A Good Old 19th Century Murder Mystery – Meet Author, Lynn Shepherd

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The Daily Basics sat down to talk to writer, Lynn Shepherd about her  book,  The Solitary House.    Lynn has meshed the format of a detective murder mystery with inspirations from classic writers such as Jane Austen and Charles Dickens.  We wanted to find out how this fascinating author ticks and how she created her latest ale inspired by Dicken’s London.

In addition, Lynn is offering a copy of her book in a Give Away here.  To enter – email whoswho@thedailybasics.com and write in your name and  ‘THE SOLITARY HOUSE”.

It is obvious that ‘Bleak House’ was your inspiration, but what was it IN the book that sparked your imagination to develop ‘The Solitary House’?

Lynn Shepherd - click for her website

I have to confess I didn’t actually realize it was Dickens’ bicentenary when I started writing The Solitary House. I’d written one ‘literary murder’ inspired by Jane Austen, so when I started to think about what I might explore next, Charles Dickens was an obvious choice – I think a lot of us still have our mental picture of Victorian London from either reading him or seeing the screen adaptations.  It was only when I was halfway through the book that I checked his dates and realized I was about to have the most marvelous piece of luck!

As for why Bleak House, well it’s always been my favorite Dickens. I can still remember the sheer exhilaration of reading that famous opening for the first time, with the fog on the river and in the streets – it’s a master-class in setting a scene and perhaps one of the finest beginnings of any novel. The book is also, among many other things, the first detective story in English literature, so it was almost as if Dickens was beckoning me on.

'The Solitary House' in North America and entitled, 'Tom-All-Alone's' in the UK (click for info)

Bleak House is such a rich novel – a panorama of Victorian London and Victorian society, as well as an anthology of literary styles. Everything from social satire, to comedy, to psychological drama, to murder mystery. A writer like me can’t compete with that, and I didn’t even try. In fact I deliberately ‘pared it back’ to something much bleaker and leaner. I call it ‘darker than Dickens’, because The Solitary House is a tale Dickens would never have been able to tell.

I love the fact that you have woven the characters and events with ‘Bleak House’ into ‘The Solitary House’.  Mysteries are so dependent on precision and dropping clues and facts at the right time – How were you able to ‘map’ this novel?

The whole story of Bleak House takes place over about seven years, but of course that’s far too long for the murder mystery format, so what I’ve done is take a small slice of that time – about three weeks in all – and mapped my story onto the events that take place in Bleak House during that period. At certain points in that time the two plots converge, and things that happen in Bleak House also happen in my book, though we see them from a different angle, and they can have a different significance for some of the characters involved.

Likewise I’ve drawn in characters from Bleak House, most notably Tulkinghorn and Inspector Bucket, but also Jo the crossing sweeper and Trooper George. Though I don’t want anyone to be put off who hasn’t read Bleak House – or any Dickens. I’ve deliberately constructed the story of The Solitary House so that it stands perfectly well on its own.

In developing the story, what part did you enjoy researching and writing the most?  Did you uncover anything that surprised you?

The research for this book was much more intense than for Murder at Mansfield Park. For that book the emphasis was more on getting the language right, though I did have to investigate the (very rudimentary) criminal justice system that was in place in England in 1811.

For The Solitary House the greatest challenge was to ‘re-imagine’ Dickens’ London – to bring the city back to life. And of course my story is focused very much on the dirtier and darker side of the Victorian society, so I ended up, for example, doing a lot of research into the sex industry, some of which was very harrowing. I did already know that many women were forced to sell themselves or starve, but I wasn’t fully aware how many of them were either very old, or heart-breakingly young. Girls as young as six or seven, who were often prostituted by their own families, out of sheer despair and destitution.

I also wanted to take the reader with me on a journey through 19th century London, so I worked hard to evoke the different and distinctive districts of the city, from the dangerous slums of Seven Dials, to the grim reality of the leather trade in Bermondsey, to the glamour of the Haymarket by night. Lots of readers have told me that’s one of the aspects of the book they enjoyed the most.

