Burning Secret
by R J Lloyd
Publication Date: May 24th, 2022
Publisher: Matador
Pages: 384
Genre: Historical Fiction
Inspired by actual events, Burning Secret is a dramatic and compelling tale of ambition, lies and betrayal.
Born in the slums of Bristol in 1844, Enoch Price seems destined for a life of poverty and hardship-but he’s determined not to accept his lot.
Enoch becomes a bare-knuckle fighter in London’s criminal underworld. But in a city where there’s no place for honest dealing, a cruel loan shark cheats him, leaving Enoch penniless and facing imprisonment.
Undaunted, he escapes to a new life in America and embarks on a series of audacious exploits. But even as he helps shape history, Enoch is not content. Tormented by his past and the life he left behind, Enoch soon becomes entangled in a web of lies and secrets.
Will he ever break free and find the happiness he craves?
Influenced by real people and events, Enoch’s remarkable story is one of adventure, daring, political power, deceit and, in the end, the search for redemption and forgiveness.
Welcome, Roger!
Please make yourself at home. Would you prefer tea or coffee, or perhaps something more... fortifying?
Thank you. I’ll have a decaf tea, please. I suppose I’ve now shattered the popular image of the author sustained by black caffeine-rich coffee.
You have indeed! But that’s fine...
Before we begin, please introduce yourself.
As you know, I’m the author of Burning Secret, a historical novel set at the end of the nineteenth century.
After retiring as a chief police officer, I turned my detective skills to genealogy, tracing my family history to the 16th century. However, after 15 years of extensive research, I couldn’t track down my great-great-grandfather, Enoch Price, whose wife, Eliza, had, in living memory, helped raise my mother.
It was my cousin Gillian who, after several more dead-ends, called one day to say that she had found him through a fluke encounter. Susan Sperry from California, who had recently retired, decided to explore the box of documents given to her thirty years before by her mother, which she had never opened. In the box, she found some references to her great- grandfather, Harry Mason, a wealthy American politician and hotel owner from Florida who had died in 1919. It soon transpired that Susan’s great-grandfather, Harry Mason, was, in fact, Enoch Price. From this single thread, the extraordinary story of Harry Mason began to unravel, leading me to visit the States to meet my American cousins, and it was Susan Sperry and Kimberly Mason, direct descendants, who persuaded me to write the book.
I graduated from Warwick with a joint in Philosophy and Psychology and a Masters in Marketing from UWE. Since leaving a thirty-year career in policing, I’ve been a non- executive director with the NHS, a prominent social housing provider, and other charities. I live with my wife in Bristol, spending my time travelling, writing and producing delicious plum jam from the trees on my award-winning allotment.
Could you tell us a little about your book and what inspired you to write this story?
Burning Secret is a true story. Well, almost. The novel blurs the lines between fact and fiction as it reconstructs the real life of Harry Mason, and is a story that many can relate to through our ancestors and family histories.
It begins with Enoch Price, my great-great-grandfather, born into the filth and poverty of the Bristol slums of 1844. But Enoch was determined not to follow his father to a cruel and early death.
An ambitious youth, Enoch becomes a bare-knuckle fighter in London’s underworld. But when misfortune befalls him and, facing ruin and imprisonment, he deserts his wife and three daughters and flees to Florida. One of his abandoned daughters, Florence, is my great- grandmother, who can be seen in our family photograph albums with my grandmother, mother and brother. She died in 1949.
By the time Enoch arrives in Florida, he has become Harry Mason, an adventurer who embarks on a series of risky escapades, building an extraordinary new life of wealth and political power.
The recollections of my cousins on both sides of the Atlantic drove me, almost inevitably, to tell the story of this extraordinary man. The novel operates on several levels: as a fast-paced thriller with plenty of derring-do, a morality tale of good vs. greed, and how life can easily corrupt the pursuit of happiness. Some have even suggested it’s a tragic love story.
During your research, did you stumble upon any unexpected surprises?
Not only were there surprises at almost every turn, but there were so many disappointments, too. Here was a man who played an important role in the development and history of Jacksonville, Florida, yet only one photograph of him exists, which was taken in 1903 when he was elected to the State House of Representatives. No family mementoes or heirlooms survive, neither here nor in the U.S., which is surprising for a multi-millionaire who courted notoriety and popularity.
