Tessa Harris – Carol's Notebook

Author: Tessa Harris

After studying History at Oxford University, Tessa Harris began her journalistic career on a newspaper in her home town of Louth, in Lincolnshire. She progressed onto a London newspaper, where she became women’s editor. From there she moved to become a feature writer on Best magazine. After two years she was made editor of a regional arts and listings publication. This was followed by another two years as deputy editor on Heritage magazine. Motherhood meant a spell as a freelance, contributing to several national magazines, such as Country Homes & Interiors, Perfect Home and Woman’s Journal, as well as newspapers such as The Times, The Telegraph and The Guardian. During this time she also worked as a literary publicist and for a documentary-making company. In 2005 she was made editor of Berkshire Life magazine.

In 2000 she won a European-wide screenplay writing competition run by the London Screenwriters’ Workshop and the resulting screenplay was optioned by a film company. The script was set in 18th century London and her subsequent research led to the invention of Dr Thomas Silkstone, an American anatomist and the world’s first forensic scientist.

I could break The Lazarus Curse down into three parts: the mystery- what happened to Matthew Bartlett, the botanist/artist who disappeared upon returning from Jamaica; the background research and storyline on the plight of slaves who were brought to England by their masters; and what's going on with Lydia, Thomas' lover. The mystery was okay. There's supposedly a Lazarus Potion that can bring people back from the dead, and the theory is that the expedition found the formula and someone killed Bartlett for the information. There were a couple of suspects but no good option. The wrap-up to this part surprised me in a good. It was interesting how it worked out, even if I don't entirely understand the reasoning. The part of the plot centering around the slaves was the most engrossing. There were Americans currently staying in London. In England at the time, slavery was not legal, but the American's slaves are still more or less considered property for all intents and purposes. Thomas sees the unfairness...