Fiction – The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho by Paterson Joseph
‘The Secret Diary of Charles Ignatius Sancho’ is the fictional memoir of an actual historical character, Black writer and composer Charles Ignatius Sancho. A passion project for actor Patterson Joseph, who first brought the little known figure to life in 2018 with a self penned stage play, ‘Sancho: An Act of Remembrance’ which ran in New York and London. His in-depth study and research has resulted in this brilliantly realised and captivating novel.
Set in Regency England, it is 1746, and our narrator addresses his young son in the form of diary entries and letters, looking back on his life. Born on a slave ship to teenage parents, neither of whom survived, history records Sancho as having escaped slavery to be the first black British voter, a musician and actor who was once painted by Thomas Gainsborough.
In a regency polemic style, typified by debate and societal condemnation, this vibrant and witty narrative brings to life the squalor, poverty and everyday danger posed to free black inhabitants of Regency London. Sancho himself is revealed as a proud, intelligent and complex man determined to make something of himself and his family, against many odds, and his deep, abiding love for his wife and family. Relatable, moving and compassionate, what Joseph has created here is an astonishing and revealing historical account of black Britain not taught in schools or history books. A fascinating read.
Non Fiction – WILD by Amy Jeffs
From the bestselling author of Storyland.
Sheer cliffs, salt spray, explosive sea spume, thunderous clouds, icy waves, whales with mountains on their backs, sleet, bitter winds, bleak, impenetrable marshes, howling wolves, forests, the unceasing cries of birds and the death grip of subterranean vaults that have never seen the sun: these are wild landscapes of a world almost familiar.
In Wild, Amy Jeffs journeys – on foot and through medieval texts – from landscapes of desolation to hope, offering the reader an insight into a world at once distant and profoundly close to home.
The seven chapters, entitled Earth, Ocean, Forest, Beast, Fen, Catastrophe, Paradise, open with fiction and close with reflection. They blend reflections of travels through fen, forest and cave, with retelling of medieval texts that offer rich depictions of the natural world.
From the Old English elegies to the englynion and immrama of the Celtic world – stories that largely represent figures whose voices are not generally heard in the corpus of medieval literature: women, outcasts, animals.
Illustrated with original wood engravings, evoking an atmospheric world of whales, wolves, caves, cuckoos and reeds. Wild: Tales From Early Medieval Britain is a gorgeous book to treasure.
‘A beautiful retelling of British myths and exquisitely illustrated too.’ – James Holland (on Storyland)
‘This gorgeous book should live on the bookshelves in every house that cares about “the idea of Britain, what is was and where it came from.’ – The Times (on Storyland)