Today, I am chatting with Marcia Clayton, author of The Mazzard Tree, the first novel in the Hartford Manor series.
Set in Victorian North Devon, The Mazzard Tree introduces Annie Carter, a young woman born into a world where poverty, class and circumstance can determine the course of a person's life. When Annie falls in love with Robert Fellwood, the privileged son of a wealthy family, the gulf between their two worlds creates obstacles that cannot easily be overcome.
Today, we're talking about the inspiration behind Annie's story, bringing rural Victorian Devon to life, and how the author's own farming childhood and family history helped shape the people and world of The Mazzard Tree.
The Mazzard Tree introduces readers to Annie Carter, a young woman struggling against the harsh realities of Victorian poverty. What first inspired Annie's story?
As a young woman, I was a big fan of the Catherine Cookson novels – and I still enjoy them today. Many of her books are set in Victorian times, featuring women from impoverished backgrounds, and tell of their struggle to survive and improve their lot in life. Cookson's books are set in the north of England, and I wanted to write novels in the same period, but that were set in my home county of Devon. Each area has its own customs and local information, and I think it’s always best to write about what you know. Born in Devon and having lived here all my life, I found it the ideal setting for my stories.
Annie and Robert come from vastly different social backgrounds, yet they form a close bond. What interested you most about exploring a relationship constrained by the rigid class system of Victorian England?
Robert Fellwood was the son of Lord Fellwood and had been born into a life of luxury and never wanted for anything. His family was rich and prosperous, and his father had little sympathy for the poor. In contrast, Annie Carter, the daughter of an agricultural worker, lived with her large family in a tied cottage and had few prospects. Her father, Tom Carter, was ill with tuberculosis and, with no cure for the illness, his days were numbered. Knowing this, and that his family would become homeless if he could no longer work, would have been a huge concern for him and his wife, Sabina. Given the vastly different social backgrounds of Robert and Annie, I thought it would be an interesting story for them to fall in love and explore the many obstacles that they would have to overcome to pursue their relationship.
The novel vividly portrays the challenges faced by working-class families in rural Devon. What kind of research did you undertake to bring this world to life so authentically?
I enjoy reading historical fiction set in the Victorian period, so over the years I built up my knowledge of how families in rural areas lived then. I am the daughter of a tenant farmer, and although, no doubt, times were easier in my day than in Victorian times, I knew from experience how difficult it is to make a living off the land. As a child, I helped with the jobs on the farm, and many of them had not changed that much since Victorian times, though nowadays things are very different. Like Sabina and Annie, I milked the cows, weeded the crops, and helped with the harvest, and on occasion I was kept off school because the work was more important. They were happy days, and I enjoyed them, so I was able to draw on my own memories when writing the book.
Annie is faced with a difficult choice between following her heart and choosing the safer, more practical path. Why do you think this dilemma continues to resonate with readers today?
In Victorian times, and even in my younger days, becoming an unmarried mother was a terrible stigma, and some families would wash their hands of their daughters for bringing such disgrace upon them. Annie was in an even worse predicament, for having been attacked, she did not know who the father of her child was, though she was fortunate that her mother was willing to support her. Having fallen in love with Robert Fellwood, but believing the relationship could have no future, she faced a difficult decision when Harry Rudd, the village blacksmith, nobly offered to marry her to give the baby a name. This offered an easy solution, and her mother urged her to take it, but she did not love Harry, even though he was a good man. Most of my readers are from the older generation, and I think this story resonates with them because they remember what things were like when they were growing up. Younger readers find it harder to understand the stigma that was once attached to an unwanted pregnancy.
Harry Rudd is a very different prospect from Robert, offering stability and security rather than uncertainty. What role does Harry play in Annie's emotional journey?
