Author Interview: Joy Margetts talks about The Bride

Welcome, Joy. Thank you for joining us today. Please introduce yourself to our Australasian Christian Writers’ readers.

Thank you so much Donna. It is really an honour to be invited to share with you all. My name is Joy Margetts and I am a 50 something grandmother, with a husband, two grown children, two adorable grandchildren and a new Jack Russell puppy. Until 3 years ago I never imagined that I would be writing books and seeing them published at this stage of my life. It has become a real and unexpected blessing.

I live in one of the most beautiful places in the UK, on the North Wales Coast, and from my window can see both sea and mountains. It is a lovely place to live and work, and I get much inspiration from both the landscape and the history all around me. We even have our very own castle in the town where I live.

We share a love of British history—especially Christian history. How did your interest in Medieval history come about?

I have always been fascinated by history. I blame my Dad for that, who loved history, particularly military history. All our family holidays inevitably involved visits to ruined castles and historic monuments. Researching and reading about how people lived in times past enabled me to imagine myself in their world and I used to love to escape into historical fiction when I was younger. I think I have naturally gravitated towards medieval history because where I live we are surrounded by castles and ruined abbeys that date from that period. The history of the Christian faith of my homeland is rich and inspiring.

I loved your newly released novel The Bride, and was honoured to give you an endorsement for it, but first, tell us about The Healing and The Pilgrim.

My first novel The Healing, was the one that came as a surprise. I began writing it during the first scary Covid lockdown, partly as a form of escapism I think. I had had the idea for the story several months before when wandering through some abbey ruins, of a wounded knight finding himself in the care of Cistercian monks,. But I also wanted to tell my story – in fictional form. I had been through a tough few years but in that time had experienced God’s grace and healing in my life. I wanted to write about what I had learnt in that time, and I could feed it into my story, which is a redemptive tale, and hope-filled.

When the book was picked up by a publisher, no one was more surprised than I. And then when it was published I was amazed at how well it was received. Almost immediately people began to ask if I was writing another! And they wanted to hear more about Brother Hywel, the monk whose wisdom and kindness helped the knight to find his redemption. So I wrote The Pilgrim to tell Hywel’s own back story, and that too became a redemptive tale, of a young man who messes up catastrophically, and yet who God still pursues and redeems.

And now, what brought you to The Bride?

There was another story that I felt I needed to tell! One of the minor characters in The Healing was a woman who has a significant part to play in the final chapters of the knight’s story. But I really felt she needed to have her own book! Also by this time, I had caught the writing bug.  And so The Bride was birthed. Again it is a gently told redemptive tale, of a woman forced to live out a life she had not wanted, whilst dealing with heartache and rejection, but who finds a love much deeper and more trustworthy than any other she has ever known.

Congratulations on such wonderful books, Joy. Is it too soon to ask if you’re planning another?

I knew when I started to write The Bride that there was another character from The Healing who might have an interesting story. And then when I finished The Bride, I began to think there was yet another character, this time from The Bride, who deserved their own tale. So that is potentially two more novels! I am making no promises at this stage, except to say that I love the writing process, and the ideas are buzzing. And there may already be a couple of chapters already written, sitting waiting on my laptop

Thank you so much for being with us today, but before you go, please tell our readers where they can learn more about you and your books and where to buy them.

Of course! All of my books are widely available. They can be purchased online in kindle or paperback from Amazon, and ordered from Blackwells, Waterstones, Eden Books or through bookshops.

I have a website where you can find out more about me and my books, and from where you can purchase signed copies of all of my books. www.joymargetts.com. I am happy to post outside of the UK if you contact me direct through the website.

The Healing, ISBN  978-1912726424     Published by Instant Apostle, March 2021

The Pilgrim, ISBN  978-1912726615    Published by Instant Apostle, July 2022

The Bride, ISBN  978-1912726752      Published by Instant Apostle, October 2023

My review: 

Joy Margett’s Bride pulls the reader into Medieval Wales and into the life of a remarkable woman. We come to know Efa—her thoughts, her feelings, her world; and to experience all levels of society—the aristocracy, the peasantry, and the Church. We sympathise with her as she makes hard choices, and cheer for her as she faces difficult situations with calm dignity. Through it all she grows and, eventually, triumphs.