Review ~ The Coffin Path by Katherine Clements

Headline Review
8 February 2018
My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book

There is nothing I like better than an atmospheric ghost story which is set high above the hills of Northern England. 

Mercy Booth, her father, Bartram and servant, Agnes eke out a bleak existence amongst the lost and lonely crags of the Yorkshire Dales. The old coffin path that links Mercy's home at Scarcross Hall to the village below is a path not often travelled as folk say that evil lingers on its dark and lonely trail.

Mercy isn't frightened, after all, this is the only life she has ever known, and she is content to tend to her flock of sheep in isolated loneliness. But so attuned is she to her solitary environment that when strange things start to happen, and when a shadowy figure is seen near the Hall, Mercy’s peace of mind is greatly disturbed.

With a strong sense of time and place, The Coffin Path is a deliciously creepy story and so icily chilling in places that it makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. And whilst, it’s about the realities of living in a harsh and unforgiving time when ignorant superstition could ruin innocent lives, it’s also about gossip and sly innuendo; it’s about blood and fear and of the daily struggle of survival.

Set in the latter half of the seventeenth century, The Coffin Path is that wonderful mixture of Gothic gloom and ancient superstition which is so reminiscent of Northern England. Beautifully written, and filled with a sense of evil and a brooding loneliness, it’s one of those stories which is just perfect for a cold, wintery evening, and when the light dims and the evening gloom settles you will find yourself peering into dark shadows.....as, like Mercy, you never know what waits for you there.

About the Author

Katherine Clements is a critically acclaimed novelist, self-confessed costume drama addict and current Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the University of Manchester.

She is editor of Historia, the online magazine of the Historical Writers' Association, and is a member of the HWA committee and The Prime Writers. The Coffin Path is her third novel.

Twitter @KL_Clements

#CoffinPath

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Review ~ The Silvered Heart by Katherine Clements

Headline
2015

Aristocrat. Heiress. Highwaywoman.

Orphaned heiress, Katherine Ferrers is forced to enter into a loveless marriage in order to save her family from penury and hardship. The marriage turns out to be  a loveless affair and rather than save her family, Katherine sees their fortunes forfeit and her own life increasingly intolerable. When she is offered a way out she seizes the opportunity and even though the future is faced with extreme danger, anything is preferable to the life she is living with a profligate and uncaring husband.

Set against the backdrop of the English civil war and in the early years of the interregnum, this story abounds with danger and treachery and yet, always keeps at its heart, a feisty and determined young woman who seeks to protect herself in the only way she can.

I really enjoyed this novel and was impressed with the clever way the story brings history alive, particularly in the challenges faced by the English aristocracy in the uncertain years of civil war, when to be on the wrong side politically meant certain ruin. Katherine is perhaps less typical of the women of her generation, but parts of the story of a legendary highwaywoman, have a foothold in folklore, so maybe this 'wicked lady' was as feisty as she is portrayed in this version of her life, either way, the novel makes for fascinating reading. 

The author has a comfortable writing style and is able to conjure time and place quite perfectly. I felt like I was experiencing the challenges of being a woman alone in a man's world and understood why Katherine was forced to take up the challenge of her own protection.

In the author's debut novel, The Crimson Ribbon, we had the parliamentarian side of the political argument of the civil war. In The Silvered Heart it is interesting to read about the other side of the story in this aristocratic view of life in England once the King had been executed. It tells of the indignity of an extreme change in fortune and of how some aristocratic families went, quite literally from riches to rags overnight.

This is a praise worthy second novel by an author who clearly loves writing historical fiction. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

My thanks to Caitlin Raynor at Headline for my review copy of this novel.

About the author

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Review ~ The Crimson Ribbon by Katherine Clements

Headline
2014

Ruth Flowers is suddenly left to fend for herself after the tragic death of her mother. Forced to flee from the Cromwell household, Ruth escapes to London in the company of Joseph Flowers, a young man with an air of mystery about him. Once in London, Ruth gets caught up in the flotsam and jetsam of life around the precincts of St Paul’s Cathedral. It’s a dank, unwholesome place, filled with the great unwashed of a teeming city, but in this dark and gloomy place, Ruth finds refuge with the Poole family and becomes a serving maid to the charismatic Elizabeth Poole. Before long, Ruth is caught up in the tidal wave of political fervour which is rife in London during the years of the English civil war.

The story is wonderfully atmospheric. The sights and sounds and ever present danger of teeming London are brought vividly alive. Such is the description of seventeenth century life; I felt like I was walking the same mean streets as Ruth, and working in the same print shop as Joseph, where amongst the inks, dust and pungent smell of leather, seditious pamphlets are regurgitated onto the London streets. Based on real factual evidence, the story of Elizabeth Poole’s involvement in civil war politics is nicely blended into the story. However, for me, it was Ruth Flowers who captured my imagination and who really gave the book its heart and soul. She is a feisty protagonist, full of contradictions, as vulnerable as a kitten, but as brave as any parliamentarian soldier. Her involvement with Elizabeth Poole will be fraught with danger but will be one of the most exciting times of Ruth’s life.

From the moment I first spied the stunning cover, through to the book’s ultimate conclusion, I was completely enamoured by The Crimson Ribbon ,and really look forward to seeing what Katherine Clements will come up with next.

My thanks to  Headline and Bookbridgr for my review copy of this book.

About the Author

Katherine has a passion for history and a degree in the subject. Until recently she worked for a national examination board, where she led the development and launch of the UK's first A level in Creative Writing. She has enjoyed success with her short stories and won a Historical Short Story Competition sponsored by Jerwood in 2012.