JEWELS: Judith Kinghorn

 

This necklace was given to my maternal grandmother in the 1920s when she was employed as a lady’s maid. However, the necklace didn’t come to my grandmother from ‘her ladyship’, but from a Russian countess who came to stay at the house. My mother passed the necklace on to me when I was in my teens. I’d admired it a lot, loved the vivid colours running through each bead, and my mother didn’t wear it, so I did; along with my grunge student garb from Oxfam.

Years later, before I moved from London to the country and whilst clearing out, I came across the necklace – which I’d long since forgotten. Someone suggested to me that it might be valuable, so I took it to Christies, who told me the beads are nineteenth century Italian trade beads made from Venetian glass – and yes, of considerable value, and more so because I know the provenance.

I’m sure my grandmother would be delighted to know that these beads – which my mother played with as a child - were actually quite valuable, and that I still have them. And I hope she’d also be pleased to know that this necklace and her life were the inspiration for my novel 'The Echo of Twilight'.

Judith Kinghorn was born in Northumberland and lives in Hampshire, England. She is a graduate in English and History of Art, a Fellow of the RSA, and a member of the Woman of the Year Alumnae Club. Her acclaimed début The Last Summer was published in the UK, Canada and British Commonwealth countries in 2012, in the USA in 2013, and has been translated to languages including German, Spanish, French and Italian. Her subsequent novels include The Memory of Lost Senses (2013), The Snow Globe (2015) and her latest novel The Echo of Twilight.

“Kinghorn has created an enchanting atmospheric work of historical fiction that is a rich blend of Downton Abbey and Jane Eyre.”

— BOOKLIST (USA)

In 1914, despite the threat of war in Europe, Pearl Gibson’s future seems bright. She has at last secured a position as a lady’s maid, working for Lady Ottoline Campbell.

Transported to Northumberland and then to the Campbell’s vast Scottish estate, Pearl is drawn into the tangled web of Ottoline's life, a world of intrigue, glamour and scandal where nothing is quite as it seems. In the confusing milieu of the upper classes it is Ottoline’s cousin, Ralph, who Pearl comes to rely on and trust. 

But when violence erupts in Europe, Pearl and Ottoline’s relationship is irrevocably changed. As the men in their lives are called to the front line, shocking events unfold at home that both Pearl and Ottoline vow never to reveal. They share a secret that will test their loyalty to one another to breaking point; a secret that will bind them together forever.

Find out more about Judith's work here, and follow her on Twitter @judithkinghorn 'The Echo of Twilight' is available now.