Join us as acclaimed author Wendy J. Dunn chats to her protagonist, Lucy Ellis #DualTimeline #WomensFiction #Elizabethan #RecommendedReading

 

Shades of Yellow

by Wendy J. Dunn

During her battle with illness, Lucy Ellis found solace in writing a novel about the mysterious death of Amy Robsart, the first wife of Robert Dudley, the man who came close to marrying Elizabeth I. As Lucy delves into Amy’s story, she also navigates the aftermath of her own experience that brought her close to death and the collapse of her marriage.

After taking leave from her teaching job to complete her novel, Lucy falls ill again. Fearing she will die before she finishes her book, she flees to England to solve the mystery of Amy Robsart’s death.

Can she find the strength to confront her past, forgive the man who broke her heart, and take control of her own destiny?

Who better to write about a betrayed woman than a woman betrayed?

Praise for Shades of Yellow:

"Shifting between 2010 and the Elizabethan era, Wendy J. Dunn's compelling new novel Shades of Yellow explores the complexities of relationships, creative ambition, and medical pain through the eyes of two brave women living centuries apart. Forced to confront the decisions that have brought them to their respective crisis points, Lucy and Amy seek to rewrite their own destinies. A treat for lovers of history and strong stories."

~ Lauren Chater, author of The Beauties

Wendy: Hey Lucy, do you mind talking to me for a bit?

 

Lucy halts on her way to her bedroom. She frowns and checks her watch.

 

Lucy: I suppose so. But I really need to get back to my novel.

  

Wendy: Thanks, Lucy. I appreciate this.

 

Wendy points to Lucy’s wrist.

 

Wendy: I recognise that watch. Isn’t it the Anne Boleyn watch they used to sell at … was it the National Portrait Gallery in London? I think it was there, but I could be wrong.

 

Lucy: Yes, yes, it is. Ben brought it for me on our honeymoon in London.

 

Wendy: I can’t remember you wearing it during the time I spent with you in England.

 

Lucy: It was a gift from Ben. I didn’t want to take anything with me on that trip that reminded me of Ben.

 

Wendy: Are things different now?

 

Lucy: Yes. Very much so.

 

Wendy: Are you two back together?

 

Lucy: I’ve just got to Australia, Wendy. I go in for my operation tomorrow. I rather not think about the future until after that.

 

Wendy: Okay. So, we are still in 2010. And I understand. But the Coffee Pot Book Club has asked me to discuss what motivates you, your challenges, your conflicts. I thought you should answer these questions, not me…

 

Lucy: That’s a lot to cover. I thought you only wanted to talk to me for a bit?

 

Wendy: I know, and I understand you are busy. I am a writer, too, so I understand the desire to keep writing. But if you could just answer these questions, I would be most grateful. So, tell me what drives you, Lucy?

 

Lucy laughs.

 

Lucy: What drives me? Passion, I suppose. Passion to give voices to the silenced voices of the past. Passion to write and finish my novel about Amy Robsart. Passion to live my life to feed my soul, and heart. To be true to myself, I suppose.

 

Wendy: Any challenges?

 

Lucy sighs.

 

Lucy: Life. If there is one thing the last five years has taught me is that life isn’t easy. I suppose it is true that life isn’t meant to be easy.

 Even writing isn’t easy. Don’t get me wrong. I love writing, but to craft a novel? Well, that is no small thing. And to write a novel you’re truly proud of… a work if historical fiction? Well, for me, it takes time and so much mental energy.

 

Lucy laughs.

 

Lucy: And then I made it harder for myself by setting my first novel in Tudor times, and in England. You and I both know that getting to England from Australia means a long journey from home. And it is not a cheap journey either.

 

Wendy: But it is worth doing, don’t you think?

 

Lucy: For the sake of writing a novel set in England? Of course! I just wish I had had more time to get more done during my time in England, but the weather and my health made that impossible.

