Ask the Author: Martine Bailey
Answered Questions (7)
Martine Bailey
Hi Laurie,
Thank you so much for taking time to ask whether I have ever written about the Victorian age. I do love that era – all those carriages in the fog, corsets and crinolines. At the moment I’m finishing a murder mystery set in an English village in the 1750s and I am loving writing it but already thinking about the next one. So, in an exclusive I can tell you I am hoping to set my fourth book in the Victorian era. It is about a governess in Northern England in 1839 and the effects of her experiences some years later. I don’t want to give too much away, but miniature sewing, a rebellious servant and a very famous family all feature. I hope that whets your appetite!
Thank you so much for taking time to ask whether I have ever written about the Victorian age. I do love that era – all those carriages in the fog, corsets and crinolines. At the moment I’m finishing a murder mystery set in an English village in the 1750s and I am loving writing it but already thinking about the next one. So, in an exclusive I can tell you I am hoping to set my fourth book in the Victorian era. It is about a governess in Northern England in 1839 and the effects of her experiences some years later. I don’t want to give too much away, but miniature sewing, a rebellious servant and a very famous family all feature. I hope that whets your appetite!
Martine Bailey
Many thanks for taking time to send your question. A few of the dishes in An Appetite for Violets were straightforward to make such as Chocolate Ice Cream, Fig Tart, Soul Cakes and of course Christmas Minced Pies (though the authentic ones include minced meat). For other recipes I needed help.
I was fortunate to learn about Georgian cookery with food historian Ivan Day. With Ivan I found not only Taffaty Tart in his library, but some beautiful sugarwork that also features in A Taste for Nightshade. The secret to making the tiny ‘devices’ like the bed and cradle were carved moulds that allowed sugarpaste to be pressed out and constructed. I also love making moulded gingerbread and more familiar recipes like Apple Pie, Pease Pudding, Cherry Trifle, and Fat Rascals.
In both books there are recipes I would never try, from the life-size figure made in marzipan to vipers drowned in wine and sleep inducing Poppy Drops. In A Taste for Nightshade there are quite a few intoxicating and dangerous foods I wouldn’t recommend! I wanted to look at the darker aspects of food and explore the secret ‘remedies’ and elixirs peddled by criminal quacks and charlatans.
Some book clubs and libraries have bravely had a go at making historic recipes and I’d say the most successful are the Fig Tarts and gingerbread and 18th century favourites like seed and madeira cakes. To make a Georgian meal the most successful have been dishes like salamagundy salad, soup, toasted cheese, potted meats, chicken fricassee, pheasant or venison stewed, and a nice boiled pudding or fruit pie. Good luck if you have a go yourselves over in Arkansas! Martine x
I was fortunate to learn about Georgian cookery with food historian Ivan Day. With Ivan I found not only Taffaty Tart in his library, but some beautiful sugarwork that also features in A Taste for Nightshade. The secret to making the tiny ‘devices’ like the bed and cradle were carved moulds that allowed sugarpaste to be pressed out and constructed. I also love making moulded gingerbread and more familiar recipes like Apple Pie, Pease Pudding, Cherry Trifle, and Fat Rascals.
In both books there are recipes I would never try, from the life-size figure made in marzipan to vipers drowned in wine and sleep inducing Poppy Drops. In A Taste for Nightshade there are quite a few intoxicating and dangerous foods I wouldn’t recommend! I wanted to look at the darker aspects of food and explore the secret ‘remedies’ and elixirs peddled by criminal quacks and charlatans.
Some book clubs and libraries have bravely had a go at making historic recipes and I’d say the most successful are the Fig Tarts and gingerbread and 18th century favourites like seed and madeira cakes. To make a Georgian meal the most successful have been dishes like salamagundy salad, soup, toasted cheese, potted meats, chicken fricassee, pheasant or venison stewed, and a nice boiled pudding or fruit pie. Good luck if you have a go yourselves over in Arkansas! Martine x
Martine Bailey
Hi Lisa
Many thanks for your question and also sharing how much you enjoyed researching your town’s history. I can imagine that was very enlightening and brought the past to life for everyone.
The idea for An Appetite for Violets started when I picked up a couple of photocopied recipes at 18th century Erddig Hall (for Roast Venison and Almond Pudding) and then found out there were lots more recipes in the archives. But when I began planning the book I realised the recipes alone weren’t enough to accurately describe a cook's works, so I did re-enactment and went to Ivan Day’s farm to learn about Georgian cookery. Ivan has lots of unique historic books and I read some of those and many more - about English, French and Italian food history. The research went on and on – from how early cooking ranges worked, to food preservation, museum displays, reading lots of diaries about travellers’ meals as well as how the finest banquets in Italy were prepared. I also loved the language of course, because it gave me a world of new culinary terms for Biddy to speak.
I’m so glad you liked the book. At the moment there aren’t any plans for a sequel but A Taste for Nightshade will be out in the US in January, a darker tale about a mistress and her sinister cook. I’m also loving writing a murder mystery set in an 18th century English village at the moment.
Many thanks for your question and also sharing how much you enjoyed researching your town’s history. I can imagine that was very enlightening and brought the past to life for everyone.
The idea for An Appetite for Violets started when I picked up a couple of photocopied recipes at 18th century Erddig Hall (for Roast Venison and Almond Pudding) and then found out there were lots more recipes in the archives. But when I began planning the book I realised the recipes alone weren’t enough to accurately describe a cook's works, so I did re-enactment and went to Ivan Day’s farm to learn about Georgian cookery. Ivan has lots of unique historic books and I read some of those and many more - about English, French and Italian food history. The research went on and on – from how early cooking ranges worked, to food preservation, museum displays, reading lots of diaries about travellers’ meals as well as how the finest banquets in Italy were prepared. I also loved the language of course, because it gave me a world of new culinary terms for Biddy to speak.
