Shortly after the publication of Living the Legacy I was fired with enthusiasm to write a novel which linked the Strands of Gold Trilogy to England – where I live now. My first thought was to write a novel based on the life of Sophia, Stamford Raffles’s wife, after his death. I knew that she had written his Memoire and had fought hard and long to get a statue of him commissioned. I spent hours in the British Library going through her letters and any other documents that might be relevant to the idea I had in mind. It was obvious that Sophia coped with her grief by throwing all her energy into achieving her personal goals. The Memoire was published in 1830 and two years later, a memorial statue to Sir (Thomas) Stamford Raffles, founder of Singapore was erected in the north choir aisle of Westminster Abbey. It is a seated white marble life-sized figure by the sculptor Sir Francis Chantrey.
My research led me on to discover that the remainder of Sophia’s life was pretty grim. She constantly travelled amongst friends in England and Europe because she couldn’t sell the house Raffles had purchased in Hendon and she had little to live on. In addition to all of that, she was plagued by one bereavement after another – parents, sister-in-law, brothers – and finally, her only surviving child. By this time, I had written seven chapters, but it became obvious that this was a story that was going nowhere.
So, what to do? I wanted to write a story based in England, but I couldn’t cut all links with that part of the world I know and love so well. The solution came when I decided to move on thirty years and invent a protagonist – Sophia’s great niece – who comes to England in search of the woman she believes is her only living relative. What a difference those thirty years make. There are steamships instead of sail that makes the journey from Singapore to England a mere six weeks instead of four to six months. There are railways that convey characters between ports and the capital, between the capital and small provincial towns. An Aladdin’s cave was opening up before me.
I was anxious to have my protagonist and Sophia form a strong bond, but I also needed a reason for the protagonist to stay in England. That is where the antagonist comes in, providing agency and intrigue.
I’ve been working on this idea during the past twelve months, during which time I’ve completed a Curtis Brown Novel Writing course – under the tutorship of the inspiring Suzannah Dunn. It has been written and re-written several times, but is now with a Copy Editor. After that I will be looking at the best way to get it published. Watch this space.