THE SATIN MOTH

This is the title of my next book, which is due to be published on July 21st 2023. It was inspired by a visit to a medieval castle whilst on holiday in North Wales in 2020. The castle was staging an exhibition on slavery, and although I already knew of the dreadful/inhuman practices undertaken in the slave trade of the 17th and 18th century, I was shocked and horrified by some of the artifacts on display. The castle itself was quite remarkable, incredibly ostentatious and built deliberately to show the families great wealth, wealth derived from their historic involvement in the production of sugar and use of slave labour. As soon as I returned home I began to devise a storyline which would re-tell the suffering of those abducted from Africa and transported to work the sugar plantations of the Caribbean. The novel therefore raises issues connected to Britain's bloody colonial past, but also follows a pattern readers will recognize in all my works. Strong female characters drive the narrative, and a life-long passion for animals, horses in particular are key features in this tale of human suffering and revenge. My research for the novel took me to beautiful Africa, Benin especially. One day, hopefully I will actually tread on African soil.

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