Clare Hawkins was born and brought up in Scotland and now lives in Essex. She is the author of the forthcoming Gothic House Mystery series for Sapere Books.
My earlier life in Scotland is now distanced by more decades than I like to admit, but the country and its history, landscapes and languages have had a powerful influence on my writing. (The books in my forthcoming Gothic House Mystery series all have Scottish settings.) Personal recollections sometimes surface with surprising vividness too. For example, my grandchildren’s excitement at the prospect of trick-or-treating reawakens memories of how we as children celebrated Hallowe’en in the 1950s in the west of Scotland.
The practice of ‘guising’, or dressing as something other than oneself, has existed in Scotland for hundreds of years. It may even be related to the pagan tradition of ‘Samhuinn’, Summer’s End, the transition from summer to winter, when grotesque spirits of the dead roam abroad, intent on mischief. The best protection is to disguise oneself as one of them.
So we children became a fearsome collection of little witches and ghouls in our homemade cardboard masks, witches’ cloaks and hats made of old blackout curtains, with props such as inky pipe-cleaner spiders and lurid papier mâché severed fingers. We visited our neighbours’ houses, armed with torches and high expectations of receiving sweet treats. However, these gifts were not entirely free; some sort of entertainment had to be provided by us, the guisers, in return. Our sheepish, tuneless renditions of such ditties as ‘Donald where’s yer troosers?’ or ‘Ye cannae shove yer granny aff a bus’ were greeted with sympathetic applause and a handful of sweets from the adults, who no doubt had to suppress their laughter after a few drams as their own celebration of Hallowe’en.
Visit Clare’s website to stay up to date with her news and latest releases.
Featured image credit: Photo by Szabó János on Unsplash.
Following the success of the first three books in J. C. Briggs’ Gothic Mysteries series, we are thrilled to announce that we have signed the fourth instalment.
Book 1 in the Gothic Mysteries series
In Briggs’ words:
“I am delighted that Sapere Books have accepted my newest novel, The Prisoner of Raven’s Gaze Hall. This will be my fifteenth book to be published by Sapere, so many thanks to them for their continuing faith in my work.
“This new book is set in an isolated house in Yorkshire, in the fictional Ravendale, a remote dale surrounded by high fells and with few inhabitants. Nurse Catherine Sisley, not long returned from wartime duties, is engaged to nurse an elderly lady, the grandmother of a former patient, but all is not what it seems. Raven’s Gaze Hall harbours a dreadful secret, and its owner, Bennet Lestrange, has a future planned for Catherine from which only tragedy allows her to escape. When she returns ten years later, the terrible truth about the prisoner of Raven’s Gaze Hall is slowly revealed.”
To keep up with J. C. Briggs’ latest releases, visit her website and sign up to her newsletter.
Congratulations to J. C. Briggs, whose atmospheric Gothic mystery, The Secrets of Treasonfield House, is out now!
England, 1952
Marie Beaumont has returned to the ruins of Treasonfield House where she was taken in by her Aunt Giselle as a child.
Marie was always fascinated by the old house, but she had a lonely and unhappy childhood there until she was eventually sent away to boarding school.
Giselle is dead now but Marie’s Uncle Ned is still there and Marie wants to know why Giselle always treated her so coldly as a child.
She finds out that Ned worked with the intelligence services during the First World War and he has far more secrets to share about Treasonfield House than she could ever have imagined.
Ned’s story begins in February 1918; an intricate plot involving German soldiers, English spies and secret identities.
But what does it all mean for Marie? Can Ned give her the answers she craves? Will she finally learn the truth about her family history?
And can she finally put to rest the secrets that still lurk at Treasonfield House?
Congratulations to J. C. Briggs, whose intriguing Gothic mystery, The Inheritors of Moonlyght Tower, is out now!
England, 1916
With her mother ill and her father threatening to marry her off to a violent neighbour, Jessie Sedgwick takes up a position as a kitchen maid at Moonlyght Tower to escape her home.
But Moonlyght is far from a sanctuary. Its imposing Gothic Tower looms menacingly over the building and Jessie is surprised to find the only other staff members are a sour housekeeper and an unfriendly nurse who looks after the bedbound lady of the house.
Not long after arriving, Jessie meets a former kitchen maid, Ethel Widdop, who warns Jessie to leave as soon as possible. But before Jessie can find out more, Ethel is found dead…
And something strange is happening at Moonlyght. Jessie sees something strange in the imposing tower and she hears footsteps coming from an empty room. A room she discovers belonged to the heir to the house, Jonathan, who fell from the tower two years ago.
It’s clear there are dark secrets hiding at Moonlyght, and despite herself, Jessie finds herself drawn in.
What ails the lady of the house? Was her son’s death really an accident – or something more sinister?
And is Jessie in danger of ending up like Ethel…?
Congratulations to Elizabeth Bailey, whose page-turning Gothic mystery, Nell, is out now!
Nell is the second book in the Governess Trilogy: heart-warming Regency romance novels with strong female leads.
1795, England
Nell Faraday has grown up at the Paddington Charitable Seminary for Indigent Young Ladies and now, like her two best friends Prudence and Kitty, she is ready to take up a position as a governess.
A star pupil, Nell prides herself on her common-sense and practicality. But when she arrives at Castle Jarrow, the imposing abode is enough to test even the steadiest of nerves, and the brooding man in charge of it is enough to test the firmest of hearts…
Lord Jarrow is a widower with a young daughter, Hetty, who Nell is to be in charge of, but it is soon clear that Nell’s job will not be an easy one.
Dark secrets lurk within the walls of the castle, secrets that could threaten the safety of its inhabitants.
Will Nell’s steadfastness keep her from fleeing? Can she earn the trust of Lord Jarrow?
And can she help free the castle from its curse…?
Congratulations to J. C. Briggs, whose atmospheric Gothic mystery, The Legacy of Foulstone Manor, is published today!
Westmorland, England, 1970
Dark and imposing in a bleak landscape, Foulstone Manor stands abandoned on the edges of the Lake District.
Reclusive Joan Goss inherited Foulstone, but her fragmented memories of her childhood there still disturb her and she keeps her distance in a cottage on the outskirts of the land.
Joan was brought up by adoptive parents after her mother died and her father abandoned her.
And she has spent her adult life haunted by the dark rumours of her past.
When Joan’s niece Amanda comes to stay with her, she is finally forced to confront the secrets behind Foulstone Manor.
Records show that Joan’s father committed suicide. But what happened to her mother? And why was Joan never told the truth about her childhood?
As Joan uncovers her mother’s diary, the full truth of her parents’ marriage is revealed.
Did his traumatic experiences in the First World War force her father into an early grave? What caused Joan’s mother’s untimely death?
Can Joan come to accept the inheritance that she has always rejected…?
