The painter Amos Roselli is in love with his life-long friend and model, the beautiful Daphne - and she with him - until one day she is discovered by another man, a powerful and wealthy industrialist. What will happen when Daphne realises she has sacrificed her happiness to a loveless marriage? What will happen when the artist realises he has lost his most cherished source of inspiration? And how will they negotiate the ever-increasing frequency of strange and bizarre events that seem to be driving them relentlessly towards self-destruction? Here, amid the extravagant Neo-Gothic culture of Victorian England, the iconic poem ‘The Lady of Shalott’ blends with mysterious and ghostly glimpses of Tudor history. Romantic, atmospheric and deeply dark.
“A joy to read … haunting, captivating and beautifully written.” Claire Ridgway, The Anne Boleyn Files
“The novel is both an entertaining and an intellectual read … a cleverly written, suspenseful novel.” Irena Sladic, This Miss Loves to Read
“Possibly the most beautiful realisation of the true landscape of Victorian art, and the most convincing and touching portrait of a Victorian gentleman artist.” Kirsty Stonell Walker, author and biographer.
“A haunting portrait of Victorian England ... I loved The Arrow Chest and did not want it to end.” Teddy Rose, So Many Precious Books So Little Time
“From the very first page, I was in awe! An intermingling of the Victorian Era and the 16th-century tragedy of Anne Boleyn. How is that possible? Well, you need to read it to find out! Charla Wilson, Book Talk with Charla
Additional Information
● Full-length neo-Victorian (modern Victorian) novel featuring the story of Anne Boleyn in a Gothic setting.
● A multi-layered story of romance, ghostly hauntings and hidden desire challenged by the complex moral strictures of 19th-century England.
● An ethos of Magical realism blends with time-slip episodes that refer back to the Tudor era and the love triangle between Queen Anne Boleyn, Thomas Wyatt and King Henry VIII.
● The characters become fascinated by a overarching sense of destiny. They are drawn to ‘the occult’ and to the sentiments of Pre-Raphaelite art.
● The presence of Tennyson’s iconic poem The Lady of Shalott in the consciousness of the main protagonists serves as a bridge between the two periods, Tudor and Victorian.
● Atmospheric Gothic-revivalist locations, including the Tower of London and Victorian-era Isle of Wight where aristocratic country living and high fashion contrast with the liberating ‘seaside culture’ of late 19th-century Britain.