 

Wendy: Are there any conflicts you would like to tell me about?

 

Lucy: I suppose the main one involves human relationships. They are never easy… goodness; I use that word a lot. My time in England saw me dealing with so many conflicts. I fled from Australia because life felt too hard, and I just wanted to forget about my own life and focus on finishing my novel. Then I discovered there was nothing simple about finishing a book too.

 

Wendy laughs.

 

Wendy: I could have told you that. Nothing about writing is simple.

Lucy laughs.

 

Lucy: Makes you wonder why we do it.

 

Wendy: It keeps us sane, don’t you think?

 

Lucy: Yes. (She glances toward the door to her bedroom.) Forgive me, but I have a mountain of work to do before tomorrow. I best get back to it.

 

Wendy: Thank you, Lucy. And wish you so much luck and hope everything goes well tomorrow, and for the future. 

Thank you, Wendy and Lucy, for your insightful chat.
We're keeping fingers & toes crossed.

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Wendy J. Dunn

Wendy J. Dunn is a multi-award-winning Australian writer fascinated by Tudor history – so much so she was not surprised to discover a family connection to the Tudors, not long after the publication of Dear Heart, How Like You This, her first Anne Boleyn novel, which narrated the Anne Boleyn story through the eyes of Sir Thomas Wyatt, the elder.

Her family tree reveals the intriguing fact that one of her ancestral families – possibly over three generations – had purchased land from both the Boleyn and Wyatt families to build up their holdings. It seems very likely Wendy’s ancestors knew the Wyatts and Boleyns personally.

Wendy gained her PhD in 2014 and tutors in writing at Swinburne University of Technology, Australia. She loves walking in the footsteps of the historical people she gives voice to in her books.

Connect with Wendy:

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Book of the Week: Sea Witch by Helen Hollick #HistoricalAdventure #SeafaringAdventure #Pirates #RecommendedReading

Sea Witch

The Sea Witch Voyages, Book #1

by Helen Hollick

The Time : The Golden Age of Piracy - 1716.

The Place : The Pirate Round - from the South African Coast to the Caribbean.

Escaping the bullying of his elder half-brother, from the age of fifteen Jesamiah Acorne has been a pirate with only two loves - his ship and his freedom. But his life is to change when he and his crewmates unsuccessfully attack a merchant ship off the coast of South Africa.

He is to meet Tiola Oldstagh, an insignificant girl, or so he assumes - until she rescues him from a vicious attack, and almost certain death, by pirate hunters. And then he discovers what she really is; a healer, a midwife - and a white witch.

Tiola and Jesamiah become lovers, but the wealthy Stefan van Overstratten, a Cape Town Dutchman, also wants Tiola as his wife, and Jesamiah's jealous brother, Phillipe Mereno, is determined to seek revenge for resentments of the past, a stolen ship and the insult of being cuckolded in his own home.

When the call of the sea and an opportunity to commandeer a beautiful ship - the Sea Witch - is put in Jesamiah's path he must make a choice between his life as a pirate or his love for Tiola. He wants both, but Mereno and van Overstratten want him dead.

In trouble, imprisoned in the darkness and stench that is the lowest part of his brother's ship, can Tiola, with her gift of Craft and the aid of his loyal crew, save him?

Using all her skills Tiola must conjure up a wind to rescue her lover, but first she must brave the darkness of the ocean depths and confront the supernatural being, Tethys, the Spirit of the Sea, an elemental who will stop at nothing to claim Jesamiah Acorne's soul and bones as a trophy for herself.

Praise for Sea Witch:

“In the sexiest pirate contest Jesamiah Acorne gives Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow a run for his money.” 

~ Sharon Penman, bestselling historical fiction author

“A wonderful swash-buckler of a novel. Fans of Pirates of the Caribbean will love this to pieces of eight!”

