Dance a Fearful Jig
by Alison Huntingford
What would you sacrifice for love?
Peterborough 1807
Rachel Alderman is a lonely, middle-aged housekeeper to a local vicar. Blighted by crippling shyness, illness and the needs of others, her life is going nowhere. That is, until a chance encounter with a mysterious stranger determines otherwise.
Charles Le Boucher is a French soldier captured in the ongoing Napoleonic war, currently residing in the nearby POW camp, Norman Cross. Whilst out on parole, attempting to sell his delicately carved model ships in the marketplace, he meets and befriends Rachel.
With their two countries on opposing sides in a bitter war, should they even be talking to one another? Despite family disapproval, can their innocent friendship blossom into love, and if it does, what will become of them?
Praise for Dance a Fearful Jig:
"I really enjoyed this story and the characters."
~ Chelsie S., Amazon Vine Voice
~ Chelsie S., Amazon Vine Voice
As the century slowly sickened and died, Rachel too felt her own health decay. At first, she thought it was just her age, after all she was 35 now and people rarely lived past 50 in those days. Her hands, which after several years of manual toil were hard and calloused, had suddenly become sore with lesions which bled regularly. She guessed it was just a new dish soap that they were using, but they hurt a lot. Then blisters also appeared further up her arms and she began to get a bit worried. Not one to make a fuss, she carried on, denying to herself just how ill she was feeling. Some mornings now she could hardly drag herself from her mattress on the floor, for the dizziness, tiredness and pain she felt.
‘You look peaky,’ said Betty, in her usual forthright manner. ‘Need to get some good food inside yer. Here, take a dish of this.’
She handed Rachel a large plate of stew, but after taking a few mouthfuls she felt quite sick. Making her excuses she rushed outside to get some air. In her heart Rachel knew something was wrong, but she couldn’t afford to stop work. She had to earn a living.
Things finally came to a head one day in the early autumn of 1800 when Rachel was in the kitchen collecting the afternoon tea. The room seemed to be spinning around, and she broke out into a cold sweat. She tried to speak but her voice failed. Then she passed out into blackness, collapsing on the floor with a clatter of broken teacups....."
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Alison Huntingford
Alison Huntingford has a degree in Humanities with Literature and has always enjoyed reading, especially the great writers of the 19th Century.
She is an only child of two only children and so has always felt a distinct lack of family. This inspired her to research her family history and has led her to write three full length novels so far: The Glass Bulldog, A Ha’penny Will Do and new novel Dance A Fearful Jig published January 2024.
In September 2021 Alison set up the South Hams Authors Network – an organisation which aims to support and promote the work of Devon writers. This is a free, informal group which meets on a monthly basis and has a devoted and loyal following. This culminated in the much praised Dartmoor Edge Literary Fest in October 2022, which was a free weekend event featuring local authors at community arts hub The Clay Factory near Ivybridge. Since then, Alison has gone on to organise and appear at the acclaimed South Hams Literary Festival, based around the town of Ivybridge, Devon.
Connect with Alison:
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