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Today, I am chatting once again with Judith Arnopp, this time about The Book of Thornhold, a collection of eight interconnected historical stories spanning more than a thousand years.
At the heart of the collection is an illuminated manuscript whose journey begins with eighth-century monks and continues through generations of changing fortunes, family secrets and historical upheaval. From the arrival of the Vikings to the modern day, the manuscript provides a connection between the people who encounter it, while the history of the Thornbury family and their ancestral home unfolds across the centuries.
Judith joins me today to talk about bringing together stories from different historical periods, the enduring significance of objects passed down through generations, and the challenges of exploring a thousand years of history through the lives of one family.
The Book of Thornhold begins with the fascinating idea of an ancient object silently witnessing centuries of human history. What first gave you the idea of using an illuminated manuscript as the thread connecting all eight stories?
Hi, it is lovely to be here revisiting one of my early books. The idea for The Book of Thornhold was inspired while I was still at university, I was a mature student but I still don’t like to think how long ago that was now. Part of my studies involved medieval manuscripts and we went on regular visits to the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth. I was allowed to handle some fabulous artefacts, among them Chaucer’s Hengwrt Manuscript, and was astonished at how brightly those pages still shine today. But curiously, the exhibit that affected me most was a small book of grammar, not more than thirty pages long, more a pamphlet than a book when viewed beside the other huge tomes. I forget its exact age but remember it was 10th century. Inside in a childish script was written, “This book was gifted to me by my mother,” and I was struck by the incredible chance of that 10th century boy’s book surviving to the present day –long enough for me to hold it. It was like holding that child’s hand across time. It was a fabulous moment.
On the way home, I came up with the idea of a novel, featuring one artefact on its journey through history. The more I thought about it, the more the idea appealed, and I began to imagine a manor house and generations of the same family. By the time I had made all the notes and added characters and adventures it became clear the book was going to be extremely long. In the end, I compromised by skipping through time, stopping at key moments in English history.
The book's journey begins in the eighth century with the monks who create it before passing through the hands of Vikings and eventually into the keeping of the Thornbury family. Why did you choose this particular period as the starting point for its story?
I began at the beginning, shortly after Christianity took hold in Britain. It was a hugely important era in church history, when books were still written and illustrated by hand, a laborious time-consuming art form that was essentially an expression of faith. It also gave me the opportunity to play with characters like St Cuthbert and think about how the transition between pagan belief and Christianity affected the ordinary people. As always in my books, the focus is on the characters and how they may have dealt with the changes.
Rather than following a single generation, the novel travels from the early medieval period all the way to the twenty-first century. How did you decide which moments in the book's long history deserved a story of their own?
I was quite selfish really and selected eras that are my personal favourite. I wanted to show how people may have changed from century to century but more importantly, to illustrate how we have stayed the same. It also provided the perfect tool to consider how our actions can be misinterpreted by later generations. Historic actions are not always what they seem. We shouldn’t judge.
Conquest, pestilence and civil war all touch the lives of the people who possess the manuscript. How did you balance major historical events with the much more intimate family stories unfolding within Thornhold?
I just thought about how the family may have felt. The pestilence (the black death) arrived so suddenly they had no time to prepare. News travelled slowly. They were still dealing with the recent famine caused by inclement weather and sheep blight. The Thornbury family, used to living an orderly, relatively safe life must have been blindsided by the sudden onslaught of plague. The pestilence completely changed the way of life for the whole country – the resulting lack of workers gave peasants power to demand higher wages and better living standards. It also empowered those who worked the land to move further afield; if a landowner didn’t pay enough, the workers simply moved on to a landowner who could offer them more. Some large estates never recovered. I particularly enjoyed writing the last pages of Pestilence when the children have to temporarily leave Thornhold but an old couple remain behind, knowing they will soon be gone, and their way of life will end with them.
Later on in the book I had to include the war of the roses, it’s my favourite era. It was fun to consider how the conflict between the Lancastrian and York split ordinary families too. You could not opt out; you had to choose a side but Huw the Bowman is a mediator. He makes the Thornbury family question who they are fighting for and why. He brings a sort of reconciliation to the family, if not actual lasting peace.
The Thornbury family changes enormously across the centuries, as does the house they inhabit. Did you think of the manor house almost as another character, evolving alongside the generations who live within it?
Yes! And the book too. From the beginning the family draw strength from the book, each generation leave their mark in it, the way people used to record events in bibles. When Laura finds the book in 2005, she is able to read the actual words written by her ancestors and hold hands with Byrtha and the Grandmother, just as I did with the little boy who wrote in the grammar book. The book and the manor are inextricably linked, they remain together through war, pestilence, fire and religious upheaval. Even at the end when the property is opened to the public, complete with a gift shop and tearoom, the book is still lurking in the attic, waiting for the right person to discover the stories it holds.
