Jay Taverner

Jay Taverner is the author of three linked historical novels - Rebellion, Hearts and Minds and Liberty - spanning the eighteenth century, and a millennial spin-off, Something Wicked. Although the stories stretch across space and time, they all have a connection to Brynsquilver, an ancient cottage in the Shropshire countryside close to the Welsh border.

The novels are the creation of not one but two people: Jacky Bratton and Jane Traies, writing together as Jay Taverner. Jacky lives in West Sussex with her partner and an elderly cat; Jane is an oral historian who has edited two books of lesbian life stories and lives near Brighton. The inspiration for the Brynsquilver stories came from a deserted cottage that they came across many years ago, and from their shared interest in writing women-loving-women back into history.

[Photo (c) Bronac MacNeil]