When the Stones Held by David E. Owen

 

One Man. One Dream. One Extraordinary Bridge.

Today, Yarde Book Promotions is handing over the spotlight to historical fiction author David E. Owen and his remarkable novel, When the Stones Held.

Last week, we travelled back to eighteenth-century Wales, where an ambitious young stonemason dared to attempt something that many believed impossible. We discovered a story of determination, extraordinary craftsmanship and the courage to pursue a dream, even when the odds seemed firmly stacked against it.

But we're not quite ready to leave William Edwards and his extraordinary story behind!

Today, we're celebrating When the Stones Held with a special author takeover, bringing together some of the highlights from David's recent blog tour and taking another look at the history that inspired his novel.

📖 First, let's meet the book...

When the Stones Held

By David E. Owen

Publication Date: 16th May 2026

Publisher: Independently Published

Print Length: 331 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction 

When The Stones Held is an unforgettable historical novel inspired by the true story of William Edwards, the self taught Welsh stonemason who built one of the greatest bridges of the eighteenth century.

Born into poverty in the remote valleys of South Wales, William grows up in a world shaped by hard labour, dangerous rivers, and communities struggling to survive. Education is rare. Opportunity is rarer still. Yet from childhood, William becomes fascinated by stone, by balance, and by the dream of building something that will outlive him.

As the coal trade begins transforming Wales and merchants demand safer routes through the valleys, William sets himself an impossible task, to build a bridge across the fierce River Taff where others have failed. Floods destroy his work. Rivals mock him. Powerful men try to break him. Each collapse threatens his reputation, his livelihood, and the people he loves.

Set against the harsh beauty of eighteenth century Wales, When The Stones Held is a story of ambition, resilience, love, grief, and determination. It brings to life the people, language, and struggles of a forgotten world while telling the remarkable true story behind the bridge that gave birth to the town of Pontypridd.

Perfect for readers who enjoy rich historical fiction, Welsh history, and stories of ordinary people achieving extraordinary things.

🪨 The Man Behind the Bridge

Imagine being told that your greatest ambition was impossible. That you lacked the experience, the education or the standing to achieve something so extraordinary.

Would you give up?

William Edwards didn't.

A self-taught Welsh stonemason, Edwards became known for his remarkable determination to bridge the River Taff at Pontypridd. His story is one of ingenuity, perseverance and the refusal to accept that an ordinary man could not accomplish extraordinary things.

In When the Stones Held, David E. Owen takes this fascinating piece of Welsh history and transforms it into a historical novel that explores not only the building of a bridge, but also the man behind the ambition.

📚 A Look Back at the Blog Tour

What a wonderful week we had celebrating When the Stones Held!

From thoughtful book reviews to fascinating historical guest posts and excerpts, our fabulous bloggers helped introduce David's novel to readers across the historical fiction community.

If you missed the tour, don't worry! You can still explore all the wonderful contributions and discover what our reviewers thought of the book.

Catch up with the blog tour here:

https://maryanneyarde.blogspot.com/2026/08/blog-tour-when-stones-held-by-david-e.html

✍️ Getting to Know David E. Owen

Behind every historical novel is an author who has spent countless hours researching, imagining and bringing the past to life.

Today is also an opportunity to celebrate the author behind When the Stones Held.

After decades spent teaching around the world—from the UK to the Caribbean, Africa, and the Middle East—I came to writing fiction later in life. I started with fantasy before finding my voice in fast-paced, real-world spy thrillers. My stories are grounded in current issues like corruption, gender bias, and power, but always emphasise pace, surprise, and character-driven tension.

I’ve visited over 80 countries, worked as a radio host in Abu Dhabi, directed Shakespeare for African audiences in the bush, and even survived a flash flood in Mali and an armed hold-up. I was arrested for drug-smuggling in Nigeria but was eventually released when I refused to pay off the police captain, and I was boat-wrecked alone on a desert island in the Arabian Sea (but no tree) and rescued through a police search. Now retired from teaching, I split my time between writing, photography, and trying to get fit (thanks to a stubborn rowing machine). My latest novel, Hate Machine, tackles misogyny and gender radicalisation — not typical thriller territory, but I like a challenge.

⭐ What Did Our Reviewers Think?

One of the loveliest parts of a blog tour is discovering how different readers respond to the same story.

Throughout last week's tour, our reviewers shared their thoughts on William Edwards, the challenges he faced and David's portrayal of eighteenth-century Wales.

