Special Guest Post by Jenni Keer, Author of The Legacy of Halesham Hall

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

1890. One summer evening changes everything for Sidney and Leonard Bellingham when their beloved mother disappears from the family home, Halesham Hall. Left with their bitter father, they are taught to trust no one but themselves, with brother pitted against brother to see who is worthy of inheriting the Bellingham Board Games company. But the series of twisted games they are forced to play will have far reaching consequences. 1920. Phoebe Bellingham arrives at Halesham Hall determined to solve the puzzles that will allow her to claim back the Bellingham inheritance. But this legacy involves more than one secret, and soon Phoebe realises that the stakes are higher than she ever could have imagined.

Thanks for having me on to talk about my latest book, The Legacy of Halesham Hall, a gothic romance with plenty of twists and turns. It’s perfect timing as the book is currently on a Kindle Monthly Deal for November and can be purchased for JUST 99p/99c in the UK, US and Canada, so if you fancy a slow-burn romance scattered with puzzles and plot twists, set in a creepy old house, now is the time …

Writing this book is a real departure for me as it’s my first purely historical work. There are two timelines: one follows the tumultuous summer of 1899 for adolescent Sidney Bellingham, and the other is the arrival at Halesham Hall of a young woman in 1920, trying to get to the bottom of a decades-old family rift. 

Because the Bellingham family own a board games company, I had great fun designing both their fictional games and the weird house with puzzles embedded in its very fabric. It is slightly darker than my previous books, but I always write a happy ever after, so ultimately it is an uplifting read.

Writing novels set in the past has been a real challenge. Everything my characters do, say or even think has to be historically accurate, which means plenty of research around clothes, settings and events, but also speech and concepts. For example, in Halesham Hall I couldn’t use the words weekend or teenager (which was interesting because the thrust of Sidney’s story is very much about how teenage he is, and how adolescent behaviour hasn’t changed much in a hundred years!). 

Every time I use a well-known phrase I check it isn’t anachronistic, and I permanently have an online etymological dictionary open. All of that, alongside the usual fact-checking, such as ensuring flowers are blooming at the right time, the timeline is consistent, and so on, takes time. And still I managed to miss that collared doves didn’t come to the UK until the 1950s. *groan*

Because I’m rubbish at plotting, the book involved plenty of rewriting when ideas, plot twists and even character traits occurred to me during the writing process. I am full of admiration for authors who are able to plan their novels in advance, but I have learned that we all have a different process, and as long as we all get there in the end, it doesn’t matter how we get there. 

Going forward, I am sticking with historicals, and my current work-in-progress is set in 1927. The roaring twenties have been fascinating decade to research and I look forward to sharing this book with my readers next year.

Jenni Keer

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About the Author

Jenni Keer is a history graduate who embarked on a career in contract flooring before falling in love and moving to the Suffolk countryside. Her lifelong passion for reading became a passion for writing, and she was delighted when her debut novel, The Hopes and Dreams of Lucy Baker, was shortlisted for two awards. Her first two books were contemporary romance but she has now embraced her love of the past to write twisty, turny historicals. Living with four grown up children and three cats (but just the one husband) she is frustrated by their inability to appreciate that when she's staring into space, she's actually working, and that watching television counts as research. Much younger in her head than she is on paper, she adores any excuse for fancy-dress and is part of a disco formation dance team. Find out more at Jenni's website https://jennikeer.co.uk/ and follow her on Facebook and Twitter @jennikeer