Behind the Books

My journey into writing historical fiction began when I first saw a mention of a supposed witch, Ann Camell in ‘Southwold: An Earthly Paradise’ by Geoffrey Munn . She sat in the back of my mind until 2019 when I idly tapped her name into a genealogy search engine. I hadn’t expected to find anything and was thrilled when record after record popped up.

I gradually built up a picture of a woman who was not the poor, elderly hag so often portrayed, but one who had lived and loved, who had given birth to seven children and who was probably only in her early 60’s when she was put on trial. All this resulted in my first novel, ‘This Fearful Thing’.

As my research progressed, more cases emerged of local women who had been accused of often the most outlandish of ‘crimes’, and I began to realise that these women had never had a voice. I read about the accusations in Aldeburgh and Dunwich and just had to write more. ‘The Unnamed’ and ‘We Three’ were the result.

The women I read about were tried by male judges in front of a male jury, so I resolved to try, in my novels, to show how such accusations may have come about, how they came to be believed, and, most of all, how it would feel to be a woman accused of such things in those days.

I wanted them to be remembered. I hope I have done them justice.

‘The Red Barn’ came about after a visit to Moyse’s Hall Museum in Bury St Edmunds. I was there to look at their witchcraft artifacts but got sidetracked by the death mask of William Corder and the display about the crime.

The case caught my imagination and I began to research the case of Maria Martin and William Corder. It has been the subject of thousands of words and hundreds of entertainments, from peep and puppet shows to plays, cartoons and ballads.

But in all that, one person seemed to have become lost.

You can read all about William, his family, and his motivation; and plenty has been written about the Martins (especially Ann) and their background, but the victim in all this, Maria, is seldom mentioned. She is mostly portrayed as either the simple village girl, seduced by the wicked squire, or as little more than a prostitute, no better than she ought to be and therefore not worthy of consideration.

Even her surname was changed. From the trial until now, it is commonly spelt as ‘Marten’, but the birth, marriage and death records show that the family name was Martin, so that is what I have called her here. 

This book is a work of fiction, but based on as many truths as I could find. I wanted this to be Maria’s story, told from her point of view as a complex and intelligent young woman who made mistakes but ultimately just wanted to be loved and cherished. She may have disappeared from sight but I felt her voice deserved to be heard.

William can still be found. For, at the time of writing, in Moyse’s Hall Museum, there are the pistols said to be his. There is the plaster death mask and a portion of his scalp, taken from his dissected body, with one ear still attached. Next to it is a small brown book. The book, an account of the Red Barn ‘murder’, would not normally attract much comment but for its cover. It is bound in the skin of his back.

My fifth book, ‘I, Lorina’, is out now. I was coming to the end of writing The Red Barn and was looking for an idea for my next book. A random post on Instagram started me researching the life of Lorina Bulwer, and what a journey it’s been! Set in Beccles and Great Yarmouth, it’s the story of a woman who was incarcerated in the lunatic ward of Great Yarmouth Workhouse and who stitched her rage and fury into a series of huge embroideries.

I had no idea when I started that the family of a seemingly unremarkable woman could hold so many clues to her later behaviour and her incredible work (and provide such ripe pickings for a writer!). Transcripts of her embroideries are available online, but it was very hard to separate fact from imagination. I waded through pages and pages, and what began to dawn on me was how many of the scenes and people she describes actually existed. She had a remarkable memory for names and events and stabbed them all into scraps of cloth, letter by letter. So, word by word, Google search by Google search, record by record, I pieced together her life. ‘I, Lorina’ is the result.

And in the Future…

On the basis of ‘never say never’, my next novel will be about the Great Yarmouth witch trials in 1645. It’s still in very early stages, so watch this space, or better still, sign up for my emails, where you will be the first to hear about it!

Behind the Covers

The books would not be the same without the amazing artwork by Sandy Horsley.

Sandy is a Suffolk-based printmaker and illustrator, with a BA in graphics/illustration and an MA in children’s book illustration.

Sandy combines traditional printmaking and drawing with digital processes, developing the textured and unpredictable marks created when printmaking. For the three ‘witchcraft’ books she used carved rubber blocks, which were hand-printed before being scanned and edited in Photoshop.

The cover of ‘I’ Lorina’ brings her illustration skills and workmanship to the fore.

You can see more of Sandy’s work on her website www.sandyhorsley.com and on Instagram.