One joy of writing a book that crosses multiple historical timeframes whose events spatially intersect, is the ability to double-down on locations in a way that adds poignancy to the story.

While ‘The Shackled’ features a central narrative of primary events occurring in 2019, there are side-stories with additional characters in various places from 1815, 1914-1918, 1941-2018, 1985-2005, 2008-2019 and 2016-2019. In the interests of my readers’ sanity, I’ve labelled these to avoid confusion.

Locations include: Rochester, Chatham, Folkestone, Maidstone, Barham, Selling, Gravesend – (Kent), Middle Woodford – (Wiltshire), Bath – (Somerset), Gateleigh – (Fictitious Devon village), The Western Front (Belgium), Aylesbury, Bridechurch (a fictitious estate based on Belmont in Kent, but not set there) – (Buckinghamshire), Danbury – (Essex), Fernhurst – (West Sussex), and London.

Several locations feature in more than one of the side stories. The first is the Great Lines Naval Memorial in Chatham, visited by Andrew Miles and Sally Nelson.

The second is the Step Short Memorial Arch in Folkestone. This stainless steel construction marks the top of ‘The Slope,’ where First World War soldiers embarking on ships for France and Belgium from Folkestone harbour shortened their stride for the downhill march. In 2019, our central character Samantha Riley walks past it on her regular strolls along The Leas. By this time, the memorial has been constructed. In the tale of Peter Haws (who goes off to fight on The Western Front), we see him receive the command to ‘Step Short’ at the point where the arch would later be built.

All the characters are present in one form or another for the modern day showdown along The Esplanade in Rochester.

As I mentioned in another article, the central characters visit Rosalind Layton’s stately home of Bridechurch from 1815, at the end of the book in 2019.

‘The Shackled’ will be available in paperback and Kindle formats from 19th September. It’s also free to read for ‘Kindle Unlimited’ subscribers.

I wrote about the relevance of the old song ‘Over the Hills and Far Away’ in a previous post that included a nice instrumental version. It’s a piece which has featured many lyrics over the years. In the book, I’ve used a verse and chorus from the 1815 version for accuracy:

Here is a beautiful modern rendition with updated lyrics based on a similar time frame.