When I started thinking about writing The Wicked Lady, the dual timeline was a central focus. I knew what I wanted to write about Katherine Ferrers. Her story has been sketchily recorded in history, with plenty of gaps for me to fill with creative speculation. But I needed a modern character to parallel her story.

I decided on the character of Charlie Wolfe, in his twenties, newly single, looking for a direction in life. His romance is over, his temporary job is coming to an end – all he has left is his faithful Labrador Alan, the problem of how to pay the rent and the bills, and a broken heart.

‘I’m sorry, Charlie.’

Charlie Wolfe continued to stare through the window of the first floor flat. The hot July haze hung in the air, the clouds filtered sunshine. On the pavement below, a woman in a headscarf pushed a baby in a stroller, as she did every evening around six, on her way to the Kudu Grill. A man parked a white van and clambered out, rushing to open the back door, tugging out a box of tools. Two fashionable women hurried past swinging handbags, talking together. The world continued as normal. But Charlie’s life had changed forever. He was single now. Luna was leaving.  

Charlie stared into the glass at his reflection, a young man, leanly muscular, handsome at twenty-nine, with dark curly hair and soulful brown eyes. She stood behind him, his Luna no more, light brown hair spilling over tanned shoulders, her face filled with apologies. She said it again.

‘I’m really sorry.’

He didn’t turn. ‘You don’t have to go.’

‘I do…’ He watched her take a breath. ‘You know I do.’

‘You could turn it down. You could stay here.’

‘I can’t do that…’

‘Cornwall might be miles away from London but I could still visit at weekends…’

‘Charlie, no. We both need fresh starts.’

‘But why?’ He turned round and grasped her hand. She didn’t tug it away, but it was cold as a fish in his palm. ‘We love each other.’

‘We do. We did,’ Luna said with as much patience and regret as she could muster. ‘We’ve had three happy years here. Mostly happy. I still love you, but not in that way. We’re going in different directions.’

‘Why are we?’ Charlie knew why. He heard the whine in his voice. ‘I’ll go wherever you go…’ He looked over her shoulder. Alan was asleep on the couch, a tangle of black paws; his tail still wagged. He was probably dreaming of gnawing bones and chasing cats.  He wasn’t sad like Charlie was.

I’m not fond of the word dumped, but so many people use it. Dumped means to dispose of rubbish or waste in a hurried or careless way. Humans aren’t rubbish, but I accept that they can feel that way when discarded. It hurts to feel unwanted by someone we want.

In The Wicked Lady, Charlie goes through the various stages of picking himself up and trying to get on with life. Of course, at first it’s not easy at all. How can it be?. He has Alan, who understands him absolutely, and he has friends and family. His wisest move is to leave the flat he shared with Luna behind him and everything that reminds him of her, and try to start again. He becomes involved in a project, which sometimes takes his mind off how he feels. Keeping busy helps, and the idea of rebuilding a house helps him rebuilding his life.

However, all those normal feelings rush in, typical to anyone who has loved and lost. His confidence and self-worth are shaken. He rejects the idea that he can ever love again. No-one will be as good for him as Luna was, and she’s left him. He can’t imagine another relationship. He laughs to cover his loneliness; he learns slowly to talk about how he feels. He keeps his mind occupied, his hands occupied. And the story of wicked lady becomes part of his life; at night time, he hears hoof prints on Nomansland Common. He is fascinated by Katherine Ferrers’ story. And of course, she has been dead since the mid sixteen hundreds. She can’t hurt him, can she…?

Charlie has been broken. It takes a while for him to trust again, to believe that another relationship is possible. He needs to heal first, to learn to love himself again. The idea of meeting someone else feels wrong – his heart is still Luna’s. She has taken a bit of him with her forever and he can’t have it back.

Charlie’s story is typical of that of many people who find themselves rejected. It’s a huge shock at first; it brings feelings of self-doubt and loneliness. Everyone needs to be loved.

And of course Charlie, in the present day, and Kate Ferrers, in the seventeenth century, are both people who’ve been rejected. Charlie, by his beloved Luna, who isn’t an evil person despite abandoning him. Like many people, she has discovered at that point in their relationship that it’s kinder to move on. Kate, married at thirteen to a man she doesn’t love, who marries her only to take her money, is determined to have nothing to do with Thomas Fanshawe, her husband, and to live for herself. Then she meets farmer Raife Chetwyn.

Kate was puzzled. Why had the house been suddenly abandoned? She headed through the back room, a pantry where vegetables were stored next to a sack of grain. She tugged open the back door and drew a sharp breath. A man stood outside, his arms folded, his face in shadow. His voice was low as distant thunder. ‘What the hell are you doing here?’

Kate composed her face into a haughty expression. ‘I am Mistress Kate…’

‘I know who you are. You’re Katherine Fanshawe – wife of Thomas, from The Cell in Markyate. I suppose he’s sent you because he’s too much of a lily-livered poltroon to come himself and tell me I’m evicted. Is that it?’

Kate was surprised. The man’s tone was rough and disrespectful. She had never been spoken to that way in her life. She took a deep breath to steady herself. ‘Goodman, I simply came here to tell you that my husband’s decision to raise the rents on Ayers End Farm…’

The words spilled from her mouth. The man took a step towards her and suddenly she saw him properly and she couldn’t speak. He was about her age; his eyes glowed like burning coal; his dark hair tumbled in waves over his eyes and he reminded her of a painting she had once seen of Vulcan, the Roman blacksmith god of fire and volcanoes. Everything about him was dark and commanding, his flashing eyes, heavy brows, sunken cheekbones. She couldn’t help noticing his soft lips and his gleaming teeth. What a smile he would have. But now he was furious, and she wondered if she was in danger.

She took a step back and examined him again. The man wore dark breeches, but his shirt was open and his skin glistened with sweat. He had clearly been working hard. He was breathing heavily. She wanted to reach out a hand, to touch his leanly muscled arm, ask him what was troubling him. Instead, she said, ‘I wonder, might we discuss…?’

‘I haven’t time to talk to you now,’ he muttered. ‘There is a mare about to foal in the barn and she is labouring hard.’

I believe absolutely that everyone deserves happiness. It hurts to be dumpedand rejected but sadly sometimes relationships end, and it feels at the time like things will never be the same. And of course, they won’t, not exactly the same, but they can be different and they can be very good, even better. As we all know, where there’s breath, there’s hope.

I won’t tell you what happens to Kate and Raife, to Charlie and Luna. You’ll have to read the book.

But I hope this novel offers hope to anyone who feels rejected and alone. Of course, Luna and Charlie’s break is clean. So many people have wider issues to resolve, such as a home, children, money, items that were once shared. No-one suggested it’s an easy resolution.

Charlie’s story tells us that we can heal and we can love again. There’s someone out there for us all. We must learn to love ourselves again and we must hope. Tomorrow brings a new day.

Believe it.