"When the Stones Held is an engaging, thoughtful and beautifully grounded piece of historical fiction about craftsmanship, community, ambition and the extraordinary things that can grow from an ordinary person's determination to understand how something works."

Oh Look, Another Book!

"If you are looking for thought-provoking historical fiction set in the Welsh valleys that tells the story of a historical figure you may know very little about, then this book really needs to be on your to-read list."

The Book Bandit's Library

"If you enjoy historical fiction that takes its time with the characters and gives you plenty of everyday history alongside the bigger events, I would happily recommend When the Stones Held. It is a thoughtful, sometimes heartbreaking novel, and one I thoroughly enjoyed."

Candlelight Reading

🪨 Your Next Historical Fiction Read?

If you enjoy historical fiction inspired by real people, forgotten achievements and the determination of ordinary individuals to do extraordinary things, When the Stones Held deserves a place on your reading list.

William Edwards left behind a remarkable legacy. David E. Owen invites readers to discover the man behind it.

Discover When the Stones Held by David E. Owen today!

Amazon

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A huge thank you to David E. Owen for allowing Yarde Book Promotions to celebrate his wonderful novel, and to all our fabulous bloggers who supported last week's tour. Your time, enthusiasm and dedication are always greatly appreciated!

Yarde Book Promotions

RICHARD II’s COURT by Mercedes Rochelle

RICHARD II’s COURT

by Mercedes Rochelle

Richard II makes Thomas Mowbray the Earl Marshal, BL Cotton MS Nero D VI, f.85r.  Wikimedia

It seems that at some point in every reign, political factions grew up around the king. Sometimes they were minor annoyances and could be ignored. Often they turned toxic—especially when a baron started to throw his weight around. Occasionally the overmighty baron was a member of the royal family, as in the case of Richard II, and he was able to attract powerful friends. As the great historian Kenneth McFarlane put it*: “The nuisance of the overmighty subject was in fact a feature of the rule of weaklings and vanished with the accession of those who had the personal authority to deal with it…To Edward III, Henry V, and Henry VIII the problem did not exist; to Edward II, Richard II, and Henry VI, it was insoluble.” This seems harsh, but I can’t argue with it. The court was more dangerous to King Richard than it was to his subjects.

Of course, during the first ten years of Richard II’s reign the country had to deal with his minority; that didn’t help matters. There was no regent—only a continual council. How can a testy teenager gain control over his opinionated uncles? During the early part of his reign, Richard mistakenly saw John of Gaunt as his primary antagonist—actually, Gaunt had managed to rub almost everybody the wrong way until he gained some humility after his debacle in Spain. Once Gaunt had left the country to chase his crown of Castile, his younger brother the Duke of Gloucester stepped forward, and Richard found himself challenged by an even more unscrupulous opponent. This is when the real trouble began.

Up until then, King Richard was content to surround himself with a tight-knight group of friends and confidants. That in itself might not have rankled, except that he shut himself away from those who considered themselves his proper advisors. The young Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford emerged as the most obvious scapegoat; Richard was very attached to him and it was rumored there might have been some unsavory behavior, reminiscent of Edward II. Also, that commoner Sir Simon Burley, Richard’s chamberlain, kept a firm control over access to the king’s inner chambers. The overmighty barons felt excluded. Something had to be done.

So in these critical first ten years, the faction against the king gained ground, and those faithful to Richard remained a pitiful minority. The Duke of Gloucester joined forces with the irascible Earl of Arundel and the Earl of Warwick; soon they gathered their retainers together and marched on London. Although they insisted that Richard get rid of his bad advisors, the king demurred while Robert de Vere attempted to raise an army to defend him. This perceived betrayal was enough to persuade Henry Bolingbroke and Thomas Mowbray to join the Lords Appellant, as they all became known.

Arundel, Gloucester, Nottingham, Derby, and Warwick, Before the King Source: Wikimedia

At the time, the king had no standing army; he was totally dependent on his nobles to do his fighting for him. Who would have been on his side? Already Robert de Vere’s army had surrendered almost without a fight; he had no experience in warfare. The Duke of York, Richard’s other uncle, was notoriously ineffectual and could only offer moral support. John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, was in Spain. That’s it for the Dukes; there were only three—all Richard’s uncles. How about the earls? Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland was far in the north; he didn’t get involved. John Holland, Earl of Kent and Richard’s half-brother, was with Gaunt in Spain. Roger Mortimer, Earl of March was in Ireland. Michael de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk, was on the run. The last four earls were Appellants. That’s it. Richard was alone.

