The Making of Maplecroft (& Upcoming Events!)
Maplecroft: A Heartbreakingly Beautiful Historical Romance Novel of Love and Betrayal, Based on a True Story
Maplecroft Spotlight: Errington
An excerpt from Ghosts of Women Past, published in Blank Spaces — Volume 4, Issue 4 - 06/20
Whether my great grandmother, Ellen Errington Pattinson, is describing the wonders of her European Odyssey or somehow capturing that indescribable, all-encompassing feeling of love, she is above all, a storyteller. Throughout her travel journal, written in the summer of 1905, Errington (as her family refer to her) does not simply attempt to document her holiday. It is as if she writes with the understanding that her words are destined for more than just the private pages of her journal.
Beginning my research at twenty-six, I am just two years older than Errington when she records her thoughts on art, history and culture while travelling in Europe.  I have great plans to undertake a European adventure of my own, one day, visiting all the landmarks referenced in Errington’s journal; to feel her words take shape in the visions before me. Â
Glacier after glacier, snow peak after snow peak came into view and each time, with a sharp in-drawing of breath, I exclaimed this is the Matterhorn… Why is not a special language invented, a language consisting only of superlatives, with which one might describe the beauties of the Alps – The temples of the earth?
– Ellen Errington Pattinson, Zermatt, Switzerland, August 29 1905
I am so captivated by Errington’s writing, and yet I struggle to capture a sense of her when I write. My mother echoes this sentiment, talking of my great-grandfather, Austin Moss, whose life my mother has taken great pains to preserve in holding onto a plethora of letters, journals, documents and photographs.
‘Austin, I think we get a far better picture of, probably from letters from his friends and family. And also, local - not legend - but tales; what people have told me.’
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Ghosts of Women Past was my first published article and reflects my passion for uncovering, and writing, Austin & Errington’s story. It’s where my debut novel, Maplecroft, began.
Since writing Ghosts of Women Past, I have come to know Errington deeply through the process of researching and writing her story.
Now, I believe, she lives on in my novel, Maplecroft; as she does in my heart and in my imagination.
Her words, as she wrote them, preserved within the pages of my book.
Upcoming Events
I will be giving an Author Talk 5:30pm Wednesday 4th September at Warragul Library. If you’re a Gippsland local, I’d love to see you there!
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