Hearts of Darkness (30 page)

This is, of course, a work of historical fiction. For me the rules of the game are that the author is free to take liberties so long as they are informed liberties, purposeful and in service of the plot. I hope there are no written equivalents of a Viking wearing a wristwatch.

Let me point out three areas which I feel merit highlighting. First, Lord Arlington is clearly a bit of a villain in this book. The real Lord Arlington was a close advisor of the King and did have a black plaster across his nose. He also, however, lived until the ripe old age of 67, finally expiring in 1685.

Second, Shyam is modelled on the Derbyshire village of Eyam. I moved it east of London so as to be able to recreate Marlow’s journey in Conrad’s
Heart of Darkness
, an exercise I had some fun with. I hope fans of Joseph Conrad find it at least a bit entertaining, and are not mortally offended.

Third, the real Fire of London took two days to reach St Paul’s cathedral. That really didn’t suit the pace of the story, so I speeded it all up. For those frustrated by these tinkerings, I direct you towards the website
harrylytle.com
where I have served my penance by providing short accounts of most of the places and characters that show up in the Harry Lytle Chronicles.

With love and thanks again to Ruth, Charlotte, Callum, Cameron and Ashleigh. I’d like to thank everyone who has bought a Harry Lytle book, especially those who have sent lovely letters, or else messages via my Facebook blog page, Goodreads etc … and reviews on Amazon.

To Tara Wynne, Annabel Blay and Clair Roberts at Curtis Brown, who have worked hard on my behalf, and to whom I am very grateful indeed. To all the new faces at Allison and Busby – I’m looking forward to working with you into the future!

I’d also like to acknowledge again all the folks at the Well, especially Sharon, Mike, Hope, Benjamin, Basil, Bob, David, Sid, Melinda, Stephen, Jake and Missye. And to William Lilly, author of
Astrological Judgments for the year 1666
.

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Born in a convent hospital in Malpas in 1963,
PAUL LAWRENCE
lived in Spain, Japan and the UK before finally settling in Australia with his wife and children. Paul is currently busy writing the fourth book in the
Harry Lytle
series, while living a second life as a management consultant and executive coach specialising in leadership development.

www.harrylytle.com

The Sweet Smell of Decay

A Plague of Sinners

Hearts of Darkness

THE SWEET SMELL OF DECAY

A PLAGUE OF SINNERS

‘Susanna Gregory and Andrew Pepper fans will find a lot to like in this historical thriller with its convincing Restoration England setting’
Publishers Weekly

‘Paul Lawrence puts his research to excellent use, conjuring up an atmosphere of decay and decadence and portraying characters that quite literally ooze from their varied ailments’
Historical Novels Review