This Week Jude Knight joins us with facts behind Roman Catholicism in 19th Century England and in her novel An Unpitied Sacrifice
For much of the eighteenth Century, Roman Catholics in England faced penalties for not attending Church of England services. They were also restricted from voting, holding public office (including as an officer in the army or a magistrate) or sitting in Parliament.
The Papists Act 1778 allowed Catholics to own land, provided they took an oath of allegiance. In 1780, between 40,000 and 60,000 people marched on Parliament to present a petition to repeal the Act, and after Parliament refused, the march turned into a mob, targeting the homes and businesses of Catholics.
Facade of St. Mary’s in Hampstead
The 1791 Relief Act made it legal to hold a Catholic service and Abbé Jean-Jacques Morel, who makes an appearance in the novel, but who was a real historical figure, arrived in Hampstead around five years later, a refugee from the French Revolution. He remained, serving the French and English Catholics in the village for the next 56 years, and did, indeed, build the first Catholic church constructed in England in three hundred years.
He also established friendly relationships with other Christian minister in the area, so the advice to my Valeria that I have put into his mouth is not too unlikely, I think.
The right to vote, to hold public office and to sit in Parliament waited until The Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829. Some restrictions remained until the late nineteenth Century.
Public opinion took even longer to change, and I shall never forget my staunchly Church of England grandmother saying of my husband to be, “He is a nice boy, dear, even if he is a Catholic.” That was in 1970.
Mind you, the following week, I met her sister by a different mother. I had gone with my beloved to his church, and had no doubt knelt or stood at the wrong time, for after the service a dear little old lady put her hand on my arm and said, “You are not one of us, are you, dear? But it was very good of you to come.”
About the Book
When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.” Edmund Burke
Brought together by war, Valeria Izquierdos and Harry Redepenning had only a few short months as a couple before the war parted them again.
That war is long over when she brings a group of war brides and children to England. Her friends seek their soldier husbands. Valeria wants to find Harry or, if Harry’s long silence means he is dead, his father. Her eldest child deserves to know his English family.
Harry has never forgotten, or ceased to mourn, the warrior wife he married in the midst of war, and lost to a French ambush years ago. His courtship of a suitable wife is a practical matter, not involving the heart that has been numb since Valeria’s death.
The Redepenning family greet Valeria with suspicion, but when Harry joyously confirms her identity, they welcome her and her children with open arms—not just Kiko, whose Redepenning eyes mark him as Harry’s son, but also the daughter she adopted and the younger son who origins she has disclosed only to Harry.
But as Valeria, Harry, and the children begin living as a family, another, private, war looms before them. The lady who had been smugly awaiting Harry’s proposal is less than pleased with the couple’s reunion. She and her parents set out to destroy Valeria’s reputation, and find willing accomplices.
An old foe of the Redepennings has combined forces with a man who blames Valeria for his brother’s death, and who wants Valeria’s youngest child. A rival of Harry’s from the army would be glad to hurt Harry however he can. These enemies will stop at nothing to destroy not only Harry and Valeria, but also their family.
The book launches March 31. Order now. https://books2read.com/u/479JAA
About the Author, Jude Knight
Have you ever wanted something so much you were afraid to even try? That was me twelve years ago.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be a novelist. I even started dozens of stories, over the years. But life kept getting in the way. A seriously ill child who required years of therapy; a rising mortgage that led to a full-time job; six children, my own chronic illness… the writing took a back seat. As the years passed, the fear grew. If I didn’t put my stories out there in the market, I wouldn’t risk making a fool of myself. I could keep the dream alive if I never put it to the test.
Then my mother died. That great lady had waited her whole life to read a novel of mine, and now it would never happen. So I faced my fear and changed it–told everyone I knew I was writing a novel. Now I’d make a fool of myself for certain if I didn’t finish.
My first book came out to excellent reviews in December 2014, and the rest is history. Many books, lots of positive reviews, and a few awards later, I feel foolish for not starting earlier.
I write historical fiction with a large helping of romance, a splash of Regency, and a twist of suspense. I then try to figure out how to slot the story into a genre category. I’m mad keen on history, enjoy what happens to people in the crucible of a passionate relationship, and love to use a good mystery and some real danger as mechanisms to torture my characters.
In my other identity as Judy Knighton, I was a plain language consultant specialising in contracts, insurance policies, and financial disclosure statements, until I retired in 2020. Fiction is more fun.
If you like what I do, I’d love you to spread the word. Dip your toe into my world with one of my lunch-time reads collections or a novella, or dive into a novel. Write a review. Tell your friends. And let me know what you think.
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