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#HistFicThursdays - Inspirational Series - The Box of Delights

Kay Harker and Cole Hawlings Picture accessed via BBC  There are few things more Christmassy than the opening few bars of the theme tune to The Box of Delights . In fact, the tune is based on Victor Hely-Hutchinson's Carol Symphony and had been used in radio adaptations of the same novel years earlier than the 1984 television series. Clearly, everyone already knew that you just couldn't improve on that sound to evoke the magic of Christmas which - for me and for many - is so wonderfully explored in John Masefield's story. As a viewer, one of the things I enjoy most about the television series of The Box of Delights is the acting. Child actors are precarious things: too sweet and they're almost unbearable to watch, not sweet enough and they're unbelievable. They must walk that fine line between the two, and it is a perilous one! Most young actors fall into the first category, where their on-screen presence is almost dangerously saccharine.  Not so the child actors ...
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#HistFicThursdays - Take a Letter

Welcome back to the #HistFicThursdays blog, Writers and Readers! This year is already shaping up to be a fabulous one.

I am not one to make New Year Resolutions - they are inevitably broken by the end of January - but I am looking forward to getting more writing done this year. I'll be sharing my progress on these blogs, along with any fascinating research rabbit holes I happen to stumble across! I'm also delighted to be sharing a monthly post from fellow Crowvus author, Judith Crow, as she discusses her gothic horror short stories which will be released on 13th October 2025 - her first post will be here next week!

I am always happy to review historical fiction, but please remember I can only review physical copies as I do not possess an eReader, and my eyes are not up to reading a full book on the computer!

Currently, I am deciphering a set of 19th Century letters I got for Christmas. Will these ever make it into stories? Certainly! It is so wonderful to experience the true language with which these were written. As historical fiction writers, we tend to get a bit hung up on what words and phrases would have been used in various periods, but these letters are providing me with a few eye-opening moments in terms of language! I have already picked a few favourites amongst them: an actress politely refusing a play because it does not end happily ever after; a failing editor lamenting how badly his magazine is doing with over-the-top moroseness; a lawyer's patient response to someone who expected to be named as receiving more than they got in a will... The list goes on! I am researching as much as I can about the senders and recipients, but the frustrating beauty of everyday letters is that many of these people are now lost to history. These moments, which were so important to them, are now the only window we have onto their lives.

Of course, as a writer, this partial anonymity is priceless. But, as a historian, I can't help but question who they were, what their lives were, or - in the case of this letter - what on earth they are talking about!



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