I put the finishing touches to this book in Norfolk, or, more specifically, in a cottage in Brockdish, on the border of Norfolk and Suffolk. The cottage is owned by Jackie and John Spooner, and a quick reckoning had me realising we’ve been coming here on family holidays since 1997. Not every year, but perhaps every two or three years on average. It’s a place I love and hold very dear to my heart – and the place we brought our son for his first holiday in 2002. He was almost eighteen months old and was obsessed by the Quack Quacks on the River Waveney that runs along the bottom of the garden.
The village of ‘Hartsford’ is quite a bit bigger than Brockdish, which is little more than one street, and Hartsford Hall is an amalgamation of many beautiful stately homes we’ve visited in the past. It’s mostly, I would say, Kedleston Hall in Derbyshire and Ickworth in Suffolk; and Georgiana’s tomb is definitely based on Mary Curzon’s tomb at Kedleston. As Elodie suggests in this novel, “she had the most delightful tomb – if you could ever call a tomb delightful”. Georgiana’s monument also takes, in some small part, inspiration from Lady Elizabeth Nightingale’s tomb in Westminster Abbey – a deliciously Gothic confection which captured my imagination many years ago, when I carefully stored it away for future use.
The character of Highwayman Ben is based on Claude Duval, who, unlike most other highwaymen, distinguished himself with rather gentlemanly behaviour and fashionable clothes. Duval reputedly never used violence; but he did have a penchant for tying people to trees as he robbed them. One story goes that he took only a part of his potential loot from a gentleman, when his wife agreed to dance the “courante” with him in the wayside.
In order to pull all these threads together and bring this lovely story to life, I have to thank the wonderful team at Choc Lit. Huge thanks to the readers who have enjoyed my previous books, and to the Tasting Panel for agreeing this one was good enough to publish with special thanks to Yvonne G, Elisabeth H, Anne E, Dimitra E, Els E, Joy S, Barbara B, Gill L, Claire W, Lizzie D, Karen M, Sheila S, Linda S and Rosie S. Also, thanks to my super editor, my fabulous cover designer and the wider Choc Lit family, who are always there for chats, rants, general despair, and providing unfailing support for one another. Last but definitely not least, I have to thank my family, without whom a holiday in Norfolk would have been a very lonely affair! I wouldn’t even know about this place if my parents hadn’t sourced it out in 1997, so the biggest thanks, this time, should really go to them. Thank you!