After making short work of de Vere, the Appellants closed in on Richard who had taken refuge in the Tower. There was no way out; the king was their prisoner. It was their moment of triumph and they didn’t hesitate to threaten his crown. What could he do? Richard was forced to bend to their will, sacrificing all his supporters. Burley was executed, along with at least eight others, including Chief Justice Tresilian and ex-mayor Nicholas Brembre. Queen Anne begged on her knees for Gloucester to spare Burley, but to no avail. Servants and knights of the chamber were imprisoned or exiled. The Ex-Chancellor, Michael de la Pole, was the lucky one. He found refuge on the Continent and was joined by Robert de Vere. By the time Richard’s government had been purged, the king had no one to turn to except his wife.

 Execution of Robert Tresilian from Jean Froissart’s Chroniques (Wikimedia)

The desolate King Richard spent a year licking his wounds before daring to step forward. But step forward he did. After all, he was twenty-two, and no one could deny it was time to declare his majority. By then, the Lords Appellant had lost interest in governing. After all, they had achieved their goal and their attention was demanded elsewhere. The transition to Richard’s full control was smooth and effortless, and the king had learned his lesson—or so it seemed. For the next seven years, England experienced a rare stretch of peace and prosperity.

But it was not destined to last. Richard had learned an even better lesson from the Lords Appellant. He determined that never again would he find himself alone and defenseless. It was time to retain some men of his own, and he started with the Cheshire Archers. Oh, dear. It was not going to end well…

On to THE KING’S RETRUBITION.

Publication Date: 1st April 2020
Publisher: Sergeant Press
Print Length: 259 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction

If you read A KING UNDER SIEGE, you might remember that we left off just as Richard declared his majority at age 22. He was able to rise above the humiliation inflicted on him during the Merciless Parliament, but the fear that it could happen again haunted him the rest of his life. Ten years was a long time to wait before taking revenge on your enemies, but King Richard II was a patient man. Hiding his antagonism toward the Lords Appellant, once he felt strong enough to wreak his revenge he was swift and merciless. Alas for Richard, he went too far, and in his eagerness to protect his crown Richard underestimated the very man who would take it from him: Henry Bolingbroke.

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The King's Retribution
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Mercedes Rochelle 

Born in St. Louis MO with a degree from University of Missouri, Mercedes Rochelle learned about living history as a re-enactor and has been enamored with historical fiction ever since. A move to New York to do research and two careers ensued, but writing fiction remains her primary vocation. She lives in Sergeantsville, NJ with her husband in a log home they had built themselves.

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Author Interview with Jill Bray — A Knightly Betrayal

Today, I am delighted to welcome Jill Bray to Yarde Book Promotions to talk about A Knightly Betrayal, the second novel in her medieval mystery series featuring Simon de Hale, Sheriff of Yorkshire.

Set in October 1224, the novel finds Simon looking forward to a family celebration following the birth of his first grandchild. However, his plans are interrupted when Lady Cecily Chalcombe, a woman from his past, arrives seeking protection after receiving threatening letters. When her maid is subsequently murdered and Cecily is discovered standing over the body with blood on her hands, Simon finds himself drawn into an investigation where appearances may be dangerously misleading.

With his perceptive daughter Katherine helping him uncover the truth, Simon must navigate a world of noble ambitions, family secrets and divided loyalties, where wealth and position can prove just as dangerous as any weapon.

Jill joins me today to talk about the historical research behind Simon's world, the challenges of creating a convincing medieval murder mystery, and the relationships that continue to develop as the series progresses.

But first, let's check out A Knightly Betrayal

Publication Date: 22nd October 2026

Publisher: MCJ Books

Print Length: 351 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

October 1224.

 Simon de Hale, Sheriff of Yorkshire, is travelling to his manor to celebrate the birth of his first grandchild. Awaiting his arrival is an unexpected guest, Lady Cecily Chalcombe, a beguiling acquaintance from his days at the royal court. Recently widowed in scandalous circumstances, Lady Cecily throws herself upon his mercy and seeks his protection from the people threatening her.

Guests arrive for a celebration feast, including Lady Cecily’s brother Nicholas and the distinguished Earl Warenne. But upon retiring, Simon finds Lady Cecily standing over the dead body of her maid, hands bloodied.

Simon cannot believe she has killed her maid, but if she hasn’t then who was it. Was the death meant as a warning to Lady Cecily?

With the help of his daughter Katherine, Simon starts to investigate the murder and uncovers a web of gambling, deceit and betrayal. But will he be able to find the killer before Lady Cecily becomes the next victim.

