From the Author:
I have enjoyed constructing this trilogy of adventures for young adults based around the real-life story of Lady Katherine Fanshawe (Ferrers) who is known in legend as 'The Wicked Lady'.
Two films were made about her, and she was famed for her exploits as a highwaywoman. The truth is of course more complex than that, and the factual evidence to support the idea is scanty. However, the background of the English Civil War means that were many dispossessed aristocrats, soldiers, and routed Royalists on the road trying to eke out a living, and its possible Katherine's story might have become embroidered by the exploits of others. Also likely, is that her story might have become associated with a ballad about Maude of Allinghame.
I have based Katherine's story on the real historical background, with its factions of rebels looking to build a new world in an unstable England. The story is also about her deaf maidservant, Abigail, and the Diggers - a radical sect who believed in communal living and were way ahead of their time. Full historical notes are in the backs of the books.
This is a shorter, more lightweight novel than my usual historical novels, which often weigh in at more than 400 pages, and introduces us to Katherine Fanshawe through the eyes of her deaf maid, Abigail.
About the Author:
Deborah Swift used to be a set and costume designer for theatre and TV where she developed a passion for history and a love of research. She is the author of three other adult novels set in the 17th century - The Lady's Slipper, The Gilded Lily and A Divided Inheritance.
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