Voices Past

Susan Rollinson

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Why I wrote this book

I lived in an interesting old house for a number of years and was intrigued by the cellars which had been closed up a long while before. My book, Voices Past, was inspired by the opening up of the cellars and then my imagination took me to places I couldn’t have expected. Quite early on the book began to write itself.

I believe it is different because it was inspired by a place in which I have lived together with my fictional account of a village which is woven together and blends real historical events such as the Dissolution of the Monasteries and events in the 1940s with rural life in contemporary England.

As I wrote Voices Past, I became increasingly aware of the way in which the past is always with us and the enormous influence of it on our everyday lives. I think this is something that will appeal to readers.

Synopsis

Fee Hunter, a young widow, becomes increasingly captivated and obsessed with events from the past when she moves to an old house in the fictional historic village of Whittlesham in rural Buckinghamshire. She finds evidence of her ties with previous occupants of the house and uncovers details of turbulent events dating back to medieval times.

Fascinated by the remains of a nearby Norman castle and medieval abbey, she feels that something of a different time, a different era, is beckoning her and is driven to investigate. As the past unremittingly catches up with the present, forces from beyond irrevocably drive the events in which Fee becomes entangled.

Voices Past deftly blends fact with fiction in an ordinary and everyday setting, embracing witchcraft, religion and archaeology, and darkness and light. It highlights the significance of the past in all our lives and unpacks the influence of superstition, myth and ritual.

“The dead can be dangerous though many people, spiritualists and channelers, want to talk to them. Best to leave well alone and to talk kindly of them. It is said that the headstones in graveyards are placed so as to prevent the dead from climbing out of their graves. This must be respected. The dead must be left at peace.”

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