The Prendergast Watch by Emma Woodhouse

The Prendergast Watch 
By Emma Woodhouse 

Publication Date: 5th February 20205
Publisher: Holand Press
Page Length: 286 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction / Mystery

London 1888.

Bartholomew Grouse, an impoverished gentleman, takes shelter inside The Prendergast Emporium during a storm.

He spends the last of his rent money on an antique pocket watch - and encounters the beautiful but troubled Jemima Prendergast.

The family intrigues him. As Bartholomew attempts to unravel the secrets of the Prendergasts, he is drawn further into the shadows of Victorian London.

Deception, forgery, blackmail, death threats and a hidden past of his own threaten to overwhelm him.

As Bartholemew becomes embroiled in dark undertakings and his debts increase, only his growing regard for Jemima, a somnambulist who has lived within the walls of the emporium her whole life, gives him hope.

With Bartholomew’s support, Jemima must face a world she has been taught to fear, confronting the truth about her own family history and Jasper, her deceitful uncle, who has led her to become a recluse.

Bound together by a painting, a suffragette and the regulars at The Old Cock, Bartholomew and Jemima continue to grow closer and Bartholomew is forced to confront the man he has become, and the man he wants to be.

Can Jemima Prendergast free Bartholomew from his past, and, at the same time, liberate herself?

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The Prendergast Watch 

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Emma Woodhouse 

Following the story of Bartholomew Grouse and his infatuation with the enigmatic Jemima Prendergast, The Prendergast Watch is a Victorian extravaganza of love, loss, blackmail, asylums, art, suffrage and family secrets.

 

I wrote The Prendergast Watch in 2020 during the Covid epidemic. I was quickly caught up in the lives of the different characters, and it was wonderful at such a strange and alienated time to be able to check in with the different characters, to explore their world, to have the time and the space to really develop my writing into creating this first Prendergast novel.

 

The initial idea was to create this book as a set of three novels, the other two as prequels, taking the older, more gnarled character from the book and developing books from their earlier lives. These are still works in progress, and I hope, one day, to publish these too! I would love to hear from readers who would like to see this happen!

 

Although I have lots of fun creating characters and researching historical detail, my work also has a serious side. It seeks to peel back the layers of society, to explore the hidden, often forgotten world of the working-class woman. In The Prendergast Watch, Jemima Prendergast has suffered the controlling nature of her uncle for long enough. When he dies, she is free to finally discover who he really is. Daisy Wiggins, a poverty-stricken suffragette, seeks to empower Jemima on her course to self-fulfilment. As a woman from a working-class family myself, I feel a strong desire to explore the worlds frequented by the poor in Victorian society. In my other books, I delve into these worlds more deeply and amalgamate real historical figures too. The Prendergast Watch touches the tip of that iceberg.

 

Having spent many years working at Blists Hill Victorian Town giving talks and demonstrations about Victorian life, I developed a deep love of all things Victorian. After completing a BA (Hons) in Literature with the Open University, I then completed a PGCE and MA in Education at Worcester University, and have been teaching now for over 15 years. I am also currently pursuing my MA in Contemporary Creative Writing with Northeastern University London.

 

The future holds lots of exciting writing projects, and a podcast about creative writing too! Watch this space!