Equally surprising is his final act of atonement, when Harry, at the end of his life, bequeaths plots of land and money to Eliza, the wife he deserted more than thirty years previously.
What do you think is the most fascinating aspect of writing this novel?
Without a doubt, it’s been fascinating getting to know my great-great-grandfather. And when I say getting to know him, I mean as a friend and relative, not in an abstract way. Harry died over 30 years before I was born, yet writing about him and inventing his dialogue gave me insights into his thinking and the dilemmas he faced. He was someone with whom it was easy to strike up a conversation, hearing his voice and familiar turns of phrase. The Jacksonville public library has a collection of politically lampooning cartoons of him, published around 1900. Interestingly, his speech balloons are written in the phonetics of his Bristolian, west country accent, which he obviously retained. As several reviewers have remarked, despite his unscrupulous behaviour and roguish character, by the end, you want things to work out well for him. He was a complex character of contradictions. Capable of cruelty and selfishness, yet generously kind to those, he owed nothing.
Does one of the main characters hold a special place in your heart? If so, why?
Whilst Harry dominates the narrative, several strong characters cross his path, all different yet endearing in their own way. There is, for example, Micheal O’Carroll, the psychopathic landlord of the Lamb and Flag, who was Harry’s childhood friend, collaborator in crime and sparring partner in the sordid business of bare-knuckle fighting. He is a violent and unpredictably cruel man who, even so, shows great care and kindness to Harry. Another is Nathan Cross, a freed slave whom Harry regards as his friend, a dangerous relationship at a time of racial tension and street corner lynchings. Perhaps Eleanor Jones, the English school mistress and suffragette running from her past, is my favourite. Eleanor is the perfect foil for Harry. She reminds him of his wife, Eliza, whom he misses greatly, and he sees his own sins and betrayals in her.
What did you find challenging when you wrote Burning Secret?
Conveying Harry’s hidden thoughts and heartaches was by far the most challenging. This is a man who keeps his emotions buried deep. He must maintain a double life while burdened by the guilt that tortures him. Finding the words to describe his feelings as he struggles to resolve his dilemmas was not easy, yet these feelings play an important role in disclosing his motives. The challenge was doubly tricky when maintaining the narrative technique of show, don’t tell.
What is your next writing project about?
I’m currently working on a couple of projects. The first is about another of my ancestors, Frederick Henry Seddon, who was hanged at HMP Pentonville for murder in 1912. His story has been told before, but never, as far as I know, from the family’s perspective.
I’m also drawn to writing a murder mystery, where I can allow my imagination to run. I’ve recently discovered a family connection to two brothers, Peter and Veniamin Timkov, from the Russian village of Mukhouderovka, where Stalin’s secret police murdered both, which presents an almost blank canvas.
Your new projects both sound fascinating. It’ll be interesting to see how you bring those real people back to life.
Thank you for your time.
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R J Lloyd
After retiring as a senior police officer, R J Lloyd turned his detective skills to genealogy, tracing his family history to the 16th century. However, after 15 years of extensive research, he couldn’t track down his great-great-grandfather, Enoch Price, whose wife, Eliza, had, in living memory, helped raise his mother.
It was his cousin Gillian who, after several more dead-ends, called one day to say that she had found him through a fluke encounter. Susan Sperry from California, who had recently retired, decided to explore the box of documents given to her thirty years before by her mother, which she had never opened. In the box, she found some references to her great grandfather, Harry Mason, a wealthy hotel owner from Florida who had died in 1919. It soon transpired that Susan’s great grandfather, Harry Mason, was, in fact, Enoch Price. From this single thread, the extraordinary story of Harry Mason began to unravel, leading R J Lloyd to visit the States to meet his newly discovered American cousins, and it was Susan Sperry and Kimberly Mason, direct descendants, who persuaded R J Lloyd to write the extraordinary story of ancestor.
R J Lloyd graduated from the University of Warwick with a degree in Philosophy and Psychology and a Masters in Marketing from UWE. Since leaving a thirty-year career in policing, he’s been a non-executive director with the NHS, social housing, and other charities. He lives with his wife in Bristol, spending his time travelling, writing and producing delicious plum jam from the trees on his award-winning allotment.
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