Fiona McIntosh reveals new locations for next bestseller

And so this story now hoves into view as the new big historical project for me to research and which will be occupying my mind for the next couple of years.

This image is taken from the front of the choirboy stalls looking back down the great nave of the magnificent Salisbury Cathedral. I am quite in love with this building - its Gothic design makes me feel something that perhaps that amazing Gaudi cathedral in Barcelona did not. We're all different!

And I realised when I walked again through this hallowed space that I am a creature that loves buildings that have a far flung history rather than ones that are modern and recent. It sets my imagination alight to look at tombs from the times of the Crusaders to the solemn and the limp, hanging, sometimes ragged colours of regiments from wars in the Crimea, South Africa and WWI.

I don't know yet how much time my characters will spend within the cathedral itself but I do know my main character lives in the glorious Cathedral Close. This the most impressive of its kind. It's huge and serene with houses differing from gatepost to gatepost. Fun to use this as a location.

My second major location will be Blenheim Palace. I have received an invitation to visit next year and it means I can explore privately and learn a lot more about this extraordinary place in Oxfordshire where another fictitious lead character will spend a lot of time. This is the birthplace and ancestral home of Sir Winston Churchill and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site amongst other claims to fame.

Fiona McIntosh

Because I don't write to a plan as so many of you know, I don't know a lot more about this story at this stage other than its timeline which is from 1900 to 1911 with the main year of action in 1910.

As usual, my novels tend to begin with place, so now that I have these two major locations set up in my mind, I will allow my imagination to take hold and fly free to hand over responsibility to the two characters who are beginning to take shape. I don't have names for them yet but I like them already! More to come.

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