About Jean
Words, Wine & Woofs
I write the kind of stories I most enjoy reading—sweeping, character-driven tales inspired by real people, who helped shape the course of history. Set during the Napoleonic era, my novels explore the entangled lives, loyalties, and passions of three remarkable men. Blending the grit and realism of Bernard Cornwell with the elegance, wit, and subtle charm of Georgette Heyer.
My journey into writing began some thirty years ago, when I happened to pick up a second-hand book about Marshal Ney. The book looked interesting. He looked interesting. Little did I know that simple impulse would lead me down a three decades-long path of research, discovery, and storytelling.
A couple of weeks later, at a lunch party, I found myself seated next to a gentleman named David Chandler—who, as it turned out, was the world’s leading authority on Napoleon at the time. It was David who introduced me to another fascinating historical figure: the English General Sir Robert Wilson.
Wilson proved to be just as compelling, and—luckily for me—he was also an extraordinarily prolific writer. His books and journals were rich with stories, including his many encounters with Ney, and another curious character: Michael Bruce, a dissolute and hedonistic young Englishman, quite unlike either of the other two. My fascination with these three men, and their intertwined lives across Europe during the Napoleonic Wars, was the beginning of a story I just had to write!
And so the rollicking story began, based on real events. Starting with Napoleon’s coronation.
I found writing is a selfish and solitary occupation. At the time, I was running a wine business with my husband. We imported the finest wines Europe had to offer, and while I enjoyed the wine trade, I often found it incredibly difficult to pull myself away from the world of Wilson, Ney and Bruce to organise a wine tasting—or even make lunch! Eventually, I had to set the manuscript aside, though the research never really stopped. Long before the days of Google or Amazon, I scoured physical archives and ordered books—often from the States—at great expense.
Then, in 2020, lockdown hit. With time on my hands and the luxury of a laptop, I dusted off my notes and started again. I even taught myself the dark arts of ‘track changes!’ What began as a single book soon grew into a War and Peace! There’s only room for one of those so “Three Men in a War” became two. Through all of this, the same passion remained: to tell this extraordinary story with historical accuracy, depth, romance and more than a dash of irreverence.
Travel has been a huge part of both my research and my life. During my time as a wine merchant, I travelled all over Europe—visiting many of the same places my characters once walked, fought, and loved.
Battle in the Peninsula
Staircase of the Winter Palace, St Petersburg
Five unforgettable travel moments for me:
In Paris: After a long alcoholic lunch with friends in the very salon where my three heroes met, seeing a French aristocrat leaning on the mantelpiece, just as I had imagined Ney. I make Ney replicate the pose in Fleeting Glory.
In St. Petersburg: Standing at the top of the double grand staircase in the Winter Palace, looking at the huge portrait of Empress Catherine the Great. Just as Wilson had done in 1812.
In St. Basil’s cathedral, Moscow: Imagining Napoleon’s horses and Concorde, Ney’s famous mount, stabled there. October 1812, before the Retreat…
In Oporto, Portugal: Gazing over the fast-flowing River Douro from the spot Wilson launched his barges in May 1809. Full of soldiers. In a daring attack on French Marshal Soult.
At the Pyramids, Giza: Not understanding why Bruce was not impressed by them. Inside the Great Pyramid, all on my own, was the spookiest place I have ever been! You had to squeeze through a very narrow entrance. Napoleon spent nearly an hour in the dark burial chamber and came out white faced and shaking. I managed less than five minutes.
These moments make history come alive for me, and I hope my books do for my readers as well.
Outside of writing, another of my passions is training my working Golden Retrievers.