ON Friday, May 23 we had a high turnout of our history society members to welcome a favourite local author, Liz Shakespeare, to Thorverton for the very first time!

Liz has written seven books to date, all set in Devon. She draws inspiration from (particularly) the North Devon countryside, from the strong historical identity of the area and the sense of past lives that can be experienced in any long-inhabited area.

She shared with us her particular interest in social history and in the lives of the less advantaged, as well as recording and researching the stories of people, customs and practices that are often forgotten once memories and contemporaries have passed away: evidenced through old parish documents, newspaper articles, church documents and census materials as well as churchyard inscriptions.

Liz was born in Bideford and has lived in Devon for most of her life. Her mother’s family is from the Bideford area and her father’s, although born and brought up in London, had fond memories of long childhood holidays with cousins on the North Devon/Cornwall border where his mother’s family originated. The family stories that she grew up with and the sense of being deeply rooted in the area continue to be a powerful influence on her writing.

Liz trained in London, taking an English Literature degree and then as a primary school teacher, although it has been on her return to Devon which led her to engage in print to record the special memories which were shared with her in her village by individuals retelling tales of old ways. Significantly a way of life which promised to disappear, reflecting the agricultural and simpler, less sophisticated and more practical engagement with living here that was a feature of the late 1800s.

Liz’s first book used the shared memories recorded into her book The Memory Be Green. Liz made for a relaxing evening reading excerpts from all her books to illustrate her point that a sense of belonging and comradeship existed within the rural communities and gossip, rarely flourished as everyone knew each other’s business anyway!

It was some 15 years before Liz embarked on her next published novel, based on a virulent outbreak of scarlet fever in the 19th century, called Fever: A Story from a Devon Churchyard, based on census material, churchyard evidence and now her imaginative reconstruction of the lives of the poor through her knowledge of social history as well as contemporary sources.

In all her novels to date, Liz has continued to bring her detailed knowledge of place and wide ranging factual research to inform her characters and the reactions of the local population to events, which continue to absorb the reader.

It was fascinating for her faithful readers as well as shared writers to absorb her process and her discipline to writing, as well as to purely enjoy the benefit of having excerpts read to us throughout the evening, with the added benefit of her explanation and contextual comments.

Inspiring to many. Our thanks for a lovely evening!

Ann Marshall