Lynn Shepherd's first 'literary mystery', Murder at Mansfield Park (click for info)

I know many people want to know about the writers themselves.  Could you give us some insight into how you came to be a full-time writer, and what your life is like as a writer?

Like a lot of people, I wrote lots of stories when I was a child, and then I studied English at university, so a love of words has been with me all my life. The ambition to write a novel and see it published has been there for a very long time, but it wasn’t until I went freelance as a copywriter in 2000 that I got the time and the brain-space to start writing creatively in a concerted way.

The first novel I wrote taught me a lot about the craft of putting a book together, and it actually included quite a lot of Austen pastiche that later found its way into Murder at Mansfield Park. Then there was another that nearly got published but not quite, and it was about then that I got an agent, which made a huge difference. And then right in the middle of writing him an email the title ‘Murder at Mansfield Park’ came into my head, and the rest, as they say….

Since then I’ve been trying to carve out my own niche of ‘literary murder’. What I want my books to offer is a fusion of what I myself love to read – classic English fiction and clever, ingenious crime. I never originally intended to write a sequel to Murder at Mansfield Park, but so many people loved Charles Maddox, the thief taker in that book, that I’ve ended up with a series in which he and his great-nephew are the central partnership of the books. They’re both in The Solitary House, and they’ll be back in the next novel, A Treacherous Likeness, which is coming out next year.

As for how my life as a writer works, I will admit that I’m very disciplined. I work out in the mornings, and then I’m at my desk by 8.30, whether I have a day of corporate copywriting ahead of me, or a day I can devote to my own work. But I’m definitely a lark rather than an owl, so I never write after 5 in the evenings. If I do, I tend to find I only have to do it all over again the following morning!

Follow Lynn on Twitter

Check out her website and blog at Lynn-Shepherd.com

Meet Lynn here as she speaks about ‘The Solitary House’

The Brozzette Handweaving Laboratory

Perugia, Italy

Would you like your office to look like this?

Well, Marta Cucchia, the great-granddaughter of the founder of this Handweaving Laboratory and Studio, already does. This is it.

Marta runs the Studio – Workshop/School founded by Giuditta Brozzetti which is located in the ancient church of San Francesco delle Donne in Perugia, Italy. The year was 1921 and the inspiration for the workshop was Medieval Perugian weaving. Passionate about the art of hand-weaving on antique wooden looms, Brozzetti reproduced decorative motifs taken from Etruscan pottery and paintings and ancient tombs and wove them into fine cloths. The materials used in these hand wovens are all high grade linens, cottons, silks, cashmeres and metallics and they are woven on 19th century Jacquard frames. For more information on technique and materials, please  click here.

The Brozzetti Tradition

Since its founding in 1921 by Giuditta Brozzetti, the techniques, arts and business has been passed to the daughter in the next generation. Marta Cucchia, the fourth generation Brozzetti, has continued the business staying true to the original purposes and expanding even further by keeping the business current with today’s trends and demands.

Textiles

Tapestries, draperies, tablecloths, bedspreads, pillows and general textiles are offered for purchase today. Since each artisan piece of hand-made material is made to order, you must contact Marta directly for information on timing and prices. email@brozzetti.com

What? You just can’t order online and have overnight guaranteed delivery.

NOPE.

You will never be able to buy a product like this in the store. If you want a piece of traditionally produced historical drop dead exquisite fabric, you’ll just have to wait for it and you will SO not regret it.

Weaving……….

Talk about a great Girl’s Trip, Ladies, this could very well be it. The Giuditta Brozzetti Weaving Studio offers a variety of courses ranging from a one day seminar to one, two or three week basic or advanced courses. The courses are offered at the Studio in the heart of the very important and culturally explosive city of Perugia.

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Lace making and Embroidery

Daily or weekly courses are offered for two students or more. Traditional Umbrian embroidery is taught as well as openwork embroidery. The courses are offered in a one day seminar or a full week course.

