HOW THE BOOK CAME ABOUT

As the grandchild of railway workers, domestic servants and miners, it intrigued me that history seemed to dismiss, without question, the Cato Street conspirators as ignorant or deluded fools. Indeed, the event scarcely registered in our national psyche until the bicentenary in February 2020, just as Britain and the world began facing an all-consuming crisis of a different kind.

Yes, it seemed unlikely that the efforts of a few penniless tavern radicals would overthrow the most powerful government in the world, which in 1819-20, Britain’s certainly was. But the conspiracy can also be seen in the context of the lack of opportunity, education and experience of a group of fathers, who refuse to watch their families starve without hope for the future - and, in the context of a pre-feminist era, when the wives and mothers in this story demonstrate extraordinary courage, each , at her own pace, engaging with the cause. Throw into the mix a passionate, mercurial idealist like Thistlewood and the Machiavellian impulse of an ambitious spy, and a different picture emerges.

In 2007, while working on another project, I came across the letters written by the lead conspirators on the night before they were hanged. From that moment, I was compelled to try to reach the essence of the story, to try to recreate the central experience in a way that carries meaning into the twenty first century,

It is for writers with different skills and different intentions to record and explain the precise historical facts. Turtle Soup for the King is extensively researched, as far as it is possible to do so. Where there is little or no evidence, invention was given free reign. For instance, history provides some information about Thistlewood, but almost nothing about his associates. There are hints about the spy, George Edwards’s mother and brother, but nothing about his nameless wife, except a few unreliable references to cruelty. That gave room to illuminate the character of Edwards and create a contrast to the families he victimises. In order to draw Ings as the devoted family man he undoubtedly was, I have augmented the Hampshire family I knew about and made his children older than they really were, so that they could participate more actively in their father’s life.

To bring further dimension to the characters, I drew from past interviews with political activists in Ireland, England and South Africa (some who were or had been in prison) and some of their families, as well as listening to my own family members in a now desolate English mining town.

My predominant interest is not political or even historical, but humanitarian - a study of what it is to be human and the member of a family, especially in times of political upheaval. Nevertheless, there is much that history can teach that no amount of creative invention will surpass.

  “I’ve just ordered the book, and I’m looking forward to reading it. Who can resist that title?”

Professor Paul Pickering. Director, Research School of Humanities and the Arts, Australian National University.

Twitter, 22-02-2021

A PERSONAL NOTE ABOUT THE TITLE

 The draft title was The Patriots’ Testament, which a friend considered unsuitable because it bypasses the novel’s comedic undertone. The animated discussion on the A303 is silenced as we sweep past Stonehenge and until I am emboldened to mention an idea that has been swilling around. I’d pick that up in a bookshop, says friend, which is good enough for me.

The king in question is the uncrowned George IV, the former Regent, whose boundless appetite is as well known as the spectacular Pavilion he creates in Brighton. History delivers irresistible references to the royal enjoyment of turtle soup, some of which make their way into the novel

 Yes, says clever daughter, later, but you need to let readers know what it’s about. It takes a fine gin and tonic before we agree on The Cato Street Chronicles.