Book & Author Spotlight: The Secrets They Wrote by Jill George
Title - The Secrets They Wrote: Mary Elizabeth Braddon & Virginia Woolf
Author - Jill George
Publisher - Heinze Quill Publishing
Release Date - May 25, 2025
Pages - 326
Formats - Hardcover and Paperback
Decription
In Victorian England, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, a daring sensation novelist, defies societal expectations to pen the scandalous Lady Audley’s Secret. With 6 children in her care, one on the way, and a controversial partnership with a married man, Mary balances the weight of public scrutiny with her unrelenting drive to tell stories that reflect the raw, untamed truths of women’s lives. Yet, the literary world views her audacity with suspicion, questioning whether a woman
can wield such narrative power without consequences. As Mary grapples with her place in a male-dominated literary landscape, her resilience and brilliance ignite a legacy far beyond her time.
Decades later, modernist writer Virginia Woolf, a bold voice in her own right, returns to her childhood home in St. Ives. Standing before the lighthouse that inspired her, Virginia reflects on the women who paved the way for her literary ambitions. Among them is Braddon, whose daring to depict the inner lives and struggles of women resonates deeply with Virginia’s own desire to reshape the boundaries of fiction based on her own memories in To The Lighthouse. But as Virginia contemplates her creative legacy, she must also face the lingering shadows of her inner battles and the complex relationships between past and present voices.
A tale of defiance, creativity, and the profound connection between two remarkable women, The Secrets They Wrote explores the unbreakable bond of women writers across generations and celebrates their courage to challenge the status quo and the enduring power of their words to reshape the world.
Five Questions with Jill George, Author of The Secrets They Wrote
Author and Founder of Heinze Quill Publishing, Jill George
1. The Secrets They Wrote beautifully intertwines the lives of Mary Elizabeth Braddon and Virginia Woolf—two women separated by time but united by artistic courage. What first inspired you to bring their stories together in one narrative?
As someone obsessed with the Victorian era, I was first interested in Mary Braddon because of her incredible book proliferation- over 80 novels, something like two a year, and remember that is writing and rewriting by hand with a nib pen and ink. She was a household name then. She was in every library! When I was researching her, Virginia Woolf’s name popped up next to hers on the internet and I thought, now that’s bizarre. How could two more opposite authors be linked? Braddon considered “low” brow for her brazen books and Wolff very “high” brow for her elite thinking and upbringing. I couldn’t imagine the combination. I started investigating and then I was hooked with intrigue.
2. Braddon’s boldness and Woolf’s introspection both challenge the boundaries of their eras. How did you approach capturing their distinct voices and perspectives while maintaining a cohesive tone across the novel?
You have hit the nail on the head. The two women are so distinctly different that it was actually easy to write two different voices. Mary Braddon was feisty, outgoing, tough, and managed a huge household like a drill sergeant. Even her photos seem to me to give off a feisty vibe! As a young woman being the single bread winner and an actress, I could easily imagine her throwing her voice up to the audience. On the other hand, Virginia Woolf was part of the upper crust, educated elite. Her father was very bookish. She was more reclusive, introverted with long body lines that gave her the appearance of cool languishing. But with a sharp tongue that was evident from her diary entries. She must have been quick witted to hang out with her crew of literary critics. Given that she and her sister “villa hopped” around the southern coast of France and had a large apartment in London, she was quite well off. She did write to support her and her husband, but not in the same way that Mary did to survive. So, their physical appearance, personalities, upbringing and lifestyles all went into helping me write two distinctly different voices.
3. Much of your work rebalances history by centering women’s experiences and the forces that shaped or suppressed them. What discoveries during your research most surprised or moved you while writing this novel?
What moved me was just how much these women struggled. I discovered that Mary Braddon was actually pregnant with her first child out of wedlock when she wrote and debuted Lady Audley’s Secret. I can’t imagine what guts and bravery it took her to do that under Victorian scrutiny. And Virginia Woolf’s husband thought her mental issues would make her an unfit mother. So he refused to have any “marital relations” with her so that she would not become pregnant. Not exactly a self esteem builder. Yet, in both these highly personal situations that these two women had absolutely no control over, they carried on with their craft and created works of art that are still relevant today. Amazing.
4. Your imprint, Heinze Quill Publishing, emphasizes literary excellence and visionary storytelling. How does running your own press influence your writing process and your understanding of the publishing landscape for historical fiction today?
I operate from something of an academic thought process, given my background, a Ph.D. in Psychology. The umbrella theory that I leverage in my mindset and my mission for my books is called “Allyship” which is not a new term or something that I created. It is a term that originated in the 2000’s as scholarly adoption by Bishop (2002) and refers to building relationships based on trust, consistency, and accountability with marginalized people. That ‘s what I do to rebalance history. I tell stories of women who are in allyships with other women or men, either the same race or different races, that then achieve amazing things through these allyships. Women have been successful throughout history, leveraging allyships, but the stories are often overshadowed. I tell the stories to help women today feel more confident and inspired to break barriers they face in their own lives. Or simply escape to fabulous places and learn more about real women who made their own success in a world not made exactly for them.
5. Looking ahead, your next novel Daughters Of Stone and Grace continues your exploration of women partnerships, art, and society. How does this upcoming work build upon the themes of resilience and creativity that readers will find in The Secrets They Wrote?
My next work continues my Secrets series but in a very different way. Over the summer, I was hijacked by a piece of art, a monument, at the University of Virginia, and I haven’t been the same since. I went one morning to get a bagel and take a walk around a college campus and fell backwards into The Memorial For Enslaved Labor, a circle on a grassy lawn surrounded by a wall of names carved into rock. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, which led me to ledgers, diaries, scraps of notes on faded papers, old reference books, papers written, dissertations, etc. in a campus library serving almost as a museum. Then I realized that I had to write a book about the names that appeared on the art telling the stories of not only those names, but the names on several monuments across the state of Virginia in Richmond and in McClane as well. A chorus of names called to me to tell the incredible stories of resilience and allyship that the women who were the backbone of our new nation had that could be told. From enslave cook to school builder. From washer to business owner. From enslaved girl to Spy for the Union Army. And much more that I found. I had to turn the names into the stories that are there for the telling if we just don’t look away. I think both Elizabeth Braddon and Virginia Woolf would applaud these women’s audacity and courage.