 A Knightly Betrayal takes readers to Yorkshire in October 1224, where what should be a joyful family celebration quickly becomes a murder investigation. What drew you to this particular year and setting for Simon de Hale’s latest mystery?

I was drawn to this year as Simon de Hale was Sheriff of Yorkshire from 1223 to April 1225, so this is the time window the novels are set in.

A Knightly Betrayal actually takes Simon from York, where he is Sheriff, to Earls Barton in Northamptonshire. His family manor was at Earls Barton, and it is mentioned in the Fine Rolls of Henry III that he was granted by Royal favour 12 oak trees to build a house there. 

The first novel A Brotherly Devotion was set in July 1224 and Simon’s eldest daughter is pregnant in this. A Knightly Betrayal is set three months later, after she has given birth to his first grandchild.

Simon is travelling to his manor to celebrate the birth of his first grandchild when Lady Cecily Chalcombe unexpectedly arrives seeking his protection. What can you tell us about their history together, and why is Simon prepared to help her despite the scandal surrounding her recent widowhood?

The scandal around Lady Chalcombe (who is a fictional character) is around her late husband who took sides against the King at the siege of Bedford Castle in August 1224. He was killed at the end of the siege. Following this Lady Chalcombe petitioned the King to have her lands, which formed her dowry when she married, restored to her. This causes resentment at court, by those who believe the lands should rightly have come to them. Lady Chalcombe comes to Simon to ask for his help as she has started to receive threatening letters and believes she is being followed. 

Simon has known Lady Cecily for around 17 years. He was newly widowed at the time and a lawyer at the King’s Court. She was a young lady serving the Countess of Pembroke. He was captivated by her then but was still grieving his wife.

The murder of Lady Cecily’s maid takes place beneath Simon’s own roof, with Cecily discovered standing over the body with blood on her hands. How much fun was it to begin the mystery with evidence that appears to point so convincingly towards one person?

This was the first scene that came into my head for the novel – though originally it was Simon who was found standing over the dead body of Lady Cecily. However, as I wrote more of the novel, I came to like the character of Lady Cecily and wanted to keep her in the story, so I had to go back and re-write the beginning. 

I love to begin my novels with a murder, or incident, which makes the reader want to turn the pages to find out what really happened.

Simon refuses to believe Cecily is guilty and begins investigating alongside his daughter Katherine. How has the relationship between father and daughter developed, and what does Katherine bring to an investigation that Simon might otherwise overlook?

Simon is very attached to his youngest daughter, Katherine, and he has missed her since she married Alexander in July 1224 (at the end of the first novel) and went to live at Helmsley. This is the first time he has seen her since. Simon is a man of law and, because of his status as Sheriff of Yorkshire, a very powerful man. People can often be a little afraid of him, whereas Katherine is often the one they confide in. She is also very perceptive and intuitive and notices things about others that Simon misses.

When I write, I like to have an image of the characters in my head. Simon is based on Damien Lewis and Katherine is based on Eleanor Tomlinson (as Demelza in Poldark).

The arrival of Lady Cecily’s brother Nicholas and the Earl Warenne brings several new personalities into Simon’s household just before the murder. How did you use the gathering of guests to create suspicion and give Simon a believable circle of possible suspects?

I never plot, or plan, a novel I’m writing. I start with an idea and work from that – and invariably the initial idea changes as the story develops. 

I brought Earl Warenne into the story as a possible suitor for Lady Cecily. It is known that Earl Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey, was looking to take another wife at this time. Indeed, he did marry the Maud, the widow of Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, in 1225. I wanted his character to highlight the developing feelings Simon has for Lady Cecily and make Simon realise that might be falling in love.

The character of Nicholas was brought in initially as support for Lady Cecily. So that she had her brother with her as a familiar face in a gathering of strangers.

Q6. Gambling, deceit and betrayal all emerge as Simon and Katherine investigate. What interested you about exploring the secrets that could lie beneath the respectable surface of noble society in thirteenth-century England?

I wanted to look at money, power and status in England at that time and how these affected noble women. A woman inheriting lands and wealth might become of higher status than her brother and in a male dominated society this could cause resentment and hatred within a family and also at court.

I also wanted to look at how vulnerable a woman could be at this time. A man could force her into marriage against her will and take all her lands. It was not an easy time for a young, wealthy widow.

I wanted Nicholas to have a secret and had to do a lot of research about this, until I found something that would have been considered immoral by his peers at the time.

