Maid of the Haystack by Martin J. Powell

In 1776 a young beautiful woman with graceful manners appeared in Flax Bourton, near Bristol and set up home in a haystack. Louisa stayed there for four years. Fashionable folk taking the waters at the Hotwells Spa would take carriage rides out to visit her and she attracted the attention of the rich and famous from London.

Who was she? Why did she behave so oddly? Her story went viral sparking an 18th-Century conspiracy theory touching on the most powerful people in Europe.

Author Martin J. Powell a Bristol journalist and writer, first heard about the Maid of the Haystack in the 1980s and since then has researched her history and has written a novel bringing her story alive. The cast of characters include Hannah More, John Wesley, David Garrick, Joshua Reynolds and the crowned heads of Europe. The book’s themes include 18th Century attitudes to mental health the treatment of women and acts of charity by the rich and famous. The seamless merging of fact and fiction takes the reader on a journey back in time to experience what it was like to live in Bristol in those days.

Maid of the Haystack will be launched at Heron Books at 5pm on Saturday May 20 when author Martin J. Powell will give an insight into how this local historical novel came about.

Entry is free. RSVP to read@heronbooks.co.uk or on social media so that we can keep track of audience numbers.