ETHEL WRAITHMELL, I OWE YOU A LOT
‘I cannot of course compete with the greatest nativity story of all time but my own arrival on earth did have something of a bizarre, if macabre, twist to it. Especially in light of my later fascination and authorship of historical murder stories. My parents had fallen in love just after World War II, and my father was looking to set up his nest. A young crime reporter, he was alerted to the discovery of a woman’s head, Ethel Wraithmell’s head, in a rural village outside the City of Leeds. The head was in a hedge close to a property FOR SALE. My father always the pragmatist—the rest is history.’
Amanda Taylor believes she was destined to write, and no wonder drama was never far away from her door. Writing is definitely in the genes, both her parents were journalists.
Today, she writes in a small room overlooking a grouse moor between Wharfedale and Nidderdale. Her only distractions are an abundance of wildlife and the call of the curlew. It’s a rustic scene, tranquil even, and full of history. It is here that she has penned her latest historical novel, The Tombstone Maker’s Daughter.
Amanda always had a passion for history. Educated at the City High School, Leeds, her first published magazine piece was written when she was about 13 and appeared in The Dalesman magazine. Set in the War of the Roses it was about the Battle of Towton—one of the bloodiest battles in English history—a strange story for a young girl to write about. ‘But then I was never one for the mould,’ she admits.
Determined not to be held back by a mild form of dyslexia, in her late teens she went on to win a national poetry prize run by Coca Cola. ‘Far from blood and gore, I seem to remember it had something to do with ecology and oranges running down hills. Then she was fortunate enough to get a few historical articles published in local magazines.
As well as having a fascination with history and writing, Amanda’s other passion is sport. Early attempts at ballet faltered. ‘Much to the chagrin of my mother—who was a dancer—Who’s-Bumping-at-the-Back lessons were a total disaster.’ Perhaps she did eventually gain a little more grace, balance at least, on the squash court playing for Yorkshire for nine years. Her club team coming third in the National Championships.
Her real love, however, has always been water. ‘I swam from an early age and I think it was compensation for the educational problems I had with dyslexia.’ During the summer holidays she worked as a lifeguard at an open air pool in Leeds, where she first met husband, Paul, also a proficient swimmer.
The couple joined the British Long Distance Swimming Association and are still members. One of Amanda’s favourite swims has always been Coniston Water in the Lake District. ‘During the first few miles, I thought out my plots, or thought of Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons on Peel Island, or Ruskin’s old home, Brantwood, down the lake near the finish. But as time goes on I just became a giant lung without thought—a trance-like state took over.
Not to everyone’s taste, I know, but at the end of a swim the physical tone and exhilaration I felt was wonderful.’ Eventually the couple were spotted at Ilkley Lido, where they train, and were invited to take part in a relay swim of the English Channel.
‘Now the Channel that is another story’.