The Memory of Midnight by Pamela Hartshorne

Two women, two different centuries, and yet each one plagued by the past. This is definitely one of those books that you can't put down.

Starting in Elizabethan York, the reader is introduced to one of the two protagonists. Nell Appleby, a joyful mischievous girl playing that century old game of hide and seek with her childhood sweetheart gets herself trapped in a wooden chest by his brother. Years later when she is still yearning for her lover, she ends up married to her goaler, Ralph Maskewe, a sadistic and powerful man who will stop at nothing to get what he wants.

It is then after this game that the reader's focus is drawn towards a different character living four and a half centuries later. A historian who has moved to York in an attempt to escape her abusive husband. Despite the change of scene, Tess still feels at unease and soon finds out that time has a funny way of warping your mind in York. The two women's tales join into one in a past which longs to be retold and amended.

This book is a perfect example of what Pamela Hartshorne is passionate about. The relationship between the past and the present. For anyone who is interested in history, York or relationships, this book will leave you thirsty for more.

About the Author

Surprisingly, Pamela Hartshorne's early career was not automatically drawn to her love of writing and history. Instead, it included stints as cook on an outback cattle station, TEFL teacher in Jakarta and French-speaking interpreter on expedition in Cameroon before ending up back in London as foreign newsdesk secretary at ‘The Observer’.

It was only when she found a PhD at the University of York that the spark to write about history emerged.

She continues to live in York, and is now writing a scholarly edition of the wardmote court records. In addition to writing and research, she teaches occasional writing courses and is a freelance project editor for illustrated books.

For more information visit http://www.pamelahartshorne.com/