HISTORY REPEATING
‘Sitting here, watching the ongoing siege of Kyiv, I am reminded of another infamous historic event which occurred over 100 years ago,’ writes subscriber David Bissenden.
‘In January 1885 Major General Charles Gordon, the controversial Victorian solder, was under siege in the Sudan capital of Khartoum. He was the Governor-General of
Sudan and had a diminishing band of hungry troops with which to defend the city against the tens of thousands of Arab fighters under the command of the religious fanatic, the Mahdi. They were camped on the opposite bank of the river Nile and when the river dropped in height, they crossed the ford and slaughtered all the defenders of Khartoum including Gordon. The Mahdi showed his true colours by then putting Gordon’s head on a stake to provide proof of his death. The relief force led by Lord Kitchener arrived days later having been held up by political infighting, indecision, and bungling.
‘I chose this period of his life to be the starting point of my novel The French Emperor’s Woman (published by Troubadour in 2021).
‘The plot of the novel concerns a mistress of the French Emperor, Napoleon III, Marie-Anne, who has been parted from her son Pierre – the illegitimate son of Napoleonbecause of the Franco/Prussian War of 1870/71. The last sighting of Pierre was him being rowed ashore from a ship off Gravesend, he then disappeared without trace.
‘Using this mystery as a starting point I wrote my 65,000word novel in early 2020. I then approached Troubador who were able to take this to the finished novel stage. At a price, they provided editing, typography, book cover design, obtained ISBN, publication, and marketing.
‘I have since received many positive reviews for this book – mostly reproduced on the: www.troubador.co.uk/bookshop/ crime-and-thrillers/ website.
‘I have also got an e- version of the book and received a nice review from a reader in NW America.
‘Authoring a book is not easy, and selling copies is even harder, but I am sure most people could do it if they have the determination and an idea that excites them enough to put in the time.’