Hello, and welcome to my March Newsletter.
I grumbled about the wet weather in my last newsletter, but, thankfully, it looks like spring might now be just around the corner! It’s been such a wet winter, and in North Devon, there has barely been a day since the new year when it hasn’t rained at some point.
We’re having some new patio slabs laid in our back garden, but with so much rain, it’s been impossible for the workmen to get on with the work. However, they have finally finished, and soon I can start planting up the borders with the many plants I brought from our old bungalow.
However, I do have one plant in the garden that is already looking amazing, and that’s this camellia. With no frost to damage the blooms, it’s been beautiful for weeks.
I’m also pleased to report that our new kitchen is now finished, and we are delighted with it. We are even beginning to remember where things are!
Old Saying of the Month
Witch Bottle
This isn’t so much a saying, but something I heard on a television programme; I think possibly on Antiques Roadshow or Bargain Hunt, and I made a note of it to investigate when I had time. Witch Bottles were ritual objects used in England in the 17th and 18th centuries to protect against, or cure, witchcraft. The bottle was often a glass bottle or a stoneware jug, which was filled with urine, hair, and nail clippings, as well as pins and nails. The bottle would be concealed somewhere within the structure of a house, such as beneath floorboards or doorsteps. Its contents represented the essence of the bewitched person, and it was hoped that it would inflict pain and suffering on the witch and make the curse cease. Other substances used to safeguard against witchcraft were garlic and salt. It was common to find a saltpot inside fireplaces to prevent witches from entering the house through the chimney. (Or it could have been a good place to keep the salt from becoming damp!)
A Poem for March
I’m not a great one for poetry, but I do enjoy the odd one, and this is one of my favourites. As the last verse mentions March, I thought I would use it in this newsletter. I hope you enjoy it.
Cargoes by John Masefield
I learned this poem at school, and always loved the rhythm and words, though I had no idea what they meant. I have now discovered that quinqueremes were Roman warships, not cargo vessels, and they sailed the seas long after the days of Nineveh – a land-locked city now known as Mosul. The poem features three different types of ships from three distinct time periods, moving from the quinqueremes of ancient times to the stately Spanish galleons with their rich cargoes, and finally to the more recent dirty British coaster.
Quinquereme of Nineveh from distant Ophir,
Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine,
With a cargo of ivory,
And apes and peacocks,
Sandalwood, cedarwood, and sweet white wine.
Stately Spanish galleon coming from the Isthmus,
Dipping through the Tropics by the palm-green shores,
With a cargo of diamonds,
Emeralds, amethysts,
Topazes, and cinnamon, and gold moidores.
Dirty British coaster with a salt-caked smoke stack,
Butting through the Channel in the mad March days,
With a cargo of Tyne coal,
Road-rails, pig-lead,
Firewood, iron-ware, and cheap tin trays.
My Writing News
Book 8 of The Hartford Manor Series
I don’t have a great deal of writing news this month, but I have made a start on writing Book 8 and am now a few chapters in. It’s coming along nicely, and I’m enjoying writing it and will let you know my progress each month.
A 5 Star Editorial Review for A Woman Scorned!
I’m delighted to tell you that A Woman Scorned recently received a 5-star editorial review from Mary Anne Yarde, a respected book reviewer.
You can read the review here:
https://maryanneyarde.blogspot.com/2026/03/editorial-book-review-woman-scorned-by.html
The Coffee Pot Book Club
Over the last few months, I’ve been acting as a Blog Tour Host for The Coffee Pot Book Club: https://thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/ and these are the ones I hosted last month.
Showboat Soubrette by Brodie Curtis
Showboat singer Stella Parrot’s star rises in the Antebellum South with every sold-out performance along the lower Mississippi River. When a river pirate viciously assaults her, new friends Toby Freeman and John Dee Franklin foil the attack. However, the pirate’s family is bent on revenge.
Showboat Soubrette is a fast-paced adventure chase that features romantic showboat scenes and is unsparing in its exploration of the bigoted and sometimes lawless riverboat era.
You can find the book here: https://books2read.com/u/boPV81
Secrets in the Woods by Suzanne D. Levitte
While Chicago’s blaze claimed the headlines, a fiercer and more devastating inferno swept across Wisconsin’s Green Bay peninsula-obliterating farms, forests, and families in its path. Here, among immigrant settlers carving new lives from the wilderness, survival came down to split-second choices: to run, to hide, to fight the flames. Mothers shielded children with their bodies, fathers vanished into smoke, and neighbors faced the firestorm with nothing but faith and will. Inspired by forgotten accounts and newspaper fragments, Secrets in the Woods brings to life the untold human drama of one of America’s most harrowing nights-a story of resilience, loss, and the fragile hope that rises from the ashes.
You can find the book here: books2read.com/u/4AB0oA
My Book Bargains This Month
Special Offers – 99p
All of my books are free to read if you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited on Amazon. However, if you want to grab a bargain, these books will be reduced to 99p on the following dates:
Betsey will be reduced to 99p from16th to 23rd March
Set in 1820, Betsey is the prequel to the much-loved Hartford Manor Series.
Betsey, a sadly neglected child, is shouldering responsibilities far beyond her years. As she does her best to care for her little brother, Norman, she is befriended by Gypsy Freda, an old woman whose family is camped nearby. Freda’s granddaughter, Jane, is also fond of the little girl and is concerned about her.
Thomas, the second son of Lord Fellwood, happens across the gypsy camp and becomes besotted with Jane. However, Jasper Morris, the local miller, also has designs on the young gypsy, and inevitably, the two men do not see eye to eye. Betsey is drawn into their rivalry for the attention of the beautiful young woman, and she finds herself promising to keep a dangerous secret for many years to come. You can find the book here:
http://mybook.to/Betsey
The Rabbit’s Foot will be reduced to 99p from 24th to 31st March
Sam, a tramp all his life, inherits wealth beyond his wildest dreams, but all he wants is to find Marrok, the son he abandoned at the age of five. A moving Victorian family saga.
You can find the book here:
My Book of the Month
Deceit and Reclamation by Beverley Latimer
About the Book
Meet Patricia, she’s sixteen and pregnant. It’s nineteen-fifty-seven, and she is living in Catholic Ireland, where having a child out of wedlock is considered shameful. Unable to cope with the shame of their neighbours learning of their unmarried daughter’s pregnancy, Patricia’s parents leave her at Bessborough House, where life is a harsh reality. She is told she can return home once the baby has been adopted. But Patricia doesn’t want to give her baby up. She dreams of keeping her child and marrying the father, who is her second cousin, Declan. At Bessborough House, the young pregnant women are overworked and undernourished; as a result, many mothers and babies do not survive. In nineteen-eighty-seven, we find Patricia living in England, where she works as a nurse. She is divorced with two grown-up daughters who know nothing about their mother’s past. An unexpected letter forces Patricia to revisit her painful past, but with unexpected results…
My Review
This is an incredibly moving story of a sixteen-year-old Irish girl who becomes pregnant in 1957. Patricia is taken to Bessborough House by her parents and told she will remain there until she has given birth and had the baby adopted. The author provides an emotional insight into the harsh life led by the inmates of Bessborough, where many of the nuns are unnecessarily cruel, and the inmates are overworked and undernourished. For those who complain too loudly, there is the threat of being locked up in the asylum for the rest of their lives. Patricia’s traumatic story is skilfully and sensitively told, and I strongly recommend this book. You can find the book here:
Deceit and Reclamation by Beverley Latimer
Well, that’s all my news for now. So until next time, thank you for continuing to follow me and take care.
Best wishes
Marcia
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