Please visit their site - www.brozzetti.com. There is so much more information that is worth investigating.

Should you be visiting Italy, give the Studio a call and stop in to see them.

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For further information: email@brozzetti.com

Giuditta Brozzetti

Via Tiberio Beradi 5/6

06123 Perugia

Telephone: +39 075 40 236

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A note of thanks to our friends over at The Italian Notebook

Their Post of June 30th, 2010 on Brozzetti Textiles was the inspiration for this post.

If you are interested in Italian Food, Wine, Art & Archeology, subscribe and enjoy!

A Souvenir of the Beauty of Europe, ‘Chez Vous’: Lovely Landscape Paintings

by Lynn McBrides

The word souvenir in French has a broader meaning than its English equivalent: it can mean a keepsake but is also the French word for a memory. Even if you’ve never been to France and have no ‘souvenirs’, you may have a fantasy in your mind of the places you’re longing to visit.

If you have a little place for France or Italy in your heart, how about a place for them in your home?

We live in Burgundy and I love to collect small oil paintings at the French flea markets, but it’s increasingly hard to find good ones, especially at a reasonable price. Since I’ve started blogging I’ve made friends with some wonderful contemporary artists who have poured their hearts into capturing the beauty of Europe: the architecture, the landscapes, the little European moments of discovery. And you don’t have to get on a plane to find them, they’re on the web, and much of their work is surprisingly affordable.

Each of these artists has a connection to France or Italy and a story to tell, and I’m drawn to each of them. Which artist will bring back a ‘souvenir’ of Europe for you?

For more information on any of the artists, click on the links or on their paintings.

Afternoon at a Floriale - By Tom Vieth

From his house in the Dordogne countryside, Tom Vieth paints fun, fresh, and oh so French watercolors that will bring a smile to your face. He and his wife Susan blog at A Small village In France.  Thomas Vieth

Barbara Andolsek - Abundant Sunflowers

California artist Barbara Andolsek captures the heart of France with her sophisticated, evocative oils, and she’s even painted some of the photos from my blog at Southern Fried French, so you may find that some of her work looks familiar! Barbara Andolsek

Barbara Redmons - Tour Eiffel

It’s Paris all the way for Barbara Redmond, who writes the popular blog,  A Woman’s Paris.  Her fanciful Paris scenes will take you there. Check out her watercolors– and she even paints iphone covers, so you can carry your ‘souvenirs’ with you!   Barbara Redmond

Patricia Glee Smith - Blue Buoy

Patricia Glee Smith is a fine artist, one of our readers and lives in Umbria. She paints detailed oils with an old world feel that will absolutely amaze you.  Patricia Glee Smith

Spring Landscape by Vicki Ingham

I love the peaceful feel and rich colors of Vicki Ingham’s paintings. Vicki was a colleague at Meredith publishing and she lives in Iowa. She often goes to Italy as a retreat, where she creates lovely landscapes of the Tuscan countryside.  Vicki Ingham

Mediterranean View by Hunter George

Lin Wolff has a darling little English bookstore in Valbonne near Cannes.
Hunter George, her father, is a Texas artists who paints lovely Provencal scenes when he comes to visit.  Hunter George

SOUTHERN FRIED FRENCH

Lynn, a native Charlestonian now living in France writes her blog, Southern Fried French, where today she is talking – Let Them Eat (Salmon) Cake !

Books To Celebrate The Irish in You

Edward Rutherfurd’s The Dublin Saga

Everyone is Irish on St. Patty’s Day, but you will feel the Irish in you even more after you read the The Dublin Saga which consists of two volumes; The Princes of Ireland and The Rebels of Ireland by Edward Rutherfurd.

Magnificently depicted, Rutherfurd weaves his magic writing of Pagan High Kings, druid Priests and the coming of Saint Patrick.  The book evolves through the lives of six families that intertwine over the centuries until the one event that changed the course of Irish-English history in 1535 that has fueled the fire between England and Ireland ever since.  Mapped through history in and near Dublin, the story of the land, the people, the politics, religion, scandals and physical evolution of Dublin is brought to life in this riveting classic.

