Quantcast
Channel: The Words in my Hand – Guinevere Glasfurd
Browsing all 23 articles
Browse latest View live

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Descartes in Amsterdam

‘…I could live here all my life without ever being noticed by a soul. I take a walk each day amid the bustle of the crowd with as much freedom and repose as you obtain in your leafy groves, and I pay...

View Article



Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

if Helena were music…

…this would be her:   I first came across Dutch harpist, Anne van Schothorst, two or three years ago, and adore her work. The tracks are from the album MUSICrecycling, arranged by Thijs de Melker....

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

11/11

The 11th November, Armistice Day. But also the feast of St Martin, and a day credited with changing the course of Descartes’ life in 1619. The 11th crops up again and again, something Descartes can’t...

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

skimming stones in the archive

Book after book after book has been written about Descartes. But of the woman who knew him, Helena Jans, almost nothing is known. I have come across only three instances of her name in the archive –...

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Blakeney edit

Am away in Blakeney for a week, making what I hope will be the final edits to my novel. I’m here with two other writers, good friends too. I carry the work in me, of course, and it will be written,...

View Article


Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Article 4

My first novel, The Words in My Hand, which tells the story of the hidden love between French philosopher René Descartes, and Dutch servant maid, Helena Jans Van der Strom, will be published by...

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

ten things I’ve learned about Descartes

The research for The Words in My Hand (Worte in meiner Hand), was great fun and took me off in all directions. I read as widely as I could, starting with histories of the Dutch Republic in the...

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

research images: Amsterdam & Egmond

Thanks to a grant from Arts Council England, I was able to visit The Netherlands twice to undertake research for my debut novel, The Words in My Hand. The novel moves between Amsterdam, Deventer,...

View Article


Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

who was Helena Jans?

We know Helena worked as a maid in Amsterdam for English bookseller, Thomas Sergeant. We know of her relationship with Descartes, because he leaves a note to this effect. We know that Helena and...

View Article


Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

fünf tage, fünf fragen – 5

5. Egmond aan den Hoef: Das Ende oder der Anfang? you will need to read the novel to understand the significance of Egmond aan den Hoef! This is one of the chapel windows, from 1634, showing women...

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Article 0

I’m delighted to reveal the cover for the UK edition of The Words in My Hand, which will be published by the most marvellous Two Roads on 14th January, 2016. The artwork for the cover was created by...

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Article 3

  Delighted to announce that The Words in My Hand is The Times ‘Book of the Month’, January 2016.     Available from all good booksellers:    

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

The Words in My Hand – UK launch

Lisa Highton, publisher Two Roads Books, opening the launch. (photo: Richard Youell) Dr Erik-Jan Bos, academic advisor on the book. (photo: Saskia Glasfurd-Brown) (photo: Kaddy Benyon) (photo: Siobhan...

View Article


Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

I have a story to tell

A few days ago, in an interview for a local paper, I was asked when it began, when did I start to write, what was the spark? ‘I was never one of those who knew they were going to be a writer from an...

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

to Australia

I am beyond excited at the prospect of going to Australia. Tomorrow. For twelve days. Even typing this, my stomach flips over. I’ve finished handouts for a workshop on Sunday – History’s Fragments,...

View Article


Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Blakeney edit

Am away in Blakeney for a week, making what I hope will be the final edits to my novel. I’m here with two other writers, good friends too. I carry the work in me, of course, and it will be written,...

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

round up of lovely things said

View Article


Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Fear of great men: fictionalising Descartes

There were times, when I was writing my novel, when I was struck by an incapacitating fear. It was this: who was I, dear reader, to put words in Descartes’ mouth? More than once, this fear of speaking...

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Take a tour through Amsterdam . . .

My novel tells the story of the hidden affair between Dutch maid, Helena Jans, and French philosopher, René Descartes, and follows Helena’s journey across the Dutch Republic in the seventeenth century....

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Brexit & Descartes

    Most days, I start by reading the news, but faced recently with a Brexit headline about ‘not negotiating the unnegotiable’ I admitted defeat. I could bear it no longer. I closed the tab, too...

View Article
Browsing all 23 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images