~ Elizabeth Chadwick, bestselling author of historical fiction

“Helen Hollick has created a terrific, likable rogue in Jesamiah Acorne; a young man with a dark past and very bright future - if he survives to enjoy it. Details about the age of sail, life on board and ashore, and the sense that sea has a special, sinister life of its own added to the pleasure of reading.” 

~ Plain Jane, 5* Amazon review

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Join us as acclaimed author Nancy Jardine introduces Margaret Law, protagonist in her compelling new novel, Tailored Truths #HistoricalFiction #FamilySaga #RecommendedReading

 

Tailored Truths

Silver Sampler Series, Book #2

by Nancy Jardine

An engrossing Victorian Scotland Saga (Silver Sampler Series Book 2)

Is self-supporting success enough for Margaret Law or will her future also include an adoring husband and children? She might secretly yearn for that though how can she avoid a repeat of relationship deceptions that disenchanted her so much during her teenage years?

Employment as a lady’s maid, and then as a private tutor in Liverpool in the 1860s bring thrilling opportunities Margaret could never have envisaged. Though when those posts end, her educational aspirations must be shelved again. Reliance on her sewing skills is paramount for survival when she returns to Dundee.

Meeting Sandy Watson means love, marriage and starting a family - though not necessarily in that order – are a striking development though it entails a move north to Peterhead. Yet, how can Margaret shed her fear of commitment and her independence and take the plunge?

Jessie, her sister-at-heart, is settled in Glasgow. Frequent letters are a life-line between them but when it all goes horribly wrong, the contents of Margaret’s correspondence don’t necessarily mirror her awful day-to-day realities.

The world of work is a narrow one…for Margaret Law.

Mid-1800s, Scotland.

My sixteen-year-old character Margaret, at the beginning of Tailored Truths, finds herself with no job and nowhere to stay. The live-in-post she had as a private tutor to a little disabled girl in Edinburgh – which lasted about four years – is now over. Margaret’s mother is dead, her father is ‘out there somewhere doing his own thing’ but is unreachable, so Margaret must find work to survive on her own. Many girls of her age are in similar situations, some of them eking out a mere existence but Margaret is an indomitable character. She’s determined to do a lot better than living her life in the gutter.

When writing the second novel in the Silver Sampler Series, I researched which jobs might be suitable for someone like my resourceful Margaret. What were typical jobs for a sixteen-year-old in a Scottish city?

Margaret is in Dundee at the beginning of the novel, staying in a lodging house and sharing a room with her best friend Jessie – who also had to leave the house in Edinburgh where they were both employed. Jessie manages to get herself a live-in position in Dundee as a lady’s maid, a huge step-up since Jessie started working life as a kitchen skivvy. A post as a lady’s maid means doing very basic tasks, like caring for her mistress’ clothing or perhaps assisting her mistress to dress (underclothing and fastenings often requiring a second person due to the style involved). A lady’s maid might style hair, or be used in the role of a companion if propriety requires a chaperon. This type of post means 24 hour availability to the mistress but comes with bed and board – extremely important if the job seeker is an orphan. Even if a lady’s maid needs to share a room with another servant, it’s a better job than many girls have. Margaret is delighted that Jessie has managed to get herself a secure job, even if the role is still a subservient one.

My character Margaret is better educated than most working-class girls of her age, her parents having allowed her to stay on at school till she was twelve, but her childhood dream of becoming a teacher still seems impossible. Even though she’s tutored for years, the educational establishments in Dundee that Margaret applies to for a teaching job won’t entertain her, since she’s not certificated. Had she stayed on at school after she was twelve, she would have gone through the process of being a pupil teacher during the ensuing four, or so, years – the usual route for a boy (rarely a girl) to take the examinations to become a certificated teacher.

The schools she’s applied to don’t believe she can teach more than one pupil at a time. Advertising herself in newspapers as a tutor has been an expensive process and crushingly it has produced no positive replies. This type of post would normally be held by a man, so Margaret knows there’s an element of prejudice involved in rejecting her skills. Had her savings been extensive she might have tried to advertise in other newssheets, but to her disgust she has to abandon the exercise.

