Melissa Manners

Historical fiction author

Melissa was born and raised in London where her book obsession began. She would take a book everywhere she went (she still does this, and probably always will). Her writing career started at the tender age of eight when she wrote her first ‘book’. More specifically, it was a couple of A4 sheets folded up into a booklet, on which she wrote out the story of Persephone.

Her love of Greek mythology continued into adulthood, as did her love of storytelling. She spent her teen years writing angst-ridden fanfic until she found NaNoWriMo, which she entered year after year.

It was not until she was in her twenties that she realised that all her favourite books were historical fiction, so why not try writing in the same genre? The historical period that most stuck out was that of the English Witch Trials. The witch trials are horrifying, yet fascinating, and the treatment of women in particular (but also a range of other people seen as ‘different’), is what Melissa wanted to address in her own writing.

She loves to reframe the historical narrative that has been passed down to us, mostly by men, and allow stories to be told from a new perspective. It’s a shame that we don’t have many historical records from this period, but what we don’t know, we can imagine, and hopefully give those neglected members of society a voice.