The speaker is Jean Renwick. The title is “Researching the Mourning Brooch, a saga about Real People.”

Novelist Jean Renwick’s extensively illustrated talk will reveal years of painstaking research behind the first two books of her family saga, The Mourning Brooch, based upon the lives of real Yorkshire people who lived in the second half of the 19^th century and the first decades of the 20^th. After inheriting a mourning brooch, Jean was intrigued to know who was Elizabeth Addy, commemorated in the brooch, and what happened to the two little girls she left behind. Acclaimed by Yorkshire historians for their authenticity, the novels reveal how the girls’ lives took them and their children in very different directions.

With the help of newspaper archives, Jean discovered scandals which have added drama to the story. You will hear how Jean’s research in Yorkshire and the USA revealed much about the personalities of the characters, reflected in how she shaped the novels.

Members  may  have a piece of mourning jewellery to show on screen and share their own story.

If you want to read the book ahead of the talk, it is available as a paperback or for Kindle on Amazon. More details can be found on www.jeanrenwickauthor.co.uk .