Simon is Sheriff of Yorkshire, which gives him authority but also responsibilities and expectations very different from those of a modern fictional detective. What research did you undertake into the role of a sheriff in the early thirteenth century, particularly when dealing with serious crime?

As a Sheriff, Simon would not normally get involved in everyday disputes or even murder. In the first novel A Brotherly Devotion, I had the Abbot of St Mary’s requesting his personal attention to the murder of the monk. In the current novel, the murder takes places in Simon’s own home, so he has little choice but to become involved. 

I did research about the duties of a Sheriff in medieval times and the position varied as to who was appointed into the role. Some County Sheriffs saw it merely as a way to increase their wealth and took little interest in the day-to-day administration. Many Sheriffs were earls, or barons and had little interest in the law. Whereas Simon is a lawyer by training and has a strong moral code, which means he insists on seeing justice done.

You have been interested in the medieval history of Yorkshire for more than forty years. Are there particular places, records or aspects of Yorkshire’s history that helped you create the world of A Knightly Betrayal?

I was born in Yorkshire and lived there for 33 years. It is a place that I love to come back and visit now. I studied medieval history in the late 1980’s and used the resources of the Yorkshire Archaeological Society – when they used to be based on Clarendon Road in Leeds. They had a late-night opening on a Thursday, which meant I go straight after work and study.

A Knightly Betrayal, takes the story away from Yorkshire to Northamptonshire and I had to do a lot of research into Earls Barton and the manor which Simon would have built – which no longer exists.

The title suggests that betrayal lies at the heart of the story. Without revealing the mystery, were you interested in exploring the different forms betrayal can take — between friends, family members and those bound by loyalty or obligation?

The title changed several times as I was writing the novel. I wanted a title that hinted at what was behind the murder, but without giving away who the killer was.

When I started writing the novel, it was Simon who was found standing over the body of a murdered Lady Cecily and Katherine was forced into proving her father’s innocence. I do not plan, or plot, the books at all, the characters within them drive the storyline.

 A Knightly Betrayal follows A Brotherly Devotion. How has Simon changed since readers first met him, and what new side of his character do you think this investigation reveals?

At the end of A Brotherly Devotion, Katherine marries Alexander and moves from York Castle to Helmsley. This highlights to Simon how alone he is now. He has only his work to occupy him and in A Knightly Betrayal I wanted to bring in the possibility of a romantic relationship for him. 

Lady Cecily and Simon’s relationship will feature in the third novel of the series A Deceitful Death which is set at Christmas 1224 at Helmsley Castle.

Historical mysteries have to satisfy readers on two levels: the crime needs to work as a convincing puzzle, while the investigation must remain believable for the period. Which side of that equation do you find the most challenging when constructing a mystery?

I suppose I spend most of my time trying to make the crime work as a puzzle. Not to give too much away too early and to try and lead the reader in a direction to believe the murderer is someone else.

I have found getting the dialogue correct for the period a little challenging too, but my proofreader has helped enormously with this – pointing out when the text is too modern for the period.

For readers returning to Simon de Hale in A Knightly Betrayal, what can they expect from his latest investigation — and for those meeting him for the first time, what do you hope will tempt them to follow him on further adventures?

When I wrote the first novel A Brotherly Devotion, it was intended to be a stand-alone book. However, I loved the characters of Simon and his daughter, Katherine, so much that I did not want it to end and I wanted their adventures to continue.

 

It was also something that I was asked by readers of the first novel, who wanted to read more of Simon and Katherine.

In A Knightly Betrayal and the next novel, A Deceitful Death – which will be out summer 2027 – I wanted to follow both Simon’s relationships with Katherine and also Lady Cecily. In addition I wanted to look at Katherine’s marriage to Alexander and how, after the passion of the illicit romance, marriage is proving to be very different for her. 

I also have ideas for two more novels in the series; both stories will take place in 1225. The first is set in late March 1225, following the reissuing of Magna Carta, and with Simon still as Sheriff of Yorkshire. The one after will be set in May/June 1225, with him back at the King’s Court, before he is appointed Sheriff of Wiltshire in 1226.

A huge thank you to Jill Bray for joining me today and sharing more about A Knightly Betrayal.

If you enjoy historical murder mysteries, medieval England, intriguing family relationships and stories where secrets and betrayals lurk beneath the respectable surface of noble society, then A Knightly Betrayal is certainly one to add to your reading list.

Pick up your copy of A Knightly Betrayal HERE.

