BLACKWATTLE
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It is 1743, and Great Britain's coffers are overflowing with the profits of Caribbean sugar. But when a spat between two London schoolboys over a slice of cake turns deadly the simmering contempt between London's powerful sugar merchants and the Establishment is laid bare. The ring of Newgate Prison's execution bell draws menacingly closer as a desperate family seeks salvation from the King.
Author Sarah Staveley evokes an era and its people as she interrogates in forensic detail a sensational criminal case and uncovers its unexpected, heart-wrenching aftermath.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sarah Staveley was educated at Abbotsleigh, The University of Sydney, Leith’s School of Food and Wine, London and The Australian School of Colour and Design. A Consequence of Cake is her first work of creative nonfiction.
REVIEWS
"Just finished A Consequence of Cake. An incredible book. I’m in awe of the research, the writing, even the quality of the paper! Somehow Sarah has turned a seemingly small event in the lives of a couple of over privileged school kids, into a fascinating story, so well told, it was captivating. If only all history was made so interesting.”
Mrs Leis, NSW, Australia
"I enjoyed it immensely. I am very much in awe of the research you must have done. Having grown up in London...and having been at boarding school there a lot of your geography and factual descriptions resonated well with me"
Paul A., Sydney, Australia.
"I have just finished your excellent book, and want to congratulate you on such a fine work. I could almost hear your voice as I read. It has a most impressive bibliography and more importantly, an understated but momentous theme. It was compulsive reading.
Marcia C., Orange, Australia.
"It was a great read...so compelling."
Michael R., Sydney, Australia.
"What a rollercoaster of a story! I really enjoyed it." Sarah G., Kent England
'This extremely detailed and well researched book is a fictionalised account of a famous murder committed in London's Soho in 1743. The author (Sarah Staveley, a member of our Society) has brought to life an extraordinary case in which one schoolboy (William Chetwynd) killed another (Thomas Ricketts) in an argument over a piece of very sugary marzipan cake. The author delves deeply into all aspects of the case, including a detailed examination of the social backgrounds of the two boys' families, which reveals a social gulf between them: Chetwynd was a well-connected member of the British aristocracy, Ricketts was the product of a Jamaican planter family who had made their money from sugar - rather an irony. The case resulted in a Royal pardon for Chetwynd; could this have been a result of his social position, or was it behind the scenes influence of the famous Freemason (and Huguenot) Jean Theophile Desaguliers? There is a very atmospheric evocation of mid-18th century London in all its luxurious, and opulent but also dirty and smelly detail. Apart from Desaguliers, Huguenots appear as part players in the scenes: the magistrate Thomas de Veil, jurors Jacob Lebat and Peter Archambo and the murder victim Lewis Legier, but it is nevertheless well worth our attention, even only as a portrayal of how class bound English society was at that time - some would argue it still is!'
Dr Robert Nash’s Book Review in the Huguenot Times, Spring November 2022