Margaret Royall

Ancient myths and Roman treasures, lost loves and haunted relics: historical objects are reimagined in fiction, memoir and poetry - featuring items from the Corinium Museum collection. Coins and weapons, lost jewels and carved faces. A watch with a secret inscription. An Iron Age horse bridle whispers of old battles, while a Roman god fumes about unfair treatment. Then a medieval grotesque wreaks havoc with a curse, before an eighteenth century ring reveals its heartbreak, and a painting draws visitors into danger ... Full of archaeology and history, mystery and surprises: museum treasures and ancient discoveries inspire this stunning new collection of short stories and poetry Illustrated with photographs from the Corinium Museum collection. With a foreword by Emma Stuart, Museum Director. **READER REVIEWS**‘From humorous and relatable themes to haunting and lyrical explorations of human experiences across time, this curious collection is a delight to dip into; reading its eclectic entries feels like browsing a display case packed with intriguing objects’ – CURRENT ARCHAEOLOGY MAGAZINE, ISSUE 418 ‘Wonderful book! There are so many evocative stories here’ – Five stars ‘So beautiful written … gives visit at the museum a new meaning’ – Five stars Featuring the work of:Carlos Almonacid Rosamund Brown Amaris Chase Hilda Cochrane Lucy Dalgleish Henry Davies Andrew Donaldson Vicki Fletcher Chloe Hall Jonathan Hart Alice Hart Chloe Headdon Heidi Howarth Venetia Johannes Rose Leicester Rose Lennard Harriet McDonald Rebecca McDowall Mary Moore Rosalind Newton Charlotte Payne Graham Powell Angela Reddaway Margaret Royall Stuart Samuel Sharon Webster Julie Wiltshire

Heroes and danger, comfort and claws. A black cat dreams of finding a new family, and a vampire is woken by a brush with ancient folklore. Then a cat tests just how far his nine lives run, before a stray moves in, and a kitten discovers a thirst for adventure ... Full of playfulness and wildness, this is a vibrant collection from eleven UK authors about the reality of being owned by a cat

Nature versus Nurture?Reflections on growing up in the post war era, viewed through a lens of music and colour."How to compose a life in a single collection. Here, in the shadow of childhood strings, the walls hum with myth, magic, post-war tremors and religious oppression. Margaret's ghost of youth, in search of escape, stomps its feet, speaks of the need to repress, to rage and most of all, to revolt. These are songs of the confessional, the confrontational, poems examining the child caught under the thumb, learning what to do with freedom when it's found and later, as adult, learning about loss and the cost of scars. This is a bitter sweet cacophony that swings and sways from sermons to seductions, a Lincolnshire lass looking from the vase of yesterday's rose, time travelling on the flap of a butterfly's wing - fragile, frightening, finite, memories unspooling between Rachmaninoff and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Scores of truths, tastes and touches, notes that times has taken, tamed, and sometimes turned from hurt to a semblance of halcyon."Damien B Donnelly, Poet & Editor"I was delighted to delve into Toccata and Fugue which lives up to the title with its musical tone throughout. Margaret Royall skilfully wraps her memories in gorgeous imagery and sound echoes. Precious Jewellery, inspired by the colour amber and Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, held my immediate attention with its ingenious experimental form. Royall takes the reader back to her childhood and beyond. The collection is split into two parts making it easy to dip in and out of at any one time. Highly recommend this for any poetry lover's bookshelf."Patricia M Osborne, Poet & Novelist"In Toccata and Fugue, Margaret Royall presents an inspiring collection of poetry that impressively describes the marvels and challenges of a fulfilled life in music and colours. These lovely poems are Margaret's heartfelt invitation to join her on her exciting journey from a postwar childhood shaped by religion to the fascinating charisma in the third age. Toccata and Fugue deserves a place on everyone's nightstand."Dr Antje Bothin (PhD MSc), Writer & Poet"Toccata and Fugue is a memoir told through a series of anecdotes, in which we as readers are allowed the freedom to fill in the spaces. In these poems Margaret Royall takes us vividly back in time. She shows us scenes from her childhood and youth, along with a few from later years, giving us glimpses not just of what she sees and remembers of what happened then, but also hints of how past events and relationships may have influenced who the poet later became and the choices she made. Dripping on toast, beach-side holidays, the scent of Pears soap and Devon Violets perfume, alongside images of caring, anxious, god-fearing parents trying to navigate a complex, changing world themselves, conjure up a 1950s childhood and beyond. Composed with the energy and humour of toccata and the interwoven themes of fugue, this collection offers a rewarding poetic insight into a life that seems both familiar and unfamiliar in the present day - and perhaps turned out quite differently than it once seemed it might."Phil Vernon, Poet & Author

Trolls and pookas, wild woodlands and fairy meadows. A dollhouse with secrets within its rooms. A holiday cottage comes with a ghostly guest, and walkers awake an ancient myth. Then a child finds an unusual excuse for missing homework, before an artwork unravels, and a wild garden cultivates a few surprises ... Full of the mysterious and the gothic, myths and memoir, this is a captivating and intriguing anthology of short stories and poetry inspired by the magic within a landscape the author knows well. An original collection by: Diana Alexander, Patrick Booth, Amaris Chase, Stephen Connolly, Toby Crabbe, Myles Cutler, Daphne Denley, J.J. Drover, Jenny Finch, Vicki Fletcher, Nikolina Hua, Rose Leicester, Olive Malcolm, Rebecca McDowall, Rosalind Newton, Margaret Royall, Stuart Samuel, Derek Skinner, Julie Wiltshire and Ceri Vyner, with illustrations by Lorna Gray

"I never missed my childhood home / until the tide stopped rolling in and / ochre sand no longer crunched between my toes ..." A little girl grows up to the sounds of the seaside in bustling Cleethorpes. There are family outings through the Lincolnshire Wolds in a tiny Austin 7, and ferry rides across the Humber. Family runs like a comforting thread throughout this 'little gem of a book', and lifelong friendships are forged in unexpected places ... A gentle and heartfelt memoir about the timeless call of the sea