Wednesday 13 May 2020

Welcoming Juliet Greenwood to the blog

Today I am absolutely delighted to welcome Juliet Greenwood to the blog as she celebrates the publication of her novel, The Ferryman's Daughter. Welcome Juliet and congratulations on your new release!



Thank you so much Heidi for inviting me to your blog, it’s great to be here.
I’m incredibly excited about the publication of my first historical saga for Orion. The Ferryman’s Daughter will also be the first time my book has gone into audio, so that’s like being published for the first time all over again!

Like so many writers, my journey towards The Ferryman’s Daughter has been a long one, but it’s all experience I’ve blessed again and again as I’ve been through the process of editing – and writing the next book of my contract, of course.

I just love Hester, my heroine of The Ferryman’s Daughter, and can’t wait to introduce her to the world. Hester is determined and independent minded and never gives up, whatever life throws her (and it throws everything it can, from WW1 to a feckless father and a very creepy would-be suitor). She’s particularly close to my heart, as she was largely inspired by the women in my own family, particularly my great-grandmother, who was a nail-maker (as tough and ill-paid a life as you could get) and her daughter, my grandmother, who rose to become a cook in a big country house. Their influence has clearly worn off on their female descendants. Putting my aunts in one room definitely made for a volatile Christmas. For which I’m glad, as it gave me the idea that maybe girls shouldn’t be just seen and not heard, and we also have stories to tell …

It’s that family history that’s always made me fascinated by the lives of women in the past. Hester was also inspired by these women, whose stories have been largely been forgotten, but which need to be told. Women who proved to every last sceptic that they could think and climb mountains without their wombs shrivelling up inside them, and were perfectly capable of becoming doctors, pilots, surgeons, scientists, business leaders, professors – not to mention running a country. Most importantly, they showed that they were able to run their own lives – and that there are men out there who wouldn’t have it any other way.

So today you are invited to a virtual (is there any other kind?) celebration on Porthgwidden beach in St Ives, where Hester dreams of one day opening her own cafe. Tea and the best apple cake (recipe in the book) you’ve ever tasted coming up!



Buy the book


Get to know Juliet


Juliet Greenwood has always been a bookworm and a storyteller, writing her first novel (a sweeping historical epic) at the age of ten. She is fascinated both by her Celtic heritage and the history of the women in her family, with her great-grandmother having supported her family by nail making in Lye, in the Black Country, near Birmingham in the UK, and her grandmother by working as a cook in a large country house.
Before being published by Orion, Juliet wrote three historical novels for Honno, the Welsh Women’s Press, reaching #4 and #5 in the UK kindle store.
Juliet lives in a traditional quarryman’s cottage between the mountains and the sea in beautiful Snowdonia, in Wales in the UK, and is to be found dog walking in all weathers, always with a camera to hand…



2 comments:

  1. Thank you for hosting me on your blog, Heidi! A great start to publication day! Hope we can meet up - and with readers - soon!

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  2. My absolute pleasure my lovely. I'm very much looking forward to reading the book and I hope you have the happiest of publication days with Miss P and the cat! Much love, H x

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