Rumor has it that Barbara Monajem is descended from English aristocrats. If one keeps to verifiable claims, however, her ancestors include London shopkeepers and hardy Canadian pioneers. As far as personal attributes go, she suffers from an annoying tendency to check and recheck anything and everything, usually for no good reason. Hopefully all this helps to explain her decision to write from the point of view of a compulsive English lady with a lot to learn about how the other ninety-nine percent lived in 1811 or so.

As for qualifications, Barbara is the author of over twenty historical romances and a few mysteries, for which she has won several awards. On the other hand, she has no artistic talent and therefore is really stretching it to write about an artist who draws wickedly good caricatures. But she’s doing it anyway, because he’s irresistible. To her, anyway. Not so much to the aristocratic lady. Or at least not yet.

Maggie Davies, writing as Maggie Richell-Davies, won the Historical Writers’ Association Unpublished Novel Award in 2020 with The Servant, a historical thriller inspired by a visit to London’s Foundling Museum. The book was subsequently published by Sharpe Books.

Patricia Lennan  lives on the Isle of Anglesey (Ynys Mon) North Wales and has developed a particular interest in Welsh history. Although born in Northampton, England, her mother’s family were originally from Abergwyngregyn, a small village in North Wales, which is where her first novel  ‘Owl at Midnight’ opens.  Abergwyngregin is not without significance as it was here that the last native prince of Wales, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, held court. His wife Eleanor de Montford sadly died in childbirth in the year 1282 giving birth to their only daughter Gwenllian. It was a tumultuous time when King Edward 1st was determined to take the whole of Wales for himself.

Gwenllian was captured by Edward and taken to a convent in Sepringham, Lincolnshire. Very little is known about her but Patricia brings Gwenllian to life in a story which expands from the minutiae of convent life to the wider sweep of events in 13th century Britain, and the myths and legends of Wales where the valleys and hills echo with ancient tales.

Patricia is working on a second novel to be published in the new year (2021) which explores another not so well known area of Welsh history, the fate of the Druids of Anglesey following the Roman invasion of AD 60.

My career began at Borough Market in the winter of 2000 when I ate a piece of cheese. The cheese was Trethowan’s Gorwydd Caerphilly and its maker Todd Trethowan, startled by my enthusiasm, got me a job at Neal’s Yard Dairy. I stayed there for eight years, working at the retail counter and in the cellars, washing, rubbing, patting and sometimes singing to the cheeses. In 2014 I set up the Cheese Tasting Company to bring cheese to the people, and when I am not eating or talking about cheese, I travel around Britain and the rest of Europe visiting cheesemakers and hearing their stories. I published my first book in October 2019, which was shortlisted for the André Simon Food and Drink Prize, and by February 2020 sold 15,000 copies in hardback.

Elizabeth Woodcraft was born and grew up on a council estate in Essex. At the age of 13 she became a mod, and started a job as a Saturday girl in the local milk bar. She saved up her wages, bought a suede coat and on Saturday nights she and her best friend, Christine, went to the Corn Exchange in Chelmsford to see acts such as the Animals, Wilson Picket, Chris Farlowe and Goldie and the Gingerbreads. At the same time she was a member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and from Easter 1963 she took part in the annual Aldermaston March.

She went to Birmingham University and studied Philosophy. She then taught in Leicestershire and Tours in France. She moved to London where she worked for Women’s Aid, the organisation which supports women who suffer domestic violence. Her experiences there led her to become a barrister. While at the Bar she published two crime novels featuring barrister Frankie Richmond, one of which was shortlisted for the John Creasey Award for Best First Crime Novel (Crime Writers Association New Blood Dagger award) and in the US won the Lambda Literary Award.

But she had always wanted to write about her experiences as a mod girl and the fun she and Christine had in the Sixties. She started by publishing a collection of short stories ‘A Sense of Occasion, the Chelmsford Stories’ which Tommy Steele described as ‘a lovely, lovely’ read (he appears in the story Tea for Tommy). Then came a novel ‘The Saturday Girls’, followed by ‘The Girls from Greenway,’ both books set on the same estate in Chelmsford in the mid-Sixties, when Vespas and Lambrettas roared up and down the road, and Minis and Motown made life thrilling.

In November 2022 ‘The Christmas Kiss and Other Stories’ appeared, a collection of short stories – some of which are just 100 words long – all celebrating the festive season experienced in the Sixties.

Elizabeth is currently writing a book featuring a character who first appeared in ‘The Saturday Girls’ – Sylvie, the shocking, unmarried mother who lived on the estate but who had a Past. She lived in Paris. The new book tells the story of Sylvie’s life on the Left Bank in 1960.

Elizabeth is represented by Annette Green Authors’ Agency.

Specialising in the late 19th and early 20th century Lucy Jane Santos is a freelance historian and consultant examining the crossroads of health, leisure and beauty with science and technology.

After completing a BA in Egyptian Archaeology and a MA in Museum and Heritage Management Lucy worked for several private members clubs and societies including The Arts Club, the Authors’ Club, The Gourmet Society and the International Wine and Food Society.

She has been a judge for the Historical Writers’ Association Non-Fiction Crown, the recipient of the Stephen Joseph Research Award and was the Non-Fiction Writer In Residence for the Stay-at-Home! International Literature Festival. She is a founder of the Art Deco Society UK and co-founder of the Cosmetic History and Makeup Studies Network.

Lucy has appeared as a contributor on TV and radio, and her historical research has been featured by History Today, BBC History Revealed, Jezebel, LitHub, New York Post, Vogue, and on the BBC2 documentary, Makeup: A Glamorous History. Her most recent project is as Creative Consultant for the documentary Obsessed With Light a film that tells the story of the performance artist Loïe Fuller.

Lucy’s debut book was Half Lives: The Unlikely History of Radium (Icon: 2020, Pegasus: 2021) and was shortlisted for the 2021 BSHS Hughes Prize, for books that bring scholarship to new readers by capturing the public imagination while conforming to rigorous standards of academic research. Her next book, Chain Reactions: A Hopeful History of Uranium is out in July in the UK and November in the US.