For Oak King Holly King, I had to revisit all of my previous Victorian research because I decided to set it fifty years earlier than Mr Warren’s Profession and Hold Fast – which meant all the details I’d taken for granted (trains, telegrams, electricity, etc.) had vanished. However, I also got to dip back into the medieval era, which was a treat. Most of the folklore and magic research I did online, so it’s under-represented in this particular photo.

Books shown here include…
• The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens – a book which inspired not just Oak King Holly King, but also Mr Warren’s Profession and Hold Fast. I don’t think Dickens would approve of what I’ve done, lol.
• The Victorian City by Judith Flanders – being half history of 19th century London and half biography of Dickens made this very useful for Oak King Holly King in particular.
• Consuming Passions by Judith Flanders
• The Time-Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer
• The Medieval Underworld by Andrew McCall
• The London Underworld in the Victorian Period by Henry Mayhew and Others – available for free on Project Gutenberg.
• How to be a Victorian by Ruth Goodman
• Food and Cooking in Victorian England by Andrea Broomfield
• Daily Life in Victorian England by Sally Mitchell
• Inside the Victorian Home by Judith Flanders