The Write Stuff with... Evie Grace

Today it's my pleasure to welcome author Evie Grace back to the blog to talk about the research she undertook for her latest book A Thimbleful of Hope which is published this Thursday.

When planning A Thimbleful of Hope, Violet’s story set in Victorian Dover, I wanted Violet to have a talent for an occupation that she could fall back on in hard times. Inspired by the hand-decorated antimacassars and table linens passed down the family from my grandmother, and having done some research, I found that embroidery seemed to fit the bill.

Violet and her sisters were taught the art of embroidery by their governess, it being considered a suitably feminine craft for young ladies who had the time to sit and sew. It was thought to encourage discipline and silence, but I like to imagine the three girls giggling and gossiping as they stitched. 

They might have started out making a sampler of the alphabet or a verse from the Bible to show off a variety of stitches. Some of these samplers which I’ve seen turning up for auction, are very beautiful and tell us about the girls’ lives, depicting their families and homes. Later, they would move on to embellishing household items, including footstools, book bindings and cushions, embroidery providing them with a means to express themselves in the confined sphere of a woman’s life in the home.

Author Interview: Evie Grace

Today it's my pleasure to welcome Evie Grace back to the blog for the A  Place to Call Home blog tour.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your writing journey? 
Thank you very much for welcoming me on this stop on the blog tour. I’m delighted to be here. 

A Place to Call Home is the third novel in the Maids of Kent series that was inspired by my family history. Having written contemporary fiction in the past, I’m really enjoying my foray into the Victorian era.

I was born in Kent and one of my earliest memories is of picking cherries with my grandfather who managed a fruit farm near Selling. I spent many happy holidays with my other grandparents in Canterbury - I can remember feeding the ducks in Westgate Gardens, and buying shoes at Kennedy’s shoe shop on Sun Street. My experiences, and the time I spent with my grandparents and great-grandmother, inspired me to write about this beautiful and historic area. 

I’m living in Devon now with my partner, and I have a daughter and son who have flown the nest. 

If you had to give an elevator pitch for A Place to Call Home, what would it be? 
Rose Cheevers lives a happy life with her patchwork family at the tannery beside the river Stour in Canterbury until disaster strikes and she is forced to flee with the younger children. Moving from the city to the Kent countryside and then on to the brickfields of Faversham, Rose struggles to keep her family together and find a place she can call home.   

Describe Rose in 3 words.
Resourceful. Caring. Strong. 

Emma's Review: Her Mother's Daughter by Evie Grace

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Will she break free and change her future? 
Canterbury, 1853

Agnes Berry-Clay might have been born into rags but she is growing up with riches. 
Given away as a baby by her real mother, she was rescued and raised by her darling Papa and distant Mama. Agnes wants for nothing, except perhaps a little freedom.

But as times goes on, her life at Windmarsh Court changes. New arrivals and old resentments push Agnes to the peripheries, and finally the consequences of one fateful day shatter her dreams for the future.

Heartbroken and surrounded by the threat of scandal, Agnes is faced with a terrible choice: stay and surrender, or flee and fight to keep her freedom.

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The Write Stuff with... Evie Grace

Today it's my pleasure to be handing over the reins of the blog to Evie Grace for the latest stop on her Half a Sixpence blog tour.

Thank you very much for inviting me to talk about how I researched the nineteenth century for Half a Sixpence, the first book in a brand new series, a Victorian family saga. It follows the fortunes of Catherine Rook from her idyllic childhood on the family farm in rural East Kent with its hop gardens and orchards, to the streets of Faversham.        

When I started writing Catherine’s story I wanted to convey a strong sense of how she would have lived, what she would have worn, used and eaten, so I set about looking at the different resources available to take me back into the nineteenth century.

There is a mass of information on the internet, of course, and I had to pick and choose which sources to use. I used books as well, finding some gems about local history. I visited Faversham and the surrounding area to experience the sights and smells of the older parts of the town, the creek and the brewery that would have been in existence when Catherine Rook was there.    

I read through Victorian recipes and investigated Canterbury brawn or ‘headcheese’ made by boiling up a pig’s head and setting the meat in a jelly. I sampled caraway cake, and decided that even if I hadn’t been a vegetarian, I wouldn’t have touched consommé of game where the birds would have been hung until their feet dropped off.