What happened when the old Covent Garden Theatre burned down?
Inside the old theatre - circa 1804 In 1808 the old Covent Garden Theatre burned to the ground. Although this is slightly outside the time period of the Venus Squared series of novels, I was so taken by this description of that event I’ve posted it here, in its entirety. In 1810 a new theatre was opened on the site of the old one. The 'new' theatre also suffered at the hands of a fire, burning down 1856. If you want to know what happened to it, well, it's where the Opera Hous
When a character has a past - Kitty (and my) family history
Lovers of the 18th century will be very familiar with this Hogarth, called The Orgy. The original hangs in Sir John Soanes Museum in London. It's part of The Rake's Progress, a series of paintings that show the progress of Tom Rakewell from young man about town to his eventual degradation in Bedlam. This particular picture shows the Rose Tavern, Covent Garden, so it is only right that I reference it here. After all, our whore, Kitty, would have been very familiar with it. But
Shock Horror - Prostitute Kitty Ives in murder intrigue
READ HER EXCLUSIVE STORY - Chapter One of The Finish The Year of our Lord, 1769 In which I tell of a man’s death. In the dead of night when our door is locked against thieves, dogs and the devil in disguise, the moans of men come to my ears. Some promise themselves many times over, such is the nature of their lust. Yet when daylight seeps through the shutters, we whores are cast aside and our lovers go out into the fine morning as if bound on a journey to America. Well, I hav
A woman has three choices
Covent Garden, long a centre for hedonistic pleasure, is a dirty melting pot of whores and harridans, aristocrats and artisans, actors and drunks. It is 1769 and these are violent times. Prostitute, Kitty Ives, takes a man to her bed and wakes to find him dead atop her. Fearing the gallows, so begins Kitty's quest to uncover the identity of the murderer. Will she be successful? Or will she be convicted of a murder she did not commit? The idea for the series came from a play I
Marlon and Me
Way back in 2001 Marlon Brando appeared in The Score, his last film before he died. The producer of this film was Bernie Williams, who passed away in December 2014. It just so happened that, at the time of The Score, I was also working with Bernie on a sequel to his 1985 movie, The Bounty, with Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins. I should explain – In 1990 I heard of a proposal to cull a herd of wild bison in Canada because they supposedly carried brucellosis and TB, and it was
