THE MARSDEN SISTERS MOVE SOUTH This is an extension of The Water Doctor’s Daughters’ original literary walk around the town of Great Malvern, Worcestershire. In 1876 Dr James Marsden separated from his second wife Mary to pursue an affair with Sabina Welch, a servant girl from Malvern. Emily, the
Read more →CHRISTMAS 1877. At St-Leonards-on-Sea, in the English county of Sussex, a Christmas market was being held in the ‘old town’. The shops and churches were decorated with laurel, holly and ivy. Nevertheless, perhaps due to the unseasonable mild weather, the jollity of the Hastings & St Leonards
Read more →THE SOOTHING LINIMENT THAT COULD LEAD TO DEATH There is a chapter in my true crime book The Water Doctor’s Daughters titled; AS EASY AS ABC. The letters are a reference to a popular 19th century rubbing liniment made from three powerful, but potentially fatal compounds;
Read more →One of the true joys of writing narrative non-fiction is visiting all the places associated with the story. Of course the research for my book, The Water Doctor’s Daughters, took me to Paris (such a chore..ha ha) Hastings and St Leonards, Malvern and Cheltenham. Accompanied by
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