The Red Shawl

by Jessica Blair

When David Fernley, a farmhand, joins the Arctic whaling fleet in Whitby in 1780 and marries his childhood sweetheart, their ambitions are high, but their hopes are severely tested in the unforgiving Arctic and by the intrigue they meet as they aspire to Whitby Society.

334 pages, Paperback

First published February 21, 1994

About the author

My real name is Bill Spence. Jessica Blair came into being when my publisher, Piatkus, accepted my first historical saga and declared that, for various reasons, they would prefer to publish it under a female name and they suggested Jessica Blair.

I was born in Middlesbrough in 1923. I trained as a teacher but never followed the profession as war intervened. I served in the RAF as a bomb aimer doing thirty-six operational flights in Lancasters of 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron Bomber Command. After the war I was sent to Rhodesia by the RAF.

It was on the voyage to Durban that I wrote my first short story and was bitten by the writing bug. On return to England I wrote articles for newspapers and magazines and fulfilled my desire to write a novel by using some war time experiences as background.

My second book was a Western and 36 were published between 1960 and 1993. During that time two more war novels and a romance appeared in print. Along with my wife, Joan, I wrote three books dealing with aspects of Yorkshire. I started a review column in the Yorkshire Gazette and Herald and that is now in its fiftieth year.

Visits to Whitby, on the Yorkshire coast, sparked off an interest in whaling and ten years intermittent research into the subject resulted in the publication of an illustrated history. It was from this study that the Jessica Blair novels arose. The first of these appeared in 1992 and a new phase in my writing career began.

There have been twenty-five Jessica Blair novels published to date (February 2015) One more is with my publisher, Piatkus, an imprint of the Little Brown Book Group. All Jessica Blair novels are available in hardback, paperback, ebook, audio download, and Large Print.

Writing was a part-time occupation until 1977 when, with the full support of my wife, Joan, it became full-time. Throughout my whole writing career I have had her, and my four children's, unstinting support, advice, and inspiration.

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast paced historical romantic fiction along the lines of Catherine Cookson and Josephine Cox. Set in the whaling town of Whitby in the late 18th century, it follows the story of David Fernley and his ambitious wife Ruth, along with a love triangle and the usual ups and downs that come with this genre. An enjoyable read.

[Rosalind Dransfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book

[Kelly Furniss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in 1780 Young David Fernley wants so much more from life than what is expected of him which is be a family farmhand in Yorkshire.
All he has ever encountered is hardship but with passion for the sea running through his veins, his want to provide the very best for his young partner who he has rescued from an abusive Step Father and pure ambition and vision he chases his dream job of joining the potentially lucrative arctic whaling fleet of Whitby, Yorkshire.
Renowned for the extreme danger the fisherman put themselves in sailing the harsh, choppy, icy, arctic seas he ignores the pleas from family members and joins up and is soon recognised for his natural talent, physical strength and fearless nature.
At home he has left behind his childhood sweetheart Ruth who is extremely proud of her Husband but as David climbs the ranks spending several months away at sea at a time and becoming increasingly successful she ruthlessly strives for more and more taking a firm hand in the business and its finances, making important decisions, socially networking and commissioning new ship builds but ultimately stopping at nothing to do what it takes to get what she wants as the greed to be ever more successful consumes her life creating issues with David and putting her marriage under strain and at risk. Now David hardly recognises the vulnerable, timid and innocent girl he married.
Under pressure as his feelings alter he becomes more drawn to the sweet gentle natured Jenny one of his best friends wives who he shares a special bond with after she nursed him through an accident and more and more he realises when the ship returns to the docks it is her waving her red shawl he is really looking for. But an extremely tragic accident at sea and the discovery of some harrowing secrets of events that have gone on whilst David was away will change their lives forever.
I stumbled across this author by accident when looking on a book selling site and decided to start at the beginning and I am so glad I did. I adore historical saga books especially if they contain anything related the coast, sea and jobs that it provide and the local connection attracted me straight away.
I visited close to Whitby whilst reading this and it added to the whole experience so much I could visualise it. The story moves so effortlessly with great pace, I love the time period and small nuggets of information injected in so you learn without realising, the gritty action at sea, hardships and the different corrupt and confused love stories and drama. I am going to continue with the series and I'm excited to see where the story goes next. A fully deserved 5 stars from me.

[Eva Falconer · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the books I enjoyed most. Read several times.