Harry plays a major role in Annie’s emotional journey. He was a decent, hardworking man, with excellent prospects of inheriting the village smithy, a thriving business. Annie knew he had admired her for a long time, and he had already attempted to begin a relationship with her. Unfortunately for Harry, Annie was already in love with Robert Fellwood, and though she knew the romance was unlikely to have a future, she could not deny her feelings. She was honest with Harry, and when he married her, he knew she was pregnant, but didn’t know who the father was, and that she didn’t love him. Harry hoped Robert would return to school and that in time, Annie would come to love him. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, and Annie carried enormous guilt.
North Devon is almost a character in its own right throughout the novel. How has growing up in the region influenced your writing and storytelling?
I was born in North Devon and have lived here all my life – and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. I love the countryside, the coastline, the people, and the slower way of life, though it seems to be speeding up in recent years. It is somewhere I know well and am comfortable writing about. So, yes, being set in North Devon is an important element in my books.
Family responsibility is a central theme in The Mazzard Tree, particularly after Annie's father's death. How important was it for you to explore the sacrifices people make for those they love?
When families face hardship and difficult times, they are often brought closer together, and other minor problems are set aside. My father was a tenant farmer of a smallholding and worked alone, helped only by the family. In his later years, the assistance of another farm labourer would have been beneficial, but the farm did not make enough profit to cover another wage. Busy times like haymaking or the harvest were always enjoyable when relatives, villagers, or other farmers would come to help for an odd day or evening. However, when my father suddenly fell seriously ill, the precariousness of the situation became clear when there was no one to milk the cows at short notice. At the time, I worked in a bank, and my husband worked in an office. With no one else able to help, I milked the cows morning and night for seven weeks before and after work, and my husband and my mother did other essential jobs, like feeding the animals, bottling the milk, and delivering it on our milk round every morning. We didn’t think twice about doing the work, and have often joked since that we were probably at our fittest during that time. Thankfully, my father recovered but realised it was time to make changes, and he retired a few months later.
In The Mazzard Tree, Annie’s and Sabina’s predicament following the death of Tom Carter was far more serious, but I drew on my own experiences to explore their situation.
Many of your novels focus on ordinary people facing extraordinary challenges. What draws you to telling the stories of those whose voices are often absent from traditional historical accounts?
I think all people have hidden depths, and it is not until moments of adversity that we discover our full strength. Times were far harder in Victorian times than they are today, and it was essential that folk supported each other to survive. In researching my family tree, I have pieced together information from census returns, parish registers, and newspaper cuttings that highlight examples of extraordinary challenges faced by my ancestors, though much of it is my own interpretation of the past. I enjoy focusing on my ancestors' stories and allowing their voices to be heard.
As the first book in the Hartford Manor series, The Mazzard Tree lays the foundation for the stories that follow. When you began writing it, did you already envision a wider series, or did that develop over time?
When I began writing The Mazzard Tree, I only intended to write one book, and even that was not well planned. After writing several books in the series, I thought each time I had taken the story as far as I could, but then decided to carry on and write another. My books have many characters, and I provide a family tree of the main families to help readers keep track of everyone. This was intentional, as families were large in Victorian times, and although I did not foresee it, this has helped enormously in writing additional books in the series, as there is always a character I can select to write about.
More than a century after Annie's story is set, readers continue to connect with her determination and resilience. What do you hope modern readers take away from her journey?
Although it is over a hundred years since The Mazzard Tree was set and times and fashions have changed, the challenges people face remain largely the same. Some families still struggle to pay the rent and put enough food on the table for their children, and many are homeless. I hope readers are encouraged by Annie’s determination and resilience and take heart that, however desperate a situation seems, lives can change, and often for the better.
A huge thank you for joining me today and sharing more about The Mazzard Tree.
If you enjoy character-driven historical fiction, evocative rural settings and stories about ordinary people finding the strength to face extraordinary challenges, then The Mazzard Tree is certainly one to add to your reading list.
No comments:
Post a Comment
See you on your next coffee break!
Take Care,
Mary Anne xxx