Embracing Louisa, an Historical Novel: Reflections on Release

/ Garrulous Gwendoline

I was numb. We had ridden in the mourning coach all the way from Shipley, up the Otley Road to Undercliffe Cemetery. I could hear the horses’ bridles clinking as they pulled in unison, plodding through the soot-blackened slush. Ahead, another team dragged the hearse. I kept my eyes down. I didn’t want to see its black curtained mass, didn’t want to think of dear Papa lying there stiff in his coffin. I pulled my cape closer but felt no warmth. The wind was icy, blown in on an Atlantic storm, the morning’s rain turning to sleet.

I first wrote those words – albeit in the third person – in September 2016. This week, I saw them in a printed book for the first time. No longer a mere manuscript, Louisa is now … A Book … with a front and back cover, title page, dedication, acknowledgements – all the components which make this creation A REAL BOOK. Within, Louisa‘s life faces many challenges, and now, perhaps her greatest, is whether readers will embrace her story. No longer living in my laptop, Louisa has been sent out to face the world, and all I can do is hope it will be kind to her.

There’s a particular sensation that comes when you near the end of a story set in another century – a sense of stepping out of lamplight and back into daylight, carrying traces of the world you’ve been living in. And after so long living alongside Louisa, there’s a tenderness in these final stages, a sense of walking beside a character who has grown more real with every draft, every doubt, every small breakthrough. I feel as if I have loved Louisa into being, and letting go is its own kind of courage, and its own kind of love.

“Be Strong and Courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Now it is over to the reader. Paperback and Digital Stock is available through many channels:

Direct from the publisher Louisa: an Historical Novel by Gwen Wilson – IP (Interactive Publications Pty Ltd) which will default to the currency of your IP address. If you prefer not to create a registration, the system will still accept the sale. I’ve tested it and recommend you just take it slow through the delivery address and charging sections to allow them to build the data.

You can ask your favourite bookshop to order it in. Business sales should be emailed to ‘sales@ipoz.biz’ or placed through the Ingram International network.

Amazon in Australia, Spain, United Arab Emirates, United States, United Kingdom and possibly other countries of your choice.

Copies signed by the author will be available at the official launch to be held in Wollongong (NSW) Friday 29th May 2026, commencing at 2pm, so please save the date if you can make it. Invitations should be finalised in the next couple of weeks.

Louisa is published in Paperback and Digital, by David Reiter of IP (Interactive Publications Pty Ltd) under their Glass House Books Brisbane imprint.

15 thoughts on “Embracing Louisa, an Historical Novel: Reflections on Release”

  1. Hi Gwen !

    I’ve been re-reading your reminiscences of your time at Michael’s Nook in Grasmere.

    I meant to get in touch last time I saw it to tell you that I had my wedding reception there in May 1981.

    I’m Lakes born and bred and, as I was getting married to Stephen WORDSWORTH I thought it would be fitting to marry in St Oswald’s church.

    I think our wedding reception might have been the first one Reg Gifford had done and it was, of course, wonderful. The food was excellent and at £9.50 per head was well worth every penny!

    My husband and I were in the Diplomatic Service and he was British Ambassador to Serbia. Serbia was possibly our best overseas posting.

    Hope you’re still enjoying your retirement!

    Nichole Wordsworth

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    • Hello Nichole, I am so pleased to hear from you. You did make a comment last time, but anonymously, so I couldn’t capture your email to respond. This is a fantastic memory to have. Others have also sent me updated information in the last year, including that the portrait of Giff and his first wife is now hanging in a Lakeland gallery. With the work on my just-released debut historical novel, Louisa, I haven’t had time to do new posts on Michael’s Nook. I feel as if we should be forming some kind of “fan” club. So many people’s lives have been touched by association with the house and Reg and Elizabeth Gifford. Curiously, in May 1980 (the year before you married) I was living in what was then Yugoslavia. I skedaddled when Tito died. We thought the Soviets were coming. What a pivotal moment in history for you to be posted there. Did you master the language? All the very best, Gwen

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