The Aristocrat, the Able Seaman and the tragedy of Titanic tells the stories of two survivors and shows what went wrong and what might have been done to prevent some of the deaths on the night Titanic sank.
Titanic
The Aristocrat and the Able Seaman will be published in April 2026
For several years I’ve done a talk about Lucy Noël Martha, Countess of Rothes, and Thomas William Jones, the Aristocrat and the Able Seaman who survived Titanic in the same lifeboat. In April, 2026 their stories will be published by The History Press and I’m delighted that the courage of these two people, their kindness, … Read More
Hamlet on the Titanic
This 15th April is the 113th anniversary of the night RMS Titanic sank. My great-grandmother, Noël Rothes, was, ‘One of the lucky ones’, as she wrote three days later. Lucky not only because she survived, but because none of her beloved menfolk had sailed from Southampton with her. If they had, they would have died in … Read More
RMS Titanic: a perfect storm
At this time of year I often post about RMS Titanic. Last year’s post remembered the Welsh Able Seaman, Thomas Jones, who captained Lifeboat Number 8 – the lifeboat that carried my great-grandmother, Noël Rothes, and twenty-four others to safety on the terrifying night when Titanic sank. But when I was invited by Fred Olsen … Read More
Tom Titanic: a Welsh hero remembered
On 15 April I went to Cemaes, the northernmost town on the Ynys Môn coast, with my cousin Alex Leslie, and my sister Lucinda Mackworth-Young. We were there because Cemaes is the town where Thomas William Jones was born, on 15 November 1877. Tom Titanic, as he’s remembered in Cemaes, was put in command of … Read More
RMS Titanic: on this day 106 years ago … & Samira Addo, Portrait Artist of the Year
It’s 106 years ago today that the ‘unsinkable’ passenger liner, RMS Titanic, hit an iceberg and sank in just two hours and forty minutes. For years the tragedy was a matter of private internal horror: people didn’t talk about trauma then and only two years later the First World War broke out, eclipsing Titanic’s tragedy with its own tremendous … Read More
Auditioning to become a WI Speaker, and ‘BORN BAFFLED: Musings on a Writing Life’
In March I auditioned to become a WI speaker. The WI, you say? Don’t they just make jam, sing Jerusalem and talk a lot? Yes to all three, but no to JUST. There are 6,300 WIs in this country with 220,000 members and their community interests and campaigns have a long reach and are extremely varied. They campaign … Read More
Third novel, and the Reith Lectures, 2016
This month I finished my third novel. Finished to be interpreted loosely: there will be redrafts when I’m working with an agent and then with an editor. It’s working title is For the Love of Life. Rejoice. At least for now. But now, while I do all the things I haven’t had time to do (updating … Read More
Leslie House, Fife; and the Daily Good
My great-grandmother Noël Rothes, whose life was the initial inspiration for my novel The Dance of Love, lived at Leslie House between 1904 and 1919. The house was burned to the ground while under restoration in 2009. It’s been the subject of at least two planning applications, but now stands derelict. But as I wrote in … Read More
103 years on, Titanic; and the things that come unbidden when you write
One hundred and three years ago today more than 1,500 people died in the freezing waters of the North Atlantic when RMS Titanic hit the iceberg and then sank, in the early hours of 15 April. My great-grandmother, Nöel Rothes, was one of the lucky survivors and this year YOU Magazine in the Mail on Sunday has … Read More
The Titanic: the 102nd anniversary of the tragic sinking, and, on a happier note, the launch of SHINY NEW BOOKS
On this day, 102 years ago, many many people drowned, or froze to death, in the icy waters of the north Atlantic after RMS Titanic collided with an iceberg. My great-grandmother, Noël Rothes, was one of the lucky survivors. I wrote about her experience on the 100th anniversary of the sinking, here. But I’m sure there are … Read More
On this centenary of the tragic sinking of RMS Titanic
My great-grandmother, Noël Rothes, set sail from Southampton on RMS Titanic on 10 April 1912. She was one of 2,224 passengers and crew bound for New York. She was also, very luckily for her, one of 712 who were saved. She boarded lifeboat number 8 at 1 am in the morning on 15 April 1912. … Read More
Rewriting WRITTEN in WATER, Part 2
I thought perhaps my wonderful editor might have sent me her report on the final draft of WRITTEN in WATER by the beginning of this week, but because she is a careful thoughtful editor it won’t be with me until the end of this week now, to give her the time she needs. But she … Read More
The Convergence of the Twain
It is strange what research throws up when you let yourself follow a curving line, isn’t it? (I know, it could be called a MAT, but I don’t think it counts.) I was looking for information about icebergs, when this caught my eye and so I veered off course towards it. Hardy wrote it in … Read More
Prinknash (pr Prinnidge)
I am going here where these Benedictine monks live The reason I am going is that this was my great-grandmother’s childhood home (she of the biography I was going to write, now of the novel that I am about to begin). It’s called Prinknash (pr Prinnidge) and I’m going to meet the Abbot who will … Read More
Camas Chil Mhalieu, Loch Linnhe
I am going here: Which is in northwest Scotland. Image © Copyright Donald MacDonald and licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Licence. I’m going in search of the cottage that my great-grandmother used to go to get away from it all. I want to breathe the air, see what she saw and hear what … Read More