Many moons ago when I submitted a thesis on Charlotte Bronte for my degree I became fascinated by that literary family. Today sees a brand new imagining of Emily Bronte’s character Heathcliff and I was so interested to hear more I simply had to invite Nicola Edwards onto Linda’s Book Bag to tell me more. My enormous thanks to Julia Forster for putting us in touch with one another.

Let’s see what Nicola has to say:

Staying in with Nicola Edwards

Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag Nicola. Thank you for agreeing to stay in with me.

Thanks for having me, Linda.

I rather think I know, but tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

I’ve brought my debut novel, This Thing of Darkness, a dark reimagining of Heathcliff’s lost years in Wuthering Heights. The novel is out today.

How exciting! Happy debut publication day Nicola. So, what can we expect from an evening in with This Thing of Darkness?

The novel has been described by early readers as ‘visceral, disturbing and deeply compelling’, a ‘brave and unflinching’ account of a dark period in English history. Heathcliff’s brutality is very much a product of his environment and what befalls him as he ventures into the world. He is not the same person when he returns to the Heights, and I explore this transformation. I use multiple first-person narrators, so we see Heathcliff’s development through a prism.

This sounds utterly brilliant Nicola. I’m thrilled to have This Thing of Darkness waiting for me on my TBR. I have a feeling I’ll love it.

What else have you brought along and why have you brought it?

I’ve brought my most precious copy of Wuthering Heights, a gift from my husband when I first began to write This Thing of Darkness. I’m not sure of the precise date, but I know it was published in the mid-1800s due to the use of the Bronte pseudonyms. I was incredibly excited when I read Ellis and Acton Bell on the front cover!

I imagine you were. What a wonderful gift.

Thanks so much for staying in with me to chat about This Thing of Darkness Nicola. I can’t wait to dive in and discover more about Heathcliff. Happy publication day once again. 

This Thing of Darkness

The storm that dismantles a dynasty… 

1780. Wild and windswept Yorkshire. Sixteen-year-old Heathcliff runs from the only home he has ever known in a squall of pain and fury.

Blown into an inn on the edge of the moors, sodden, rejected, and hankering for revenge, he steals a horse and sets out for Liverpool in search of answers. The town he arrives in is a brutal new world, brimming in equal measure with risk and opportunity. Here, Heathcliff might map his future, make his fortune, forge a role for himself. But at what cost…  

Reimagining the three years during which Heathcliff is absent from Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, This Thing of Darkness traverses countries and oceans in pursuit of one of literature’s best known characters.

This Thing of Darkness is published today, 2nd November 2023, by Aderyn Press and is available for purchase in all the usual places including here.

About Nicola Edwards

Nicola Edwards is a PhD candidate at the University of Bangor and teaches English and Classics in a school in North Wales. Nicola has worked as a journalist and has lectured on race and representation in the media for Race Council Wales. Her non-fiction writing has appeared in Wales Arts Review. This Thing of Darkness, her first novel, won the Michael Schmidt Prize at the Manchester Writing School.

For further information, visit Nicola’s website, follow her on Twitter/X @nicanned and find her on Instagram.