I sent the manuscript of The Low Road to Unbound today, and I'm looking forward to the production process- about which I'll keep you updated..

I spent a bit of time this week with the team behind the brilliant, global Conviction Politics initiative, which seeks to tell the stories of many of those who were transported, especially the political activists. We had a workshop together in London…

Thank you all so much for cheering The Low Road to 90% funded - it's an amazing milestone. A while back, I wrote about how my dad got us up mountains when we were children. There was Kendal Mint Cake and chocolate, but there was also his encouragement, to walk up ridge by ridge and enjoy the view. So I'm taking a moment here to celebrate before the final push. 

Yesterday I went back…

Weavers Almshouses and the Refuge for the Destitute, painted by Thomas Shepherd, c1850

I searched high and low through different archives to try and find a picture of the Refuge for the Destitute in Hackney, where the two main protagonists of The Low Road met in real life in 1820. This, above, is the only picture, and is probably of the Male Refuge, near the Female Refuge, although they…

In a few days the family will meet up in Norfolk for Easter - the first time for a couple of years because of Covid. It's a bit of a rolling roster, who ends up meeting at my mother's house, but pretty much every year there's an Easter egg hunt in the garden and a big meal on Easter Sunday. So Happy Easter for those of you who are celebrating - and thank you again for supporting The Low Road…

The river Waveney, full of water lilies and weeds

Thank you all for supporting The Low Road. This story caught my attention seven years ago, when I was visiting my parents in the Waveney Valley, which runs between the border of the East Anglian counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. It is a beloved watery landscape for me, with long views over the gentle watermeadows. But as I was to find…