This was taken on World Book Day earlier this year. I am practising my stern library assistant’s look which is completely lost on today’s youth. When I sent this picture to a friend she remarked “You look a right prat!” “You look uncomfortable, are you out of your genre?” But the answer to that is no, because I like historical fiction. Which tenuously links to:
Scapegallows by Carol Birch
Virago 2007, 448 pages
This book is a wonderful adventure story inspired by the life of Margaret Catchpole, a Suffolk woman who stole a horse and escaped the gallows not once, but twice. After a faltering start I galloped through it; Carol Birch gives us a courageous and spirited woman who made a successful life for herself in Australia after she was transported. Historical fiction at its best.
