aBurntShip

                        William Harrison Ainsworth  (1805-1882)  William Harrison Ainsworth  by Daniel Maclise ( died 1870) donated to the National Portrait Gallery in 1949 : In public domain, courtesy of Wikipedia.  William Harrison Ainsworth  1805-1882 was the son of a Manchester solicitor and moved to London in 1824 to study law. As well as being a poet , magazine editor and journalist,  Ainsworth belonged to a crop of Victorian novelists who were widely read during during the middle of the 19th century but fell from favour, being  largely neglected by the end of his life. 'Guy Fawkes or The Gunpowder Treason -An Historical Romance'  appeared by installments, included in 'Bentley's Miscellania'  magazine from January 1840- November 1841 The historical novel was quite a new genre , arguably starting with Sir Walter's Scott's  'Waverley' from 1814. Ainsworth contributed  a...

           Interview with novelist Tony Morgan                                                      It is a pleasure to interview York based author Tony Morgan via email, who has written three novels related to 'The Gunpowder Plot. 'Remember, Remember the 6th of November', '7th November 1617', and 'The Pearl of York:Treason and Plot'. The first novel, as the title suggests is a rather different  unfolding of The Gunpowder Plot', as if the elements that make up the traditional narrative are all in freefall. Found the start was a bit awkward, then got totally caught up in the story. '7th November 1617' is a sequel, set in an alternative post Plot world. 'Pearl of York'.....looks at the formative years of Guy Fawkes, speculating about his gradual conversion to Catholicism, which coincided with the brutal public execution o...