Shades of Unreality

Biographie de Cynthia Haggard

As the child of a broken home, I have always been fascinated by the ebb and flow of family relationships. Which forces gather family members together within the bounds of an ancient shelter? Which forces slice through that shelter, so that a parting of ways makes those left behind feel as if they are standing in a tumble of bricks, enveloped by the jagged shards of a destroyed home. This is what I write about in my novels:THWARTED QUEEN-Welcome to 1400s England, where a family feud between the Yorks, Lancasters and Nevilles began the Wars of the Roses and inspired Game of Thrones.
FAREWELL MY LIFE-Who is he? Who is this dark, handsome stranger who has become obsessed by 17-year-old Grace? Is he just the perfect accompanist for a Brahms sonata, or does he have other ideas? Welcome to a dark historical, set in early 20th century Washington DC and Berlin Germany, about a hidden murderer and how far he will go to control the women around him. Thwarted Queen won the IPPY Gold Medal for Audiobook Fiction May 2021.
Farewell My Life won the Independent Press Award for Women's Fiction April 2021So who am I?I am a proud Englishwoman with American roots. Although I speak like the BBC, I have five relatives on that Mayflower! So I suppose it was not surprising that I eventually ended up here, in the United States, in the Mid-Atlantic region, where I spent all of my adult life, winding my way through four careers: violinist, cognitive scientist, medical writer, and novelist.
I have spent more years in academic institutions that I care to share, but most recently, in June 2015, I graduated with an MFA in Creative Writing (Fiction) from Lesley University (located just north of Harvard Yard.)My biggest influence was my half-American grandmother, Stephanie Treffry, who had a natural story-telling ability. As a widow in 1970s Britain, Grandma Steffi didn't drive a car, so would spend time waiting for buses.
Her stories were about various encounters she had at those bus-stops. Nothing extraordinary, except that she made them so funny, everyone was in fits of laughter. I try to emulate her when I write my novels. When I am not annoying everyone by dressing as if I live in the seventeenth century, I enjoy knitting, exercising, playing piano or cooking something in my wonderful kitchen.