Jill Bray

Jill lives on the Island of Guernsey now, but is originally from Yorkshire. She has a love of early medieval history which led her to study the subject at Huddersfield College in the 1980’s. Working in Leeds at the time, meant that she had access to the Yorkshire Archaeological Society on their late night opening and following research, she wondered what the lives of the people she read about were actually like. This started a love of writing historical fiction, but her initial stories were never sent to a publisher. Life and work then intervened and writing was put to one side. It was only following a workshop held by the Guernsey Literary Festival in 2024 on writing historical fiction, that her love of writing was reignited. 

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Step Into the Shadows with E.L. Ravenheart

Step Into the Shadows with E.L. Ravenheart

There are writers who tell stories, and then there are writers who seem determined to build entire worlds around them.

E.L. Ravenheart belongs firmly in the latter camp.

With a love of gothic fiction, supernatural mystery, forgotten histories and those strange places where folklore and the unexplained meet, Ravenheart’s work is becoming more than a collection of books. It is growing into a world of stories, podcasts, conversations and new creative projects, all connected by a fascination with what might be waiting just beyond the ordinary.

And with All Hallows’ Eve approaching, there could hardly be a better time to discover it.

Three Books to Take You Into the Darkness

Readers looking to enter Ravenheart’s fictional world can begin with three wonderfully atmospheric titles:

The Circle of Witham Grange

The Watchers at St Hallows Gate

The Shadow Keeper

Together, these books represent the kind of storytelling that has become central to the E.L. Ravenheart name: stories that lean into atmosphere, mystery, the supernatural and the unsettling feeling that places can remember the people who have passed through them.

They are the sort of tales made for dark October evenings, when the nights are drawing in and an old house, woodland path or forgotten doorway suddenly feels capable of hiding a history of its own.

But the books are only part of what Ravenheart is creating.

Welcome to E.L. Ravenheart Studios

The world of E.L. Ravenheart is now expanding beyond the written page through E.L. Ravenheart Studios and Ravenheart’s podcast channels.

Storytelling has always been about connection. It is the moment when one imagination reaches another.

The podcasts take that idea into a different medium, giving listeners another doorway into Ravenheart’s creative world. Even more excitingly, E.L. Ravenheart Studios is developing into a place where Ravenheart can sit down with other authors and writers, talking about their books, their inspirations and the creative journeys behind their work.

Those author interviews will also become part of the growing podcast channels.

It means the Ravenheart name is beginning to represent something larger than one author promoting her own stories. It is becoming a space where other writers can step through the door too.

And there is plenty more storytelling still to come.

The Hollow Below

Among Ravenheart’s other works is The Hollow Below, another title continuing the author’s journey into darker storytelling.

Yet Ravenheart is certainly not standing still.

Several new projects are already taking shape, each exploring a very different corner of the author's imagination.

There is The House Under the Mendips, whose very title evokes the landscape, mystery and ancient character of Somerset.

Then comes Whispers at Quantock Sanatorium, another developing project that ventures towards the unsettling territory suggested by forgotten places, lingering stories and things that refuse to remain completely silent.

But perhaps one of the most personally significant projects currently in development is something rather different.

Water Is Life

Water Is Life is a project that moves closer to Ravenheart's Ojibwe roots.

For an author whose work so often explores the connection between people, place, memory and the stories we carry with us, this represents another deeply personal direction for her writing.

It also demonstrates something important about E.L. Ravenheart.

This is not an author interested in remaining inside a single creative box.

From Somerset-inspired gothic fiction to supernatural storytelling, podcasting, conversations with fellow writers and work drawing upon personal heritage, Ravenheart continues to explore where the next story might lead.

And sometimes that story leads directly into the woods.

This All Hallows’ Eve, Ravenheart Goes Live

On All Hallows’ Eve, E.L. Ravenheart plans to do something especially fitting for an author fascinated by mysterious places.

She will be hosting a live show from Weston Woods, near the place known locally as the Spirit Tree.

There is something rather wonderful about that image.

While Halloween celebrations take place elsewhere beneath artificial lights and decorations, Ravenheart will be taking her audience somewhere altogether more atmospheric: into the woods.

For an author whose fictional world is so closely connected with landscape, shadows, old stories and the possibility of something unseen lingering just beyond our perception, it feels like precisely the right place to spend All Hallows’ Eve.

Perhaps that is ultimately what makes discovering E.L. Ravenheart particularly interesting right now.

You are not simply arriving at the end of something.

You are arriving while it is still growing.

The Ravenheart World Is Only Beginning

There are the books already waiting to be discovered:

The Circle of Witham Grange.

The Watchers at St Hallows Gate.

The Shadow Keeper.

The Hollow Below.

There are new stories emerging through The House Under the Mendips, Whispers at Quantock Sanatorium and Water Is Life.

There are podcasts to listen to.

There are conversations with other authors coming through E.L. Ravenheart Studios.

And, on All Hallows’ Eve, there will be a writer venturing into Weston Woods to share another experience with the audience that is growing around her work.

Perhaps most intriguing of all is the feeling that everything is beginning to connect: books, landscape, history, heritage, other writers and the spoken word.

E.L. Ravenheart is not simply writing the next story.

She is creating a place for those stories to live.

And with the nights growing darker, now might be the perfect time to step inside.

E. L. Ravenheart

E. L. Ravenheart is a gothic fiction author whose work blends psychological depth, atmospheric tension, and the quiet, uncanny edges of the supernatural.

With roots in the Indigenous Chippewa Nation (USA), Ravenheart draws on a cultural inheritance rich in story, symbolism, and reverence for the unseen. This heritage infuses the work with a mythic undercurrent — where the natural world speaks, memory carries power, and the boundary between the living and the spirit realm is never absolute.

Relocating to the United Kingdom in 2012, Ravenheart now writes from Weston-super-Mare, where the haunted coastlines, ancient landscapes, and layered histories of Somerset intertwine with Indigenous storytelling traditions.

The result is a distinctive gothic voice shaped by two worlds: the ancestral and the adopted, the wild and the weathered, the remembered and the half-forgotten.

Ravenheart is developing a growing literary cycle that begins with six interconnected novellas and culminates in the debut novel, The Powers of St Katherine’s House. Across this cycle, the fiction explores liminal spaces — between memory and myth, faith and fear, identity and the unknown — crafting narratives where atmosphere becomes a character and the past presses insistently against the present.

When not writing, Ravenheart can often be found delving into the deep history and folklore of Somerset, a practice that echoes through the emotional intelligence and character-driven focus of the work.

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Editorial Book Review: Secrets of the Penny University by Amanda Roberts

 Secrets of the Penny University
By Amanda Roberts

Publication Date: April 22nd, 2025

Publisher: Hickory Press

Print Length: 282 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction / Dual-Timeline / Timeslip

Tilly risks everything on a promise. Amy wants the truth.

“I think something terrible happened here”

2025: When Amy and her husband buy an old property on Oxford’s High Street with plans to open a new coffee shop, the discovery of a mural painted on a wall hints at a story that has lain dormant for centuries. Before long, Amy is seeing and hearing echoes of the past, and a young woman who once lived there. As the penny university reveals its secrets, will Amy’s growing obsession with the past lose her everything she has in the present? 

1656: Abandoned by her lover and pregnant, Tilly is sent from the small village of Islip to live with cousins in Oxford where she will work in their coffeehouse. She is soon drawn into the excitement of her new life in the city, until the return of a nightmare from her past changes the course of her future. As the time for her child to arrive draws closer, Tilly is faced with a difficult decision; does she turn her back on everything she has hoped for and settle for a different life? She follows her instincts and gambles.

Seventeen-year-old Tilly has been waiting for Nat to return to the secluded barn where they used to meet. He has left England to serve as a soldier in Jamaica, promising that he will come back for her. But promises offer little protection when Tilly discovers that she is pregnant, and the people responsible for her welfare have very different ideas about what her future should hold.

Sent from Islip to Oxford, Tilly finds herself living and working at Cowper’s Coffeehouse. Here, scholars and gentlemen gather to drink coffee, exchange news and argue about the affairs of the country. It is a world quite unlike anything she has known before, and despite the circumstances that brought her there, Tilly begins to discover that she has abilities worth recognising.

In 2025, Amy and her husband, Gareth, buy an old building on Oxford High Street with plans to turn it into a coffee shop. While Gareth concentrates on renovations and roasting beans, Amy uncovers a mural beneath the wallpaper of an attic room. The paintings appear to record the experiences of a young woman who once lived there, but uncovering her story proves rather more unsettling than Amy could have anticipated.

‘Secrets of the Penny University’ by Amanda Roberts is an absorbing dual-timeline novel about motherhood, trust and a woman whose private history has survived upon the walls of her former home. Roberts brings together seventeenth-century Oxford and a modern couple’s ambitious business venture, allowing the same building to connect lives separated by hundreds of years.

The historical narrative is particularly compelling. Tilly is young and frightened, but she is also observant, capable and determined to have some say in what happens to her. Her pregnancy places her in a vulnerable position, and the threat of punishment and disgrace gives considerable power to those who claim to be protecting her. Her wishes are heard, but that does not necessarily mean they will be respected.

Roberts handles this imbalance effectively. Tilly’s aunt and uncle are people she has relied upon since childhood, making their decisions all the more difficult for her to challenge. Affection and authority sit uncomfortably beside one another, especially when concern for a young woman’s future becomes entangled with concern for the family’s reputation. Tilly must try to distinguish between the help she needs and the conditions attached to receiving it.

Her arrival at the coffeehouse introduces a welcome change in her circumstances. The work is demanding, but it gives her responsibilities beyond those of the household and opportunities to use her good head for figures. Watching her become more confident is one of the pleasures of the novel. She learns how to manage customers, recognises ways of improving the business and begins to feel that she has a place within the busy life of the city.

The coffeehouse itself is an engaging setting. Tokens, dishes of coffee, roasting beans and circulating pamphlets all contribute to the sense of a working establishment. The customers bring their opinions through the door with them, and their debates reveal a country still struggling with questions of government, loyalty and the promises of the Commonwealth. These conversations also carry news that matters deeply to Tilly, whose hopes remain connected to a soldier far from home.

The chapters set in Jamaica give another perspective on those hopes. Nat has left England expecting adventure and the possibility of making his fortune, but the conditions he encounters are considerably less inviting. Disease, shortages and frustration undermine the confidence with which he departed. His experiences give substance to the troubling reports discussed in Oxford, while showing the distance between a young man’s expectations of military service and the reality of it.

Tilly’s relationship with Albert, whom she comes to call Bertie, is especially touching. He is a lonely child who needs attention, and their shared interest in drawing gives them a means of reaching one another. Roberts allows their affection to develop through small, ordinary moments. His companionship becomes an important part of Tilly’s life, and his needs sometimes reveal things that the adults around him would rather overlook.

The mural is an imaginative and effective link between the two periods. Unable to read, Tilly records her experiences in paint, preserving moments that might otherwise leave no trace. The pictures are deeply personal, but their meaning is not immediately clear to those who discover them. A face, a piece of jewellery or a scene beside a river may carry enormous significance for the artist while presenting a puzzle to someone looking centuries later.

Amy’s attempts to interpret these images give the modern narrative its strongest thread. Her research involves incomplete records, uncertain connections and questions that cannot be answered simply by finding a name or a date. The reader knows more of Tilly’s experiences than Amy can recover, which makes the process particularly interesting. Amy’s research shows that discovering evidence of a life is not quite the same as understanding everything the person endured.

The supernatural encounters add an unsettling dimension to that search. Amy’s experiences involve changes in sound, smell and atmosphere as well as glimpses of the woman she is trying to identify. The building becomes a place where the past feels increasingly close, and Amy’s curiosity is complicated by her own pregnancy and her husband’s concern.

At times, however, the modern storyline becomes repetitive. Amy and Gareth return frequently to disagreements about the mural, her health and the people helping with the coffee shop. Although these exchanges establish the pressures within their marriage, some cover familiar ground without adding much to what has already been said. Certain developments within the modern suspense plot are also more strongly signposted than the revelations in Tilly’s story, reducing their element of surprise.

Nevertheless, the emotional strength of the historical narrative carries the novel through these quieter stretches. Tilly’s experiences are often painful, and Roberts gives her losses lasting consequences. Her resilience does not mean that she can simply put everything behind her; it lies in her ability to continue making a life while carrying what has happened.

‘Secrets of the Penny University’ is a moving and atmospheric novel about the choices available to women, the trust placed in those closest to them and the fragments through which a life can be remembered. Tilly is a memorable central character, and the mural provides a compelling reason to follow both her story and Amy’s search for it.

Review by Ellie Yarde
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Amanda Roberts

Author, bookworm and history lover, Amanda grew up in Derbyshire but has lived in Oxfordshire since 1997. A magazine editor by profession, she has published four novels and a short story. Her first novel, The Roots of the Tree, was based on a true family story and is close to her heart, but her real love is historical fiction. She has published two dual timeline books set in Oxfordshire (The Woman in the Painting and its sequel Secrets of the Penny University) and Lady of the Quay, the first in a series of historical crime/suspense novels set in 1560 in Berwick-upon-Tweed. Second book in this, the Isabella Gillhespy series, will follow in 2027.

When not writing or attending bookish events, she can be found exploring crumbling ruins – wherever in the world she happens to be – or relaxing with her two ginger cats.

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