A few words from Anna Belfrage
First of all, thank you, MK for hosting me today. It seems to me you and
I have quite some things in common, principal among these a love of chocolate,
autumn and Dryden – and Friesians! Today’s post, however, is not about any of
these things, instead I thought I’d share with you one of the inspirations
behind my latest release, Serpents in the Garden.
Since times immemorial, people have used plants as medicine. Even today,
most of us will have a recipe or two, handed down through the generations that
can be used to cure all sort of ills. In my family, we do a decoction of
linseed, lemons and sugar that is allowed to boil very slowly over many hours.
The resulting syrup does wonders for a cough – plus it tastes very nice.
My mother-in-law also does some sort of mustard seed poultice that
supposedly relives pain in aching joints (it does; radiates quite some heat),
there’s the face mask consisting of cold oatmeal plus a handful of herbs that soothes
sunburns and generally irritated skin, there’s the meadowsweet decoction that
relieves a banging headache AND disinfects minor wounds… Plus we have nettle
water (great for your hair), lime-leaf tea to soothe anxiety, infusion of
raspberry leaves to encourage labour (as in childbirth) – as you can see, as a
family we have quite the selection of herbal cures.
I always wonder how people came to amass so much information about herbs
and stuff. Reasonably, now and then things must have gone very, very wrong,
with the patient dying rather than recovering despite all those potions and
concoctions. Take foxglove for example; a lethal plant if the dosage is too
high, an excellent way of treating a heart-condition if not. How many died as
Ms Witch & Healer adjusted the dosage? (I assume Ms Witch & Healer
would be one of the casualties herself. People don’t like it when their healers
kill their loved ones…)
Originally, healing was mostly left to women. The lady in skins that
collected herbs in Neolithic times evolved into the wise woman – a recurring
feature in most ancient societies. Leapfrog some centuries, and such matters
were left to the local midwife, who would not only attend births, but also
offer advice on other health matters. By now, however, there was a rather
vociferous male body that scoffed at the ancient knowledge most wise women and
midwives possessed. No, these men argued, healing – in all its guises – was
best left to men, men who belonged to powerful guilds such as the Company of
Barber-Surgeons, or that of the Worshipful Company of Apothecaries.
Female healers were marginalised. They were laughed at for not being
properly trained, they were subtly threatened with the potentially lethal label
of “witch” if they didn’t desist from their healing efforts. The men,
meanwhile, began collecting and documenting all information they could find
about herbs and medicinal plants. In the 17th century, the Company
of Apothecaries decided to go one step further by establishing their own garden
in which all these marvellous healing plants were to be cultivated.
Amazingly, the garden still exists today. Ancient trees rustle in the
wind, plants from all over the world throng the neat flower beds. Brick walls
create the impression of a secret garden, somehow removed from the bustle just
outside its gates.
I first visited the Chelsea Physics Garden several years ago – a spur of
the moment thing, more driven by my gardening interest than by my historical
interest. The moment I set foot inside, I just knew I would have to include
this location in one of my books. Narrow flowerbeds extended in all directions,
there was an absolutely wonderful section dedicated to deadly plants, and if I
closed my eyes, I could imagine myself transported back in time, to when the garden
was a testing ground for wannabe apothecaries, allowing them first-hand contact
with various plants.
Some years later, I returned. The garden was as magical this time as the
first time – well, maybe a bit more, but that may have been due to the warm September
sun and the excellent lemon drizzle cake. This time round, I knew “my” garden,
one of the more important locations in Serpents in the Garden. After
all, I’d spent months reading up on it, imagining it, filling it with my
characters. So when I closed my eyes, I saw Jacob Graham standing before me.
Tall, with thick blond hair falling to his shoulders (somewhat lank; young
Jacob could do with a shampoo), light hazel eyes that glinted in the sun. His
breeches were dirty. His shirt was just as dirty, and he was obviously using
the shirt-tail as a towel of sorts. Thick woollen stocking covered his calves,
he’d stuck his feet into heavy clogs and his fingernails were rimmed with dirt.