She finds she can’t even get a post at a ‘Dame’ school in Dundee. These schools teach mainly domestic subjects to young girls, to prepare them for being married and running their own household. Reading and writing skills are taught in a ‘Dame’ school but extend to little more than a girl learning to sign her name, read recipes and tot up a basic household budget. Margaret’s sewing skills are plentiful but she’s not skilled at cooking, or – heaven forbid – doing laundry! Being rejected by ‘Dame’ schools is quite a blow. Yet in some ways it’s a relief, since the wage is low, and a successful candidate needs to find a place to live and a way to feed herself.

Margaret’s lodging house doesn’t provide a mini-kitchen in her rented room, so she’s reliant on her landlady providing meals, at a price. She considers renting a private room in a Dundee tenement block, which might be cheaper than her lodging house, but the room would be empty. She’d have to buy furnishings and cook for herself but how could she do that in a room that might not even have a fireplace? Being completely independent, Margaret works out, just isn’t possible for her yet.

So, what else can a well-educated girl do? Margaret’s a quick learner but there are no lady’s maid, or shop jobs to be had either. Dressmakers and milliners don’t pay much even if the seamstress is completing very intricate lace and working with delicate silk products, but although she has extensive sewing skills no-one wants to employ her.

Desperation is seeping in but Margaret refuses to wallow in misery.

Almost as a last resort…sliding down the ladder of skilled employment into the less so…there are plenty of linen and jute mills in Dundee which employ women in repetitive, and often dangerous situations. Paying a woman a much lower wage than a man, Margaret reluctantly acknowledges, is commonplace in Dundee. It grates badly that paying women a pittance is what contributes to the financial success of some Dundee mill owners.

Yet, when faced with destitution, her savings having dwindled rapidly, Margaret pragmatically takes a job in a sack-sewing room at a Dundee mill. She is barely surviving on the wage but determination makes her plough on, confident that something better will turn up. She isn’t giving up on a future in teaching but she grasps that menial life can get in the way of dreams.

Experience teaches Margaret that a married woman is still employable in a Dundee mill but it generally means the poor soul has to struggle through a pregnancy, often working on to the latest stages before giving birth. The idea of then having to look after a family while working twelve hour shifts is anathema to Margaret and she vows to do her utmost to avoid that fate. Being the nurturer might be in Margaret’s nature, but shouldering all of the responsibilities –because a husband can only occasionally find day-labouring jobs – definitely doesn’t inspire her. Her own upbringing and work experience has been fraught with drama. The unreliable adults around her in dysfunctional households have made her extremely wary of encouraging any long-term romantic commitments, though her long-lasting sisterly-friendship with Jessie is sound as a bell.

Worse than the drudgery of mill work, or being a wee-slavey in a demanding domestic post, is the prostitution fate of many girls that Margaret sees around the streets of Dundee. She is of a mind to do everything possible to steer clear of that profession.

So…does Margaret see her work-life as always being in the sack-sewing room of the mill in Dundee? Absolutely not! Though, if you want to find out more…Tailored Truths has the answers!

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Nancy Jardine

Nancy Jardine writes historical adventure fiction, historical saga, time travel historical adventure and contemporary mysteries.

Research, grandchildren, gardening fill up her day in the castle country of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, when not writing or promoting her writing. Interacting with readers is a joy at Book and Craft Fairs where she signs / sells paperback versions of her novels. She enjoys giving author presentations on her books and on Ancient Roman Scotland.

Memberships include: Historical Novel Society, Scottish Association of Writers, Federation of Writers Scotland, Romantic Novelists’ Association, and the Alliance of Independent Authors.

She is self-published with Ocelot Press.

Connect with Nancy:

Website • Facebook • Bluesky • Instagram • Twitter / X

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