Catherine Arthur
I became a writer by accident. I’ve always been a reader, from a very early age, but had never considered writing until I started researching my family tree. I found a lot of half-finished stories, and began wondering how my ancestors got into the scrapes I was reading about, and how they might have got out of them, if they ever did!
I also became aware of how much actually changed for small communites once the industrial revolution took hold, and the network of railways began to spread across the country. And so the idea for a series of books started to form. I wanted to document the lives of poor families living in a hamlet on the edge of a vast common, how the community grew and was then torn apart upon the coming of the railway, when everyone got on the trains and left to seek their fortunes elsewhere. In the end, the first book in the series turned out rather different to what I had planned!
My debut novel is very loosely based on the lives of my 4xgreat-grandparents, whose name was Hogtrough, and who did live in the hamlet of Woodfield, near Ashtead in Surrey. However, while George and Molly Hogtrough existed in real life, the characters in the novel are a work of fiction.
King Oak is set over four days in June, 1780, on the edge of the vast Ashtead Common. First, we meet Molly Hogtrough, heavily pregnant and relying on cheap gin to get her through the day, while her husband George is plotting something nefarious. He is desperate to keep his plans from her as he is rather concerned that after his wife has been at the gin, she may let slip something which could mean the difference between life and the noose. So, he is torn between keeping Molly sweet and out of the way by providing her with flasks of her favourite tipple, but also not being able to confide in her. The tale twists and turns, with all the main characters connected in some way to the King Oak, an ancient veteran tree which lies deep within the forest.
The community of Woodfield will feature in the rest of the series, so King Oak introduces some other characters, who might not play a major role in King Oak, but who will come to the fore in the sequel. The second in The Common Series, Michaelmas Fayre, is already finished, and will be published in 2024.
Historical fiction is my favourite genre to write in, as I am fascinated by the past and how people used to live. I have a lot of ideas for books waiting in the wings, and while most of them are set in times gone by, there are one or two which I might change to the present day, or have a flip back between past and present.
One of the things I love about historical fiction is that I get to do a lot of research. I had already found out plenty of information about daily living in the 18th century, as I uncovered the lives of my ancestors, but when I began writing King Oak, it took me to another level completely. For example, one of the key scenes in the book is set around an actual event which happened in Leatherhead in around 1780. I found information about it buried in a House of Commons Journal for 1782. I had a lot of fun weaving that story into my own. I imagine very few people were aware of it, even local historians, so I hope I have added to their knowledge of local events.
After reading Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall, I chose to write in the present tense. In Mantel’s book, one gets a sense of being there, and experiencing what she was writing about. I thought it might work well for King Oak. At first I wondered if I had made a mistake, as one editor told me it might put some people off, but in fact, I had some very positive feedback about it and decided to keep that style for the rest of The Common series.
In another review, it was mentioned that it was unusual to read something from the perspective of the poor. Quite often historical novels are about the relatively wealthy or the nobility. That is also something I was quite clear about – I wanted to write about the hardships of the time, as for most of us, this is what our ancestors experienced in their struggles to get us to where we are today.
My second published book is a collaboratation with a Swiss gentleman, Joseph Wipfli. He had written a true account of his experience as a memoir in German, but decided to change it into a novel for the English market. It is a very different style of book to King Oak, although it is also set in the past, but not so long ago. When Life Gives You Flowers is the story of how Joe meets florist Sophia on a business trip to New York in 1998. A love affair begins, but Sophia’s past catches up with her, and then fate steps in. It is a heartrending tale and one which, when I first read it in German, I realised it just had to be told.
I have just started another historical novel, although I’m taking a break this year from The Common series. Winter’s Hiding is set at the very beginning of the 19th century in Northern Ireland. With King Oak and Michaelmas Fayre, I let the stories unfold, but for this one, I have a decided to try another method and make a plan!
I am quite independent, so I chose not to try to find an agent but to self-publish. Catherine is my real name, but I chose to write under my grandmother’s surname of Arthur, because the families in The Common series come from her side of our family tree.
I would love to spend more time writing, but as they say, ‘don’t give up your day job’ until you have a bestseller! My main job is teaching English and I own a small school in the centre of Switzerland. I recently started a typesetting business, and also prepare promotional materials for self-published authors, such as videos, social media banners, bookmarks etc. As well as all that, I work for a neighbouring canton, taking guided tours around a local fortress museum whenever they have a request for an English guide. I am also currently editing and typesetting a memoir for the Leatherhead and District Local History Society.
