Emily Paull

Recently, it was beginning to bug me that I had read so many more books about World War Two than I had about World War One.  I don't mean non fiction because generally, I don't tend to read a lot of whole books from the non fictional side of life anyway.  But in fiction, I felt like this constituted a rather large gap in my reading, particularly for someone who identifies as a historical fiction writer. I've just started sketching out ideas and scenes for a new book, and this one is going to be set between the years 1913, when my protagonist marries and 1921, when her husband (who was reported dead in 1916) is found to be suffering from amnesia and living in a private home in England.  Obviously as I have barely written any of this yet, these details may change.  I am now in what I like to think of as the 'woolgathering' phase of the drafting process, in which I read as much as I can to immerse myself in the mindset, and write snippets of scenes in my notebook. ...

The Wicked Cometh Laura Carlin Hodder & Stoughton, 2018 When Hester White is hit by a horse and carriage on the streets of London in 1831, she is brought into the home of the Brock siblings, Calder and Rebekah.  Calder, a surgeon, entreats his older sister to become a teacher to Hester, whom he mistakenly believes to be an uneducated member of the poor working class, given the area of town where he came across her.  In truth, Hester is the orphaned daughter of a pastor, who was taken in by her father's former gardener and his wife. Fearful of being sent away to the Society for the Suppression of Mendicity, she plays along with the scheme, adopting the mannerisms and speech of her friend Annie.  The more time she spends with Rebekah Brock, the more she feels a connection to the woman, but the connection is of a nature that confuses and frightens Hester, and for much of the early part of the book, Hester is uncertain of whether or nor she can be trusted. Alongsi...