Family secrets and long-hidden skeletons gradually emerge as the history of Thornhold unfolds. Was it particularly enjoyable to plant connections, secrets or consequences in one period that might not become fully apparent until much later?
It was great fun and also very frustrating, especially if a new story thread popped into my head and I had to go back and weave it into the former chapters. Without many notes I am quite likely to forget or mismatch the events. I am not an organised writer; I usually have a rough idea where I want to end up but no clue as to route. I usually arrive in one piece at the end though. My beta readers are invaluable for picking up missed details or inconsistencies.
The novel is composed of eight short stories rather than one continuous narrative. What appealed to you about this structure, and what challenges came with making each story satisfying in its own right while still contributing to a much larger tale?
To be quite honest, it was the only way I could think of to fit it all in. Soon after I began planning the book I realised it was going to be huge and I had to restrict it somehow. I wanted to include as much English history as I could without it becoming overwhelming to both author and reader. The only way I could think of to do it was to skip through history like a stone bouncing across water. I began with the book’s creation in 8th century Northumberland, where it is bothered by Vikings. Then, it journeys south, pausing at the time of the Norman conquest at a Saxon settlement named Thornholding. The next stop is during the plague years when the holding has evolved into Thornhold Manor. Part four takes place during the war of the roses where the family briefly encounter Edward IV and his brothers. Then the narrative moves to the Monmouth Rebellion when the inhabitants of Thornhold Manor flirt with treason. We also pause during the Victorian era when Jamie Thornbury is preparing to leave for the Crimean War. It culminates in 2005 when young historian, Laura Gardener, begins to research the history of the manor where she works. She quickly discovers personal secrets and realises that all is not as it seems!
Covering such an enormous span of history must have required very different kinds of research for each section. Was there a particular century or episode that you especially enjoyed researching, or one that proved unexpectedly challenging?
I enjoy research as long as it is something I’m interested in so, since I was able to choose the eras in which I wrote, I enjoyed it all. I’ve read and studied history for most of my life, and that’s a pretty long time now, so am reasonably familiar with all eras included in the book but that still meant a lot of research. The chapter that required the most research, and meant a considerable sum spent on research material, was Duking Days, set during the Monmouth Rebellion. I’d really not touched on the period very much but I found it really fascinating.
As well as continuing the saga of the Thornburys, Duking Days touches on the true story of a group of schoolgirls from Taunton who, encouraged by their teachers, embroider a banner to welcome the rebel Monmouth on his arrival in 1685. The banner was presented to him the day before he proclaimed himself as king but after the rebellion collapsed, twenty-seven school aged girls were charged with treason. I immediately wanted to explore how their families felt. The terror of being brought before the notorious Judge Jefferies would have been immense – he wasn’t known for leniency.
At the beginning of the blurb, you invite readers to think about the stories an ancient object might have witnessed on its journey to the present day. After following the Book of Thornhold across so many centuries, do you hope readers will look a little differently at the historic objects that survive around us today?
I have a keen interest in antiques, not just expensive artefacts but simple objects from everyday life. I know from experience that we don’t always know the value of the objects we inherit. I think, as humans, we tend to be quite casual in our treatment of family heirlooms, things that are passed down. That is why so many wonderful treasures are to be found at car boot sales and charity shops – our auntie passes down an old doll, now regarded as ‘creepy’ and we donate it without properly considering either the sentimental or monetary value. And very often the greatest value isn’t monetary, it is in the stories these things could tell. The history they have witnessed. I love old things. I have a vast collection of Lines/Triang dolls houses, the earliest dating from 1800s. When I open the doors, I am not just seeing what is inside, I am thinking of the lucky child who was given it at Christmas in 1898, or the games she played, the dolls who lived in it. History isn’t just about what you can see or touch, it is what you can imagine. Holding old things in our hands helps us visualise the past, and they help me write my books.
One book I encountered during my years at university was The Book of Durrow, an absolutely gorgeous, illuminated manuscript, believed to be one of the earliest surviving. The Book remained in Ireland for centuries, largely under the care of monasteries but at some point in its history, it was owned by a farmer who immersed it in water and then used the ‘blessed’ water to treat his sick cattle! Oh, my word, thank goodness the book was written on parchment and came through relatively unscathed. I used this idea when I wrote the Pestilence chapter as you will see when you read it - lol.
By the time Laura discovers The Book of Thornhold, it has signs of water damage, burning, torn pages, spatters of strange substances, and inscriptions but after so many centuries the book and the manor house have become part of the whole, and the story of the book as important as the gospel inscribed on the pages by those long-ago monks, Alric and Alricson who began it all.
A huge thank you to Judith Arnopp for joining me today and sharing more about The Book of Thornhold.
If you enjoy historical fiction that spans the centuries, family sagas, medieval history and stories in which the past continues to influence the present, then The Book of Thornhold is certainly one to add to your reading list. Pick up your copy HERE.
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See you on your next coffee break!
Take Care,
Mary Anne xxx