We sit down and talk with J.T Williams, author of The Lizzie and Belle series to talk about her most recent story ‘Portraits and Poison’. Balancing heroism and history, we follow the adventures of ‘sisters in solving crime’, Lizzie and Belle, as they work to solve the mystery thefts plaguing Georgian London and navigate the societal turbulences of their realities.
You can listen to the full interview or read the excerpt below.
I just want to start by highlighting one of the sayings that really stuck with me and that was people, not property.
I mean that resonates with a lot of the characters throughout the book, it resonates with the readers alike as they’re going through this journey with the characters.
So when you started fleshing this story out and putting these characters together, why do you think it was important to tell this story, to have these characters set in this particular time and go through this kind of relatable narrative of the mystery and solving that? Why do you think it’s so necessary to share this story?
Thank you! That’s a huge question. It’s great. But yeah, it’s quite a complicated thing right and ultimately I used to be a teacher and I was working at the British Library. I had the good fortune to be running workshops for groups of young people and also other teachers. And then, Sancho’s letters came into the library and that’s how I was introduced to him.
I started doing lots of research and was captivated by his voice in letters but also by these glimpses I got through his letters of his family. For a long time, I had been doing a lot of research around these difficult histories, the history of transatlantic slavery and early Black Britishness, and I know that certainly in schools there’s been a real sort of journey in terms of trying to work out how we deal with these stories when it comes to young people.
Because what we don’t want to do is sort of replicate all of that harm, trauma and violence. So what’s the answer? I think that in the past, maybe not for the right reasons, there’s been a real reluctance to talk about that history at all. But what that also leads to is complete misinformation about the history of this country and also the contributions that so many Black people have made to its wealth, success and culture.
I felt it was really important that we find new ways of bringing these stories to the surface. And with very tiny fragments of information because unfortunately, in the 18th century, our stories weren’t really valued. You have to work hard in the archives to find evidence of our lives because things weren’t written down or our voices are edged out of the record.
So for me, it was about a few things but one thing was about trying to recenter us at the heart of the narrative, really trying to tell the story through that Black lens and not replicate all of that inequity that comes with what happens when people are treated as property. And it’s still shocking to me, even after years of doing that research, when I read certain documents, you know registers that do talk about humans as though they are things to be sold or bits of furniture.
It was really about taking control of that narrative and saying, “hey let’s step back into this difficult moment in the past but let’s do so in a way that readdresses our humanity and makes sure that is the starting point of the telling of the story”.
More about Lizzie and Belle Mysteries: Portraits and Poison
The second book in a thrilling middle grade mystery series, set in eighteenth-century London and inspired by real Black British historical figures.
A daring mystery series set in vibrant Georgian London, The Lizzie and Belle Mysteries is about friendship, girl power and two enthusiastic detectives Lizzie and Belle.
Inspired by real historical characters, Dido Belle and Ignatius Sancho, J.T Williams uses her work as an educator and historian to encourage children to explore Black British hidden histories.
Lizzie Sancho and Dido Belle are from different worlds. Lizzie lives and works in her family’s tea