Fast paced, beautifully engaging, both of these books are so very much worth the read. You are guarenteed to feel the Irish in you then.

 The Princes of Ireland

The Rebels of Ireland

Edward Rutherford

Irish Fairy Tales

Irish Fairy Tales

James Stephens has retold ten Irish Mythology based Fairy Tales.  It is perfect for children  as they will love the stories while becoming acquainted with the art of story telling, Irish culture and history.  The difference of classic tales versus today’s books is worth this adventure in reading.   Beautifully written and enchanting,  adults will equally enjoy such stories as The Story of Mac Cairill, The Enchanted Cave of Cesh Corran and The Wooing of Becfola.  Whether you are Irish or not, this book is for all to enjoy.

 Irish Fairy Tales

 The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith

Oliver Goldsmith, The Vicar of Wakefield - click for Amazon.com

How could you not be intrigued by that man and the works he produced.  He is a must read.   Goldsmith was best known for his plays, She Stoops to Conquer, a farce; The Good Natur’d Man, a comedy; The Deserted Village, a poem and his only novel, The Vicar of Wakefield.

 The Vicar of Wakefield

EXCLUSIVE CONVERSATION with Frances Mayes – Under The Tuscan Sun Cookbook

Click here for ordering information

We sat down with Frances Mayes and here is what we found out….

When you open up Frances & Edward Mayes new book, The Tuscan Sun Cookbook, you are invited into a different world, one filled with the nuances of daily pleasures.

photography: Steven Rothfeld

Frances Mayes, author of Under the Tuscan Sun, is an exquisite writer.  She pulls you into her stories of food, shopping, cooking and entertainingly so effortlessly that you end up reading this cookbook like you would any of her novels. By the end of it, you take that deep sigh of fulfillment of having experienced a wonderful time via this master wordsmith, however, you will be totally famished. The recipes are delightful. You will taste them as you read them.  The best part is they are fairly straight forward.

Frances says there are two key elements in making her dishes – few ingredients and fresh, local and the quality of ingredients.

Savory Round Zucchini - photography

“We have large casual dinner parties about twice a week,” Frances says.   Friends come and bring guests, a practice which surprised the Mayes in the beginning but now, they expect it. To add an extra handful of pasta to the pot or a few place settings to the table is easy enough to do.

Frances will go into the piazza to shop, but to also catch up on what is going on  (facebook has not caught on in their small town of Cortona as much, they prefer to gossip face to face).  It is that sense of community that initially attracted Frances and Ed to this ancient Etruscan town and were everything remains intimate and local. At the market, when  Frances asks if the produce is local, the answer might be no, it is from the town five miles away. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Back home, Ed, a poet and writer is also an olive farmer to their Bramosole Olive Oil groves. When asked what makes Tuscan food so special, the Mayes’ says it is all in the oil.  With their garden and olive tree producing, they eat off the land just as the Tuscans before them have been doing for hundreds of years.

The Mayes have a farmhouse in North Carolina where they spend part of their time where Frances is delighted at the resurgence of the trend toward fresh and local foods, something so key to eating well and to fully enjoy the recipes they have created for their cookbook.

The way to really find out more about how they live, shop, cook and entertain first hand, you are invited to meet Frances & Ed Mayes live in a Tweet Chat at 8pm eastern standard time TONIGHT – #TuscanSunChat, March 13th to celebrate the release of their new cookbook today!  Join in and meet this warm, genuine and amazing couple who truly lead an enriched life and who continues to share it with all of us.

Chicken with Artichokes, Sun-dried Tomatoes & Chickpeas, Prawns & Cherry Tomatoes with Puree of Cannelllini, Pici with Fresh Fava Beans - photography by Steven Rothfeld

 The Tuscan Sun Cookbook – Recipes from our Italian Kitchen