Thank you to Ellesea for letting me share some of my thoughts with
her readers. My book, Along Came A Soldier, is set in 1820 Cornwall.
This was a period of simple beliefs in things like curses and
witchcraft. A time when the threat of the hangman’s noose was very
real and typhus could wipe out whole families. It was also a time
when a woman’s position in society was very like slavery.
Women were seen as home keepers and were trapped in these homes. They
cleaned and cooked and sewed, taking care of the household. Mothers
taught daughters and so it continued. A woman was first controlled by
her father and brothers, then if she married, by her husband. They
were considered beneath men because they were the weaker sex.
It was a woman’s duty to marry and then bear children. Single women
were pitied, a life no woman wanted. Once married, her husband had a
right to everything she had, including her body.
I have two main female characters in my book. The first is Charity
Perrow. A young, as yet unmarried woman still living at home. Her
world is confined to the cottage and the village where she lives.
Having lost her mother at a young age and being the only female in
the family, it is her duty to care for the household and to do
whatever her father or brothers command. She has, of course, always
complied. At twenty-one, she worries about marriage and family and
dreads being left an old maid. An excerpt from the book;
She was a sweet old dear, but Charity
couldn’t look at her without a surge of dread. The old lady was a
spinster, unmarried, and alone, having devoted her life to caring for
her parents. Charity silently begged God not to leave her with such a
terrible fate and crossed herself with her free hand because it
seemed the right thing to do.
Typical thoughts of so many women at that time.
Charity, however, longs for freedom and space of her own. Over the
course of the novel, the reader sees her change and grow. When she
has the chance of love, she seizes the opportunity, knowing her
family will disapprove. She begins to stand up to her older brother
and make her own decisions. Excerpt from the book;
Charity stepped back out of Tom’s
reach and screamed at him so loudly he flinched. ‘Stop seeing me as
your baby sister. I’m a woman. I’m not growing;
I have grown up! I want to be with him. I want to be an Ennor.’
Very brave indeed for a young woman still living at home, a young
woman who would not have dared do that at the start of the book.
Charity has hidden strengths and depths of feeling that come to the
fore when she falls in love and has to fight to keep that love.
My other female character is Grace Partridge, the bonesetter. Grace
is partly based on a historic figure that I read about called Mrs.
Mapp, the bonesetter of Epsom. Mrs. Mapp’s father was a bonesetter,
and he passed his knowledge on to his daughter. She was good at her
work, although her knowledge of anatomy was only basic, she had ‘the
knack’ for bones and she had the strength required to pull and
manipulate dislocated joints.
My character was also taught everything she knows by her father. She
is not only the bonesetter, but she is also the village herbalist and
midwife. A large lady who is strong and capable and formidable, who
sees it as her duty to care for the villagers and anyone else who may
ask for her help. Excerpt from the book;
She stroked Sam’s arm to coax it out
straight, then, clamping her hands around his wrists, glanced at
Jethro. ‘Pull!’ she ordered and wrenched Sam’s arm down hard,
eyes on his shoulder, watching the bone snap into place. She held a
hand up for Jethro to stop and waited for Sam to finish screaming.
At a time when women were home keepers, Grace is the exception. A
widow, she lives on her own and is very much in control of her
destiny. Even in the early 1800s, strong women did exist and Grace is
one such example.
I love writing historical fiction and
making the past come alive. I do hope you enjoy my novel, Along Came
A Soldier.
Along
Came A Soldier by Brenda Davies
When murder
stalks St. Merryn, no secrets are safe…
A forbidden
romance…
Set in 1820
Cornwall, Charity Perrow lives a sheltered life in the village of St.
Merryn. When she meets and falls for Jethro Ennor, they soon learn
their families are bitter enemies, and Charity finds herself torn
between remaining loyal to her family and giving into her growing
desire for a man they hate.
A village with
hidden secrets…
A battle-scarred
redcoat is lurking In Greenoak Woods. Struggling to keep his grip on
sanity, he’s come home to settle the score with those responsible
for the heavy burden he’s been carrying all these years.
An innocent
man accused…
When a villager
is murdered, the suspicion falls on Jethro. Now Charity must risk
everything, including being disowned by her family, to prove his
innocence and save him from the gallows.
But as Charity
hunts for the truth, she begins to uncover secrets over a decade
old—secrets that will change everything.
Brenda Davies can trace her
Cornish heritage back to the 17th century. She loves to indulge her
passion of history and all things Cornish by delving into the past
and bringing it alive for the reader to experience, which inspired
her to write her debut novel Along
Came a Soldier. She enjoys whiskey,
chocolate, going to the theatre, and losing herself in a good book.
She resides in Bristol, England, where she is currently working on
her next novel.
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