Carole Blake's report on the evening from the Blake Friedmann website
Barbara Erskine’s ghostly talk at the Tower of London
February 25, 2011
Barbara Erskine and Alison Weir gave an illustrated talk on ghosts at the Tower of London on Thursday 24 February. There was a huge turn-out with 200 tickets being sold out within hours of being offered on the Royal Palaces website. The talk recounted historical events that have happened at the Tower and their ghostly implications. The eerie evening atmosphere was intensified by large church candles on all the window ledges, low lights and red tinged lights on the speakers. One of the Tower's Beefeaters told how he had first heard about Barbara Erskine many years ago when he was serving in the Falklands. He was listening to the radio during the Falklands War and heard the word 'Hay' leap out at him. He comes from Hay in Wales and it was a review of LADY OF HAY. He got hold of the book, read it and has been a firm fan ever since!
Barbara signed books for fans for 40 minutes after the talk, while waiters served wine and canapes. Walking out through the ancient floodlit buildings, under a starry sky, it was impossible not to imagine the ghosts there still.
LADY OF HAY celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. It has been constantly in print ever since it was first published in 1986 and HarperCollins have reissued an anniversary edition with an extra chapter that brings the story up to date. Barbara's latest novel, TIME'S LEGACY, was published in paperback by HarperCollins in February.
Praise for Barbara Erskine:
'The author's storytelling talent is undeniable. Barbara Erskine can make us feel the cold, smell the filth and experience some of the fear of the power of evil men.' -- The Times
