The Crimson Ribbon by Katherine Clements

I am very excited to be taking part in my first ever blog tour, and even more so that it is for such a good book! Based on the real figure of the fascinating Elizabeth Poole, The Crimson Ribbon is the

mesmerising story of two women’s obsession, superstition and hope.

May Day 1646: Ruth Flowers finds herself suddenly, brutally, alone. Forced to flee the household of Oliver Cromwell, the only home she has ever known, Ruth takes the road to London, and there is given refuge by Lizzie Poole.

Beautiful and charismatic, Lizzie enthrals the vulnerable Ruth, who binds herself inextricably to her world. But Ruth is still haunted by fears of her past catching up with her. And as Lizzie’s radical ideas escalate, Ruth finds herself carried to the heart of the country’s conflict, to the trial of a king.







What drew me to this novel was its author, Katherine Clements, who led the development and launch of the UK's first A level in Creative Writing (something I wish had been around when I was at school!) Katherine has a passion for history and a degree in the subject. She won a Historical Short Story Competition sponsored by Jerwood in 2012; The Crimson River is her debut novel, published earlier this year.

Without further ado, here is Katherine's guest post about how she went about researching for her first novel...

Researching The Crimson Ribbon

Writing historical fiction involves a lot of research reading and time spent in libraries, museums and archives. It’s part of the job that I love. But when I’m working on a book, getting a sense of place is really important to me too. We’re lucky in the UK to have so much fantastic history all around us. Visiting locations really helps me to create a visual picture of the places I’m writing about.

The Crimson Ribbon is set exclusively in England, in Ely, Abingdon and London. I began by studying old maps and images, plotting 17^th century streets onto modern plans, to get a sense of layout and distance. Google maps and street view can be a great help here, but nothing beats an actual visit.

I visited Ely a couple of times. Oliver Cromwell’s house still stands and is now a museum. I’d spent a lot of time learning about the man himself and walking around the house was quite emotive for me. Here’s a picture of the house on the green: (Note the mysterious headless figure in pink outside!)

As soon as I decided to open the book in Ely, I knew the cathedral would feature in some way. It’s such a striking building, made more so by the surrounding landscape. Ely isn’t a built up town even today, so it’s easy to imagine how impressive the cathedral would have been when Ely was just a village, and what a presence it must have been in people’s lives. As I climbed the cathedral tower, the fenland landscape fell away and a huge cloud-filled sky stretched out above, it gave a real sense of scale, quite different from on the ground. Here’s the view from the West Tower:

By the mid-17^th century the Fens were being drained. These days, there’s virtually nothing of the old fenland landscape left, but a visit to Wicken Fen gave me a good idea of how it might have looked. This National Trust nature reserve is doing great conservation work and is very evocative.

I took a similar approach to the section of The Crimson Ribbon set in Abingdon. A trip helped me establish the geography, and a walk by the Thames made me see how important the river would have been. I was able to visit St Helen’s Church (a church mentioned in the book, where the real John Pendarves was vicar) and explore buildings that existed in the 1640’s. This house became my model for Ruth and Lizzie’s house in Abingdon:

I’ve also found that local museums, visitor centres and tourist information offices can house a wealth of information. I’ve discovered pamphlets and books written by local historians that give the kind of detail you can’t find elsewhere, and lend a bit of colour – great for things like local myths and legends.

Researching 17^th century London and the area around old St Paul’s was fun. The old cathedral was destroyed in the Great Fire, but there’s plenty of surviving information and some great images that helped. I poured over old maps obsessively and wandered around atmospheric back streets in the City (a good excuse to visit some of the great historical pubs in the area too).

The Banqueting House is the only part of the Palace of Whitehall that survives today and is probably most famous as the site of the execution of Charles I. I’d seen it many times, but visiting with this in mind made it a poignant experience. The splendid ceiling paintings by Reubens were commissioned by Charles I and are said to celebrate the Stuart kings’ belief in absolute monarchy. I couldn’t help but appreciate the tragic irony of Charles’ final journey through the hall, passed those paintings, and out onto the scaffold. This is the window that was supposedly removed, through which Charles took those final steps:

Another useful research activity was attending reenactment events. The Sealed Knot and the English Civil War Society are the largest in the UK and both do a fantastic job. It’s the closest I’m likely to get to experiencing what it might have been like on the civil war battlefield. At some of the big events, the sight of multiple regiments, cavalry and guns, the smell of gunpowder and the clash of pikes and swords are very evocative.

For me the living history camps at some of these gatherings are really useful too. Here I found people who could tell me about everyday life in the 17th century – everything from cooking and clothing, to carpentry and metal working, even 17^th century board games and pastimes. It was particularly useful when, more recently, I needed to find out more about civil war weaponry. Re-enactors are very passionate about their period and very willing to share their knowledge. It makes a great day out too.