Promo: Novice Threads by Nancy Jardine
Today, I'm delighted to welcome back my dear friend and fellow Ocelot Press author, Nancy Jardine, who presents her new novel, Novice Threads.
I'm a huge fan of her brilliant Celtic Fervour series set in Roman Britain (check it out!), but Novice Threads sees Nancy plunge into an entirely different era: we delve into Victorian Edinburgh. Today, Nancy is sharing with us some fascinating historical background details, and how these affected her main character, Margaret. Read on!
The novel is on my TBR list, so look out for my review here, coming soon.
Novice Threads is currently on blog tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club. Find all other fabulous posts HERE!
Failed Relationships
Novice Threads, Book 1 of The Silver Sampler Series, has a number of different themes, one of which is the nature of failed relationships.
Margaret Law is the main character in Novice Threads and we meet her when she’s just five years old. Even though she’s so young, she’s aware of a strained relationship between her parents and this is explored in the story. Her parents are often studiously polite to each other when working together in their draper’s shop, but at other times her sniping mother riles her father so much that his hackles rise and they have very loud exchanges. Margaret’s mother, Peggy, is generally a very unhappy woman who rarely has a kind word about anything and certainly never about Margaret’s father William. Though Margaret is materially well cared for, and is never hungry, she’s aware that her mother has no proper love to give her, and neither does her father. What she doesn’t know is why.
When Margaret turns eight years old, she senses the awful distress felt by her best friend Jessie when Jessie’s unmarried mother (Ruth) sickens and dies, in part because of environmental issues of being a mill worker but also due to the heart-wrenching nature of Ruth’s relationship with her married lover. Neither girl knows anything about the actual circumstances of the affair but know in their hearts that Ruth has wasted away, having been used mercilessly by her lover.
Another fractured relationship is the catastrophic one between Margaret’s employer and his wife, during the time Margaret has a live-in tutoring job when she’s an early teenager in their household, in Edinburgh. It seems by then that the dynamics between adults is a very unstable thing and Margaret has no positive experience of adults living in marital harmony, though none of those relationships mentioned above are physically abusive.
By the time Margaret is sixteen, forming a relationship with a potential lover is literally too hot for her to handle, though she goes through the pangs of early infatuation with the first young man she takes a fancy to. Then a second man almost makes her succumb to his lovemaking. Margaret cannot shrug off the detachments she has seen around her when growing up. She knows she needs to mature a lot more to be comfortable with choices which could be full of life-changing repercussions for her as young woman. She determines that she will never make the same mistakes as the adults around her!
Religious adherence is also a strong theme in the novel, something that was prevalent throughout the Victorian era. Margaret’s father is a devout Christian worshipper, though he changes church allegiances a few times during Margaret’s childhood, William being dissatisfied with how the different churches were functioning in their town of Milnathort. The Disruption to the Established Church of Scotland in 1843 meant lots of ‘new’ churches being built across Scotland, mainly because dissenters no longer wanted a minister chosen by the local gentry. The new style of organisation allowed church members to have more control over who ministered to them.
Along with her parents, Margaret attends two Sunday services in the church building they are currently worshipping in when she’s growing up. These formal services are supplemented by long Sunday afternoon bible readings in their kitchen. This degree of religious observation wasn’t completely uncommon at that time across Scotland but Margaret eventually realises that being so devout doesn’t mean being squeaky clean. Towards the end of Novice Threads, Margaret’s aware that being morally upstanding can be a smokescreen for what’s going on in private.
It is only on her mother’s deathbed, that Margaret realises the true nature of her parents’ estrangement and the strange reason why her mother seemed to be happier by the time Margaret was no longer living in her parents’ house.
When I was doing my own ancestry research some years ago, I realised that there could be many reasons for the life-events that happened to some of my ancestors. Lots of questions have arisen as I’ve uncovered certificated evidence of their lives and one main thing I take from the facts I’ve uncovered is not to be judgemental, because I don’t know what really led up to those circumstances!
How did women cope with the stigma of bearing an illegitimate child? (Which was more common than Victorian morality would have us believe.) How much responsibility did a man shoulder if he fathered a bairn out of wedlock, especially if he was already married to someone else? What lengths did a young woman from a poor working class background go to, in order to avoid a life working in a mill, or in domestic drudgery? What effect did an excess of religious adherence do to a young person subjected to strict Sunday worshipping routines during their young lives? How did a couple cope if they were conducting their lives in a way that was considered to be ‘living in sin’, even if they were happiest when together? How did people cope with the death of a young person in the family? Did a reasonable degree of education make any noticeable difference to the life of a working-class young woman in the 1850s?
So many questions arose!
Many of the themes that will appear in the course of the three books of the Silver Sampler Series have been experienced by some of my forebears. I have no way of knowing their actual circumstances, or how they coped with their lives, but I can use those themes that were common to many people and use them in a fictionalised way.
I do hope a read of Novice Threads will bring home to you that life is never easy for some people, no matter what century they live in.
A thirst for education. Shattered dreams. Fragile relations.
1840s Scotland
Being sent to school is the most exhilarating thing that’s ever happened to young Margaret Law. She sharpens her newly-acquired education on her best friend, Jessie Morison, till Jessie is spirited away to become a scullery maid. But how can Margaret fulfil her visions of becoming a schoolteacher when her parents’ tailoring and drapery business suddenly collapses and she must find a job?
Salvation from domestic drudgery – or never-ending seamstress work – comes via Jessie whose employer seeks a tutor for his daughter. Free time exploring Edinburgh with Jessie is great fun, but increasing tension in the household claws at Margaret’s nerves.
Margaret also worries about her parents' estrangement, and the mystery of Jessie's unknown father.
When tragedy befalls the household in Edinburgh, Margaret must forge a new pathway for the future – though where will that be?
Buy Link:
This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.
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About the Author:
Nancy Jardine
Connect with Nancy:
Hello! It's great to be here, today. Thank you so much for sharing themes that appear in Novice Threads and how they were chosen by me.
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome, Nancy. I'm looking forward to sharing my review soon.
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