Shortlisted Best Historical Read
I was thrilled to bits to learn yesterday that The Lost Duchess has been shortlisted for a Reader Award at this year’s Festival of Romance in the ‘Best Historical Read’ category. The full shortlist is here:
http://festivalofromance.co.uk/#/awards/4549309129
The Lost Duchess by Jenny Barden (Ebury)
The Spice Merchant’s Wife by Charlotte Betts (Piatkus)
The Gilded Fan by Christina Courtenay (Choc Lit)
A Bargain Struck by Liz Harris (Choc Lit)
Maid of Oaklands Manor by Terri Nixon (Piatkus Entice)
The Affair by Gill Paul (Avon)
Wonderful to see other friends shortlisted for other awards.
The Festival will be a very happy occasion!
Giles Milton at SherLitFest
Terrific presentation from Giles Milton yesterday at the Sherborne Literary Festival. Hugely enjoyable, informative and revelatory – from the role of a British secret agent in the asssination of Rasputin (Giles has the picture to prove it!), to the eccentric foibles of the original ‘M’ (actually ‘C’ – Sir George Mansfield Smith-Cumming – complete with monocle and wooden leg), to the use of chemical weapons against the Bolsheviks, this was an immensely entertaining and interesting talk, one that left me itching to read his latest book. …And I got the opportunity to thank him for his wonderful Big Chief Elizabeth which was such a help to me in writing The Lost Duchess. Not many historians have the ability to present material in such a gripping, punchy and captivating way – but Giles is a master.
Natasha Solomons
Attended my first event at the Sherborne Lit Fest yesterday – Natasha Solomons talking about her latest book, The Gallery of Vanished Husbands – Great to hear an author open up about inspiration, objectives and methodoligy – and this talk set me thinking, as good presentations always should, about how the way our relationships end is often incomplete – we lose touch or catastrophy intervenes – we can find ourselves looking back on the last inconsequential words spoken to a friend who has disappeared from our lives. People ‘vanish’ from us all the time – frequently we’re not even aware of it. I’m going to enjoy reading this book.
Interview for TVHF
Jenny Barden – The Thames Valley History Festival Interview.
When she is not penning highly-acclaimed historical fiction, Jenny Barden spends her time co-ordinating conferences for the Historical Novel Society or the Romantic Novelists’ Association as well as writing articles for various publications. Jenny’s debut novel, Mistress of the Sea, was published last year and has since been shortlisted for a number of awards. Her second offering, The Lost Duchess, is published on November 7th.
Both your novels are set in the Elizabethan period. What appeals to you about this era?
It was our Golden Age, the flowering of the English Renaissance, the Age of Discovery – a time when England emerged from the shadow of the Middle Ages to spread her wings on the world stage. The Elizabethan era saw the expression of genius in the arts, when Shakespeare and Marlowe brought people flocking to the theatre, and Tallis wrote divine music, and Hilliard and White painted beautifully in miniature. This was the age of philosophers and visionaries such as Bacon and Raleigh, a brave bold age of action when Drake and Hawkins began to assert English dominance at sea and saw off the threat posed by the Spanish Armada. It was colourful and bawdy, vigorous and liberated. We had a queen on the throne who, after the catastrophic reign of Mary, ruled courageously and wisely. Gloriana gave everyone confidence. I enjoy going to that age in my writing.
Hilary Mantel once said that “the Tudors are the great national soap opera”. This evaluation certainly true holds true when we consider the many larger-than-life characters who populated the royal court during this period. Mistress of the Sea centres on the exploits of one such character, Sir Francis Drake. What drew you to him in particular?
The Lost Duchess Arrives!
Just got my advance copy of ‘The Lost Duchess’ and even the cat is impressed! The book is lovely! There’s nothing quite like the feel and smell of a new hardback, and this is a complete visual delight too. The jacket is exquisite, front and back. I’m so pleased – and inside there’s a map and all the little touches to the layout that I’d hoped for. Ebury have produced something to treasure and of which I’m immensely proud…
Elizabeth I & her People
For my first blog post on my revamped website, I’d like to highlight this great new exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery – on until 5 January – the life and times of Elizabeth R explored through the portraits of her people: http://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/elizabethi/exhibition.php
HNS CONFERENCE 2013
I’ll be speaking on a panel at the HNS Conference 2013 to be held at St Petersburg, Florida, (June 21-23). ‘Making it to Mainstream – And What Comes After’ along with Gillian Bagwell, Nancy
Get Writing 2013
Don’t miss the fabulous Get Writing Conference at the University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Saturday 20 April. I’ll be running a workshop on ‘The Craft of Writing an Historical Novel (with a little help along the way!)’
NOMINATED FOR THE RNA’s NEW WRITERS’ SCHEME AWARD 2013
Mistress of the Sea is a contender for the Joan Hessayon Award of the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s ‘New Writers’ Scheme’ for 2013. There’s a lovely piece about that here: http://www.watfordobserver.co.
The Mistress Gets a New Jacket
The new paperback cover for Mistress of the Sea has been unveiled. Isn’t it gorgeous?
The book will be released on 20 June 2013.
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