I’m so glad you liked the book. At the moment there aren’t any plans for a sequel but A Taste for Nightshade will be out in the US in January, a darker tale about a mistress and her sinister cook. I’m also loving writing a murder mystery set in an 18th century English village at the moment.
Martine Bailey
Kitt fascinated me and in the early drafts I was in danger of falling a bit in love with him. When I was asked to write 'My Book the Movie' for Campaign for the American Reader (see https://www.facebook.com/MartineBaile...) I was excited to 'dreamcast' Aidan Turner, the Irish star of the BBC's new eighteenth century series Poldark as Kitt and now he's a big star. I do hope Poldark will screen in the US, it's excellent historical drama.
How did you miss what was going on? Well, I'm quite proud of my 'misdirection', though looking back there were clues in a few letters and conversations... I'm afraid my publisher aren't interested in prequels or sequels and I'm now writing Book 3 and enjoying working on a new anti-hero.
How did you miss what was going on? Well, I'm quite proud of my 'misdirection', though looking back there were clues in a few letters and conversations... I'm afraid my publisher aren't interested in prequels or sequels and I'm now writing Book 3 and enjoying working on a new anti-hero.
Martine Bailey
My advice to aspiring writers is to write what you would love to read and then be persistent. I have been trying to break into fiction for a long time, so it has taken many years to get this far. Not having the time or money to do a Creative Writing Masters degree I decided to send off for course outlines and designed my own programme to follow at home.
Firstly, I read a lot, especially the best classic and prize-winning writing and analysed books by market and genre to try to understand what does well. Unsurprisingly, I concluded that strong characters and a good pace are essential in a very competitive market. A writer also has to be strong and be prepared for rejection. Over the years I have probably had a hundred rejections, or even no replies at all. If someone shows a shred of interest in your work, be politely persistent about showing them new work. The agency in London I signed with had rejected a previous novel of mine after long deliberation, and would have rejected An Appetite for Violets if I hadn’t worked closely with them and been prepared to make changes and cuts. I’ve learned these are serious businesses, laying their money out for you and we writers need to be team-players, putting in long hours both writing new material and promoting it on social media. But I do believe anyone with real talent can and will make it, whatever your background, so good luck and follow your writing dream!
Firstly, I read a lot, especially the best classic and prize-winning writing and analysed books by market and genre to try to understand what does well. Unsurprisingly, I concluded that strong characters and a good pace are essential in a very competitive market. A writer also has to be strong and be prepared for rejection. Over the years I have probably had a hundred rejections, or even no replies at all. If someone shows a shred of interest in your work, be politely persistent about showing them new work. The agency in London I signed with had rejected a previous novel of mine after long deliberation, and would have rejected An Appetite for Violets if I hadn’t worked closely with them and been prepared to make changes and cuts. I’ve learned these are serious businesses, laying their money out for you and we writers need to be team-players, putting in long hours both writing new material and promoting it on social media. But I do believe anyone with real talent can and will make it, whatever your background, so good luck and follow your writing dream!
Martine Bailey
Thank you so much for your comments about the book and I’m so glad you picked up on my love of cooking. I have always enjoyed baking, having taught myself from books when I was younger. I really started baking to save money and feed my son, by making local English specialities like Bakewell Tart, biscuits and cakes. Then I became fascinated by foreign food when I had more money to travel and eventually entered a Merchant Gourmet contest with a Spanish dish for A Smoky Asturian Stew. I won it and the prize was a French cookery course in Provence. So one thing led to another and I became fascinated with French food and then historical food. My inspiration to write An Appetite for Violets started with a collection of historic recipes at a local country house and thinking about how the cook might have felt if she’d been sent to some far-flung foreign places! Thanks to TV food historian Ivan Day I’ve learned a great deal about historic cookery, using forgotten techniques and attempting the truly amazing sugarwork skills that confectioners like Renzo developed in the 18th century. Of course I don’t make extraordinary food all that often, but I do love to bake and I’m a keen member of the http://clandestinecakeclub.co.uk/ which has groups all around the world.
I’ve just been putting the final touches to a second book, The Penny Heart, a darker tale set in England, Australia and New Zealand in the 1790s, about a mistress and a sinister cook. It will be published in the UK in May 2015 and at some later date in the US. But I’m keen to start another novel soon, set in an English village and of course get down to some research.
I’ve just been putting the final touches to a second book, The Penny Heart, a darker tale set in England, Australia and New Zealand in the 1790s, about a mistress and a sinister cook. It will be published in the UK in May 2015 and at some later date in the US. But I’m keen to start another novel soon, set in an English village and of course get down to some research.
Martine Bailey
An historical writer must love research - and I do! Learning about how cooks prepared food in the past has been a fascinating area. First I looked at how ordinary folk cooked, boiling and frying over a fire, boiling puddings in a cloth in a cauldron, for example, and dangling food like bacon on a string to fry crisply.
Later I studied how the top chefs and confectioners worked, creating the most extraordinary sugarwork such as edible tableware, silver webs and vast palaces and temples made of sugar.
It has been a privilege to learn about such talented people from their handwritten recipes, many of them passed down the generations.
Later I studied how the top chefs and confectioners worked, creating the most extraordinary sugarwork such as edible tableware, silver webs and vast palaces and temples made of sugar.
It has been a privilege to learn about such talented people from their handwritten recipes, many of them passed down the generations.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more