I look at the now deserted and stagnant lavoirs, the communal washing places, in the Lot Valley in France and can almost hear women singing, gossiping about mistresses and neighbours, and slapping wet laundry against the stone papillon slabs. My article, ‘The Sound of the Middle Ages‘, has just been published in Historical Novels Review.
Author: Tracey Warr
Author of historical novels and books on contemporary art.
Add Women to History and Stir
An interview with me by my publisher, Jeffrey Collyer, to coincide with the publication of my new historical novel The Anarchy – the final book in the Conquest trilogy set in 12th century Wales, England, and Normandy. The book is available now as an e-book and will be out as a paperback in the next…
Sumptuous and Presumptuous
My blogpost on Henry of Blois, the 12th century bishop of Winchester, is published today on the English Historical Fiction Authors site. Henry of Blois, was the grandson of William the Conqueror. Bernard of Clairvaux described him as ‘that old whore of Winchester’. For Henry of Huntingdon he was ‘a new kind of monster, composed…
The salt sea flood
My new novel, The Anarchy, is published next week by Impress Books. It is the final book in the Conquest trilogy, focused on the life of Nest ferch Rhys and the 12th century struggle between the Welsh and the Normans. In the novel I (anachronistically) use a poem by the Welsh bard Dafydd ap Gwilym: Yr wylan deg ar lanw,…
Down the research rabbit hole
I’m working on a biography of three 11th century sisters and, at this stage of the research, every thread to pursue involves disappearing down a rabbit hole for a very long time, trying to get answers. The critical thing is to record everything in the research process, including more threads and queries to pursue, so that,…
Text is material
‘For all writing, you need to be nosy.’ ‘To me, text is material in the same way as stone or paint are.’ ‘A pen is like a prosthetic for me. It’s like a visual artist needing a sketchpad always to hand, or a sound artist needing to record on their phone.’ ‘The first thing with…
Water Love
My post Water Love is just published on meanda.net. It outlines my future fiction and books on water art and writing workshops for adults and children. Also if you are drying out, unable to swim in these lockdown times, check out the links to octopus art, pool art, underwater soundart and the Outdoor Swimming Society’s…
Female Lords
The eleventh-century countess of Barcelona, Almodis de La Marche, was accused by the monk historian, William of Malmesbury, of being driven by ‘a furious and godless female itch’, which immediately struck me as a good reason to write her biography. I’m working on that biography now and have expanded it to incorporate the lives of…
Thwarted Lovers
Attended a riveting event yesterday where Martin Shaw retold the story of Tristan and Iseult in one day to an audience of 80 in Dartington’s medieval Upper Gatehouse. With lashings of humour and feeling, Shaw led us into an exploration of how the story conjures the rapture and damage of love. Romantic love thrives on…
Norman silver bird brooch
Writing on a Norman silver mine in the final stages of editing my next novel, The Anarchy. Found this exquisite Norman silver bird brooch to help with writing the scene.
Tracey Warr Writing 