Elizabeth Bonhote (1744 - 1818)

Elizabeth Bonhote was born in Bungay, Suffolk, daughter of a prosperous grocer. Gifted with intelligence and a good education, she determined to be a writer, despite the ridicule that female authors still encountered in the mid-Georgian period.

Her earliest efforts were verses, printed in local periodicals, and at the age of 25 she completed her first novel,Distressed Wife, published anonymously in 1769. In 1772, she married Daniel Bonhote, a local solicitor and the illegitimate son of Sir Joshua Vanneck, of Heveningham Hall, near Halesworth. Daniel proved to be supportive of his “Blue-stocking” bride, for Elizabeth soon published her second novel, The Rambles of Frankly,a moralising tale influenced by Sterne’s Sentimental Journey.

Bungay Castle belongs to the genre of Gothic “tales of terror” made popular by authors such as Horace Walpole, (The Castle of Otranto, 1765), and Ann Radcliffe, (The Mysteries of Udolpho, 1794).

Like Otranto, it was inspired by a building that the author knew well, for she had grown up within a few yards of the ancient fortress built by Hugh Bigod and owned by the Dukes of Norfolk. The story is set during the Wars of the Barons, and describes the adventures of the teenagers Roseline and Edwin, the children of Sir Philip de Morney, who dwell in the castle. They make friends with Madeleine a novice in the nearby Benedictine Priory.

Unhappy at her confinement there, she falls ill, and goes to convalesce at the castle. The three young people are disturbed by horrid groans and rattlings, and decide to explore the castle vaults. There they discover wasting away, a handsome youth, Walter, falsely imprisoned by his wicked step-mother. Roseline and Walter fall in love, but their romance is thwarted by Sir Philip’s determination to marry his daughter to a wealthy old baron.

Meanwhile, Madeleine has fallen in love with Edwin, but their love too, is doomed by her monastic vows, although the couple manage to meet secretly via an underground passage between the castle and Priory. Creaking coffins, spooky skeletons, ghostly hauntings, and many shocks and surprises occur before all the young lovers are finally united in a happy ending. Although it belongs in the category of Gothic fiction, Bungay Castle has far more to offer the discerning reader.

Composed in a rich and eloquent prose, it features a dazzling array of characters, both colourful and comic. The narrative is interspersed with the author’s reflections on the morals and manners of contemporary society, and provides a fascinating insight into the feminist issues of the period. With its blend of humour, common sense and compassion, it far exceeds the generality of sensational female fiction satirised by Jane Austen in Northanger Abbey.

Published in 1796 by the Minerva Press, it confirmed Elizabeth Bonhote’s position as one of their best selling authors. Bungay Castle, has been unjustly neglected for more than two hundred years, but will now thrill and delight a new generation of readers.
 

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A Norfolk Parson’s daughter, Patience trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and has appeared in many roles in theatres all over the country. These include the National Theatre, the West End and the Young Vic. Patience is a well known voice on BBC Radio 3 and 4 and has made over 1,500 broadcasts of plays, poetry, short stories, novels, e.g. Paula by Isabel Allende (Book at Bedtime), Giving Up The Ghost by Hilary Mantel (Book of the Week) and Five Tales of Victorian Norfolk by Mary E Mann.

Hers is also the voice you hear on numerous audio tours from Westminster Abbey to Castle Rising. Her many audio book recordings for Penguin, Naxos, Orion, Macmillan etc include Last Letters Home, Second World War letters, The Magic Lands, folk tales by Kevin Crossley-Holland, Natural Flights of the Human Mind by Clare Morrall and Trevor McDonald’s Favourite Poems. Television includes The Day Today, Friday Night Armistice, In The Red and Shadowplay. Patience has narrated William Walton’s Façade at the National Portrait Gallery and An Evening of Troubadour Poetry with Mediva in the Purcell Room and at the Brighton Early Music Festival. She played Mrs Gould in Black ‘ell by Miles Malleson, part of the Forgotten Voices From The Great War season at the Pleasance Theatre, London. Patience has written and performs a fascinating and entertaining one woman show called A Tale That Is Told, based on the life and works of the superb Norfolk Victorian author, Mary E Mann. (Contact  her on 07887 643592 or at patienceacts@aol.com for details).

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