I was writing Advertised Bride with input from my mother when she died, and it was all about making choices to be free, and I promised her I would use my writing to do my best to help other women. Sir Swithun is actually a fairly accurate portrayal of my grandfather; people like Barbara's father, John Landry, Mr Braithwaite and Mr Inchpenny all hold aspects of him. I've killed him three times now in fiction, and it's very satisfying.
Mum helped set up a local battered women's refuge, and was an advocate of women's rights all her life. My gran was a suffragette. I don't have the health to do anything active, but I can write and use words to instill ideas.
Incidentally, my father, who was a gentle man and a gentleman in all true senses, persuaded mum to let her father have contact with the grandchildren to give him the opportunity to make amends. He was a 'charming' man, and full of gifts when things went his way, and his eyes started out of his head and he went purple if anyone crossed him, like deciding to get married instead of coming to be his housekeeper. I was cut out of his will for that. the things he did otherwise were pretty disgusting. My great aunt referred to him as The Parasite. You can't choose your relatives, but you can choose your friends, and I have to say I'm very lucky in mine.
