. One critic called it Dickensian in size and scope – another likened it to Thomas Hardy – and maybe it is in the way that love and high ideals are shadowed by some harsh realities. Certainly Louisa’s story is far from being ‘a romance’. Like York itself it offers a three-dimensional view, and remains a surprisingly modern tale with a 19th century setting.
As a print book LOUISA ELLIOTT has touched hearts around the world. I’m delighted to say that this timeless story is now available worldwide as an ebook.
February 5, 2013
The King in the Car Park
Fantastic programme on TV about Richard III last night. So exciting as the cameras followed the dig in a Social Services car park, where archaeologists believed the old Greyfriars monastery was located. It was instigated by a member of the Richard III Society - her intuition - and financial backing from membership - led her to believe she knew where he was buried. The dig uncovered bones within a few days - and cameras followed the dig and subsequent investigation for 3 months. What a programme! It was so moving.
So Richard had a curved spine after all - and was slightly built - but he was a warrior king. Like the paralympians of 2012, he fought his disability as he fought his enemies - to the end. From reconstruction of the skull, it proves that the well-known portrait is a good likeness, if stern, showing his strong nose and determined chin. The reconstruction showed him younger, with a slight smile - made all the difference in the world!
He looked just fine to me - and I find myself more of a supporter than ever. But there again, I'm a native of York - and York loved Richard!
So Richard had a curved spine after all - and was slightly built - but he was a warrior king. Like the paralympians of 2012, he fought his disability as he fought his enemies - to the end. From reconstruction of the skull, it proves that the well-known portrait is a good likeness, if stern, showing his strong nose and determined chin. The reconstruction showed him younger, with a slight smile - made all the difference in the world!
He looked just fine to me - and I find myself more of a supporter than ever. But there again, I'm a native of York - and York loved Richard!
December 23, 2012
LOUISA ELLIOTT - ebook
My first bestselling novel, LOUISA ELLIOTT is now available as a Kindle book from Amazon. It's been out of print for a number of years now, and I'm thrilled to see it up and running again for a whole new generation of readers. It's a classic love story set in 1890s York & Dublin, and got great reviews when first published 23 years ago. Looking forward to comments from new readers!