At present, his attention was focused on the plants in the nearby bed, long
fingers alighting on the deep blue flowers of wolf’s bane. “Deadly,” he recited
slowly. “If ingested it will kill you right painfully, but in correct dosages
it relieves gout and aching joints. Aconitum,” he added, forming the
Latin carefully.
For me, Chelsea Physics Garden will always be that magical place when my
gardening interests and passion for history collided, thereby creating a spark
– well, more of a bush-fire – of inspiration. Should you ever be in London, I
would warmly recommend a visit to this marvellous garden. Sit on a bench and
allow your thoughts to drift away, closing out the sounds of modern life. No
more traffic on the nearby road, no shrill tones of ringing mobile phones.
Instead, the slapping of oars on water as a barge makes its way towards the
garden’s water gate. The sound of young male voices arguing over the properties
of hyssop and St John’s wort, the faint, acrid stench from the river’s mud. A
fragment of times gone by, brought to life by the wind that dances through the
tree-tops, by the sunlight that dapples the grass.
Anna
Belfrage is the author of The Graham Saga – so far five of the total eight
books have been published. Set in seventeenth century Scotland and
Virginia/Maryland, The Graham Saga tell the story of Matthew and Alex, two
people who should never have met – not when she was born three hundred years
after him.
Serpents in the Garden
After
years of hard work, Matthew and Alex Graham have created a thriving home in the
Colony of Maryland. About time, in Alex’s opinion, after far too many
adventures she is really looking forward to some well-deserved peace and quiet.
A
futile hope, as it turns out. Things start to heat up when Jacob, the third
Graham son, absconds from his apprenticeship to see the world – especially as
Jacob leaves behind a girl whom he has wed in a most irregular fashion.
Then
there’s the infected matter of the fellow time traveller Alex feels obliged to
help – no matter the risk. Worst of all, one day Philip Burley and his brothers
resurface after years of absence. As determined as ever to make Matthew pay for
every perceived wrong – starting with the death of their youngest brother – the
Burleys play out a complicated cat and mouse game, and Alex is thrown back into
an existence where her heart is constantly in her mouth, convinced as she is
that one day the Burleys will achieve their purpose.
Will
the Burleys succeed? And if they do, will the Graham family survive the exacted
price?
Serpents
in the Garden is the fifth book in Anna Belfrage’s time slip series featuring
time traveller Alexandra Lind and her seventeenth century husband, Matthew
Graham.
Publication Date: March 1, 2014
SilverWood Books
Formats: Ebook, Paperback
Tour Schedule: http://hfvirtualbooktours.com/serpentsinthegardentour
Tour Hashtag: #SerpentsintheGardenTour
Graham Saga Titles
Book One: A Rip in
the Veil
Book Two: Like Chaff in the Wind
Book Three: The Prodigal Son
Book Four: A Newfound Land
Book Five: Serpents in the Garden
Book Six: Revenge & Retribution (coming August 2014)
Book Seven: Whither Thou Goest
Book Two: Like Chaff in the Wind
Book Three: The Prodigal Son
Book Four: A Newfound Land
Book Five: Serpents in the Garden
Book Six: Revenge & Retribution (coming August 2014)
Book Seven: Whither Thou Goest
Get the Book
Amazon CA | Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Chapters | Fishpond | Kobo Books
About the
Author
I was raised abroad, on a pungent mix of
Latin American culture, English history and Swedish traditions. As a result I’m
multilingual and most of my reading is historical – both non-fiction and
fiction.
I was
always going to be a writer – or a historian, preferably both. Instead I ended
up with a degree in Business and Finance, with very little time to spare for my
most favourite pursuit. Still, one does as one must, and in between juggling a
challenging career I raised my four children on a potent combination of
invented stories, historical debates and masses of good food and homemade
cakes. They seem to thrive.
Nowadays
I spend most of my spare time at my writing desk. The children are half grown,
the house is at times eerily silent and I slip away into my imaginary world,
with my imaginary characters. Every now and then the one and only man in my life
pops his head in to ensure I’m still there. I like that – just as I like how he
makes me laugh so often I’ll probably live to well over a hundred.
I was
always going to be a writer. Now I am – I have achieved my dream.
For
more information, please visit Anna Belfrage’s website. You can also find her on
Facebook or follow her on Twitter.
