S & COMMANDER
ENTURER WHO CAPTAINED HER OWN SHIPS ht Maria Graham back to life in historical novel about her time in Brazil
Scot has had her story told in Sara Sheridan’s historical novel On Starlit Seas, which is nominated for the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize. Here, Sara writes about ft London ted in a shares as a talented hose family Fife. ed that he and doubt it. was dashing asis of the aster and Jack Aubrey, h Cochrane’s ily. in stringent oman with might fall under om Maria’s that the two how she was inspired by pioneering Maria – later known as Lady Callcott after marrying painter Augustus Wall Callcott – and shares her incredible tale... became firm friends, nothing more.
Cochrane was working for the Chilean and Brazilian nationalist causes, fighting for independence and redeemed his reputation back in London due to his brilliant victories for these new nations.
After a year, Maria travelled to Brazil and that’s where I decided to pick up her story and start On Starlit Seas. She was on her way back to London when she met the newly appointed Brazilian emperor and his family. They offered her a post as tutor to the infant Princess Maria da Gloria, heir to the Brazilian throne.
Maria became close to the emperor’s wife, Maria Leopoldina of Austria, with whom she shared a love of the natural sciences.
Maria delivered two manuscripts to Murray – one about her time in Chile and the other about her time in Brazil. Both were illustrated using her own sketches.
It amazes me that I hadn’t heard of Maria before I came across her papers in the archive. She was passionate, engaged, influential and intelligent but then, we are very poor at memorialising our female forbears.
In Edinburgh, where I live, there are more statues to animals than there are to women.
As soon as I started to read Maria’s letters, it felt as if she was standing beside me telling me her story and I knew I wanted to write a novel based around her adventures – because she filled me with admiration for what she achieved and because, like so many amazing women in our history, she seemed to have been forgotten.
I’m delighted the book has been shortlisted for the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Award. ● On Starlit Seas by Sara Sheridan is out now on Black and White Publishing.