A NEW romance novel by a member of Barnard Castle’s Northern Dales Richard III Society aims to improve the much-maligned monarch’s reputation.
Maiden of Middleham is Bridget Beauchamp’s debut novel and follows the story of simple country girl Eleanor who goes to work at Middleham Castle, where she meets the teenage Richard.
Although their lives go separately after their romance, the book runs their storylines in parallel as Eleanor keeps track of events in Richard’s life.
The book blends fact and fiction to tell a tale for readers who enjoy both the romance genre as well as those interested in the Riccardian era.
Mrs Beauchamp, who worked as a graphic designer for Time Life, in London, before moving to Cumbria, said: “I was fascinated when Richard’s remains were found in 2012 and I went to Leicester in 2015 when he was interred.
“I have just been obsessed and I am passionate about restoring his reputation. I am not an academic so I couldn’t write a factual book.
“I have visited Middleham Castle many times and I have studied all of Richard’s castles so I was inspired to write this story in the women’s romance genre.”
The mum of two and grandmother of three added that it was Tudor propaganda that had tarnished Richard III’s name in history and “they did everything they could to vilify him”.
The book took the author about eight months to complete and was ultimately published by Woodfield Publishing.
It is available at the Teesdale Mercury shop, or can be ordered from Amazon or Woodfield publishing.co.uk.
