In praise of Saga
It’s only three
o’clock, and already the day is drawing in. A freezing fog is hovering around
the house and I’m sure tomorrow will bring a hoar frost. Another day of
Lockdown 3 is passing. The fire is lit, the tea is made, and my book beckons.
Never have we
needed our books so much – and by books, I mean sagas.
It may be another
day of lockdown without our grandchildren and children, another day of Zoom or
Facetime, but it is not a day of social isolation. Physically, characters may only
be imaginary, encased in pages between the beautiful covers of our books, but
they are so much more than that. They become our friends and fill our days as
if they are really with us.
We laugh with
them, cry with them, hate the injustices they face, urge them through their terrible
tribulations. We become them, we admire their stoicism, their humour, their
integrity. We hate who they hate, love who they love, get angry when someone wrongs
them. They are our friends, our family, and while they are with us, the world
outside stops turning.
In these troubled
times, these brilliant books remind us that other generations have lived
through similar anxiety. We read about the jeopardy they faced and some of
their bravery rubs off. The hardship, the poverty, the uncertainty, not seeing
people or being able to plan to see them; everything we are facing, our
characters have faced before – maybe not Covid, but the terrible flu epidemic of
1919 or the Black Death. The loss of loved ones through war.
I have just
returned from a lovely frosty walk. I say lovely because there were newborn
lambs in the fields, calves in the barns, and snow drops on the verges. Spring
is coming. Keep safe everyone.
Cornwall, 1798.
Eighteen months have passed since Midshipman Edmund Melville was declared missing, presumed dead, and Amelia Carew has mended her heart and fallen in love with a young physician, Luke Bohenna. But, on her twenty-fifth birthday, Amelia suddenly receives a letter from Edmund announcing his imminent return. In a state of shock, devastated that she now loves Luke so passionately, she is torn between the two.
When Edmund returns, it is clear that his time away has changed him - he wears scars both mental and physical. Amelia, however, is determined to nurse him back to health and honour his heroic actions in the Navy by renouncing Luke.
But soon, Amelia begins to question what really happened to Edmund while he was missing. As the threads of truth slip through her fingers, she doesn't know who to turn to: Edmund, or Luke?
Nicola Pryce trained as
a nurse at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London. She loves literature and
history and has an Open University degree in Humanities. She's a qualified
adult literacy support volunteer and lives with her husband in the Blackdown
Hills in Somerset. She and her husband love sailing and together they sail the
south coast of Cornwall in search of adventure. If she's not writing or
gardening, you'll find her scrubbing decks. For more information about her
books, please visit her website. www.nicolapryce.co.uk
Pengelly's Daughter is her first novel, then The Captain's Girl, The
Cornish Dressmaker, and The Cornish Lady. Her latest, A Cornish
Betrothal was published in November.
Nicola is a member of the Romantic Novelists'
Association and The Historical Writers' Association.
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