Pop in to the Women’s Library this Thursday 11th August from 12:30pm for another special Story Café as versatile author and playwright Catherine Czerkawska joins us to talk about her latest novel The Jewel, a historical romance that intricately charts the courtship and marriage of Jean Armour and Robert Burns.
The Jewel is a beautiful, glittering account of love, endurance and grief set amongst politically ruptured 18th century Scotland. The novel assumes the viewpoint of Jean, a curiously neglected but, by all accounts, beautiful and charming woman who is surely more important to Scottish cultural heritage than historians and biographers give her credit for. Capitalising on this, Czerkawska uses Armour’s keen narrative to chart the passionate yet tumultuous years of her and Burns’ relationship, from the early days of courtship in rural Mauchline – where Jean’s father was desperate to keep her from the mercurial Burns – to the ups and downs of their married life in Dumfries, to Burns’ untimely death at the age of 37 in 1796. By no means a frivolous or light-hearted read, The Jewel burrows deep into Jean’s heartache over Burns’ notorious philandering and death, and the even deeper heartache of losing six of her children.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the novel is the obvious depth of research that underpins the book, making it feel real and informative, but not intrusive. The reader will find themselves deeply immersed in the relatable world of a forward- thinking and independent young woman who falls in love with a man whose reputation she knows only too well. The characters of Jean and those who surround her – including Burns – spark vividly to life from the page, as does the intrigue and complexity of the era they occupy.
Serving as a superbly researched de-facto biography of an unjustly unacknowledged woman – one who inspired some of the greatest Scottish works of fiction – The Jewel is an indomitable tale of two indomitable characters – strong and enduring – and one not to be missed!
You can book a place by following this link.
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