Gates of Paradise [electronic resource]
Kingston, Beryl2014
eBook
It is 1852 and Alexander, a young biographer in search of the truth about William Blake, has parted from his new bride and travelled to the village of Felpham. For it was here that the scene of Blake's darkest hour – the mysterious incident that caused him to be tried for Sedition – occurred. But the villagers hereabouts don't have much to say on the subject, and go strangely quiet whenever the trial is mentioned. We travel back to 1800, when William Blake and his faithful wife Catherine have just moved to Felpham to take up the promise of work under a new patron, William Hayley Esquire. This tireless taskmaster soon gives Blake so much work that his own poetry is neglected. Trying to appease his patron and still find time for his masterpiece frays Blake's nerves beyond endurance. Witnessing this exchange are Betsy and Johnnie, two young lovers employed in Mr Hayley's service. In awe of Blake's beautiful engravings and glorious paintings, Betsy enlists Johnnie to teach her to read so that she can experience Blake's poetry too. The happiness Betsy finds in Blake's words and Johnnie's arms is short lived, for the terror of invasion by Napoleon is a constant dark cloud on the horizon. When invasion looks imminent, soldiers flood the quiet town with their bright red uniforms and arrogant, drunken behaviour. Now is the time that the villagers must come together to defend William from heinous accusations that, if proved, will lead to prison or worse. But will they have the courage? And will Alexander, fifty years after the event, discover what truly went on at the trial? In Gates of Paradise, first published in 2006, Beryl Kingston vividly re-imagines the historical events which led to William Blake's trial for sedition in 1803.
Main title:
Gates of Paradise [electronic resource] / Beryl Kingston
Author:
Kingston, Beryl, Author
Work:
Imprint:
[Place of publication not identified] : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014
Collation:
1 online resource (1 text file)
Biography/History:
Beryl Kingston was born in London in 1931 and was 8 years old when WWII began. She remained in London for the first four months of the blitz until her road was bombed and her house was uninhabitable. She has been a writer since she was seven when she started producing poetry which, according to her, was very, very bad. She taught English from 1952 to 1985 before embarking on a career as a prolific, full-time writer.
Beryl Kingston's first book was published in 1985 and was an instant bestseller. From then on she wrote a bestseller every year for the next 14 years, ranging from family sagas to modern stories and historical novels, including novels about WWI and WWII. She reached the top payment level for public lending right with her 4th book and passed the million mark in sales with book number 12. She has also written plays for the children, stories for various magazines and a novella about a conceited cat. She won the 2014 Blake Society Tithe Grant Award. Beryl Kingston was married for 54 years, had three children and five grandchildren and now has five great-grandchildren, who are the apples of her eye.
ISBN:
9781448213931
Language:
English
BRN:
357574