Happy Halloween friend! Today I have author Marianne Ratcliffe sharing about her gothic mystery/sapphic romance novel, The Secret of Matterdale Hall. Let’s welcome her and learn about the book.
Get to know the author: Marianne Ratcliffe
Welcome to Armed with A Book, Marianne! Tell me and my readers a bit about yourself!
Although I am a biochemist by trade, reading has always been important to me. I grew up in a small Lincolnshire town, knowing I was different from most girls but not yet ready to accept I was a lesbian. The late 1980s wasn’t a great time to be gay, especially if you were an introvert, and I much preferred escaping into the past, or into fantasy worlds. I devoured the books of Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Mrs Gaskell and others. It was also books that helped me understand myself. Oranges are not the Only Fruit and The Well of Loneliness were eye-opening, if not exactly cheering. Then came Sarah Waters. Her novels told me that lesbians could have fun and (occasionally) happy endings, which had seemed unlikely for long periods of my life. I’m now openly gay, happily married to my wonderful wife, and writing books with lesbian protagonists.
What inspired you to write this book?
Even though I read in many genres, I still carry a special fondness for fantasy and historical fiction. However, you’ll struggle to find lesbian and gay representation in the literature of the past, and even less that is positive and affirming. To me, this is a constant reminder that acceptance of homosexuality is recent, and still not complete. It is why I write historical fiction with sapphic protagonists. I am also keen, where possible, to include diverse characters, something also notably lacking from the classics.
How long did it take you to write this book, from the first idea to the last edit?
Writing a good first draft took more than a year. That probably sounds like a long time to most authors, but I was working full time, and I also tend to re-write as I go along. Then I probably spent a year editing, on and off. I find it helpful to let a story sit for a few months between edits and then come back to it with fresh eyes. Once I felt I had done all I could, the book went on submission and I was delighted when Bellows Press picked it up. Their editor made some additional suggestions, which improved the book considerably. Then came rounds of copy editing and proof reading. The whole process was probably around four years.
What makes your story unique?
Everyone sees the world through their own peculiar lens. Although Matterdale Hall borrows heavily from the likes of Dickens, the Brontes and Wilkie Collins, I hope I bring a different angle and a modern sensibility to a genre that so many people love.
Do you have a favourite quote or scene in the book that you find yourself going back to?
I don’t think I can post my favourite scene here without spoilers. I will only say it occurs during a Christmas Party and leave readers to discover it for themselves. However, the excerpt below might be an appropriate one for the Halloween season. It is the night the previously naïve and trusting Susan starts to suspect there is something not quite right about Matterdale Hall…
The Secret of Matterdale Hall
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publication Year: 2022
Susan Mottram lives an idyllic existence until her eighteenth birthday, when her father’s sudden death plunges the family into penury. To support her mother and younger sister, Susan takes employment as a teacher at a remote Yorkshire boarding school, Matterdale Hall, owned by the radical Dr. Claybourn and his penny-pinching wife. Susan soon discovers that all is not as it seems. Why is little Mary so silent? What really happened to Susan’s predecessor? Is anyone safe in the school’s draughty halls? Through a life-changing meeting with the beautiful and mysterious Cassandra, Susan begins to uncover the truth about Matterdale Hall, and discovers the cruelty, and love, that can lie within the human heart.
Content notes include some depictions of/allusions to racism.
Book Excerpt from
The Secret of Matterdale Hall
Susan awoke in the middle of the night, heart thumping against her ribs, certain that something had disturbed her. She had the sense it was a scream, or similarly high-pitched noise. She sat up. Outside, the wind whistled and whined as if a herd of cats had been locked outside. A distant crash made her start. She rose, pulling her shawl tight around her shoulders and looked out of her small window into the yard. A fingernail of moon provided a faint glow that was reflected by a thin layer of fresh snow. Susan’s hand went to her throat. She blinked, uncertain of what she was seeing, for it seemed as if a black shadow had just slithered across the white ground. A creature from a nightmare, it bulged at the front but dragged a fat tail behind, like some giant slug. Susan rubbed her eyes and the shadow disappeared. Could she have imagined it? She watched a little longer, but all was still. There followed a loud crash, so close Susan wondered if it were inside the building itself. Heart pounding, she opened her door and stepped into the corridor. A scraping sound sent Susan’s heart leaping into her throat.
‘Who’s there?’ she cried out.
‘Is that you, Miss?’ came a tremulous response. Susan recognised the voice.
‘Isabella?’
‘Yes, Miss. We’re so afraid. We heard screaming, and then bones rattling. Those poor children that died—they’ve come to strangle us in our beds!’
Isabella’s superstitious nonsense brought Susan back to her senses. She was not a child. She would not mistake a few innocent noises for something sinister.
‘There’s no such thing as ghosts,’ she said, returning to her room to retrieve a candle. Its light revealed Isabella, clutching the door frame of the nearest dormitory, dressed only in her nightgown.
‘I’m sure it is nothing,’ said Susan briskly, her courage returning with the candlelight. ‘I expect it’s only the wind.’
She tried not to think of the inhuman creature from the yard. Most likely a trick of the shadows, or else her own imagination. An ominous rumbling from the direction of the kitchen drew a
squeal from Isabella, who darted back into the dormitory and closed the door.
Despite telling herself that there was nothing to fear, the candle trembled in Susan’s hand as she inched towards the stairs. There was something menacing in the way the shadows in the stairwell seemed to dart towards her and then recede, held at bay only by the flickering candlelight. She proceeded carefully down the stairs and into the entranceway. She checked the front door and was relieved to find it securely locked. The windows stared back at her like black mirrors, reflecting her illuminated face as she forced herself to make for the kitchens. As she passed the refectory, the gritty floor chafed her feet through the thin soles of her slippers. The door to the kitchen was ajar and something glowed faintly behind it. Susan reached to push it fully open. At that moment, the door was yanked backwards and she almost dropped her candle in fright.
Interested?
Find The Secret of Matterdale Hall on Goodreads, Amazon and Waterstones. It is available for pre-order and will be released in mid-November.
Thank you for hanging out with us today. Connect with Marianne on Twitter, Instagram, her website, and Facebook.
If you are an indie author and would like to do a book excerpt, check out my work with me page for details. Check out other book excerpts here.
Cover image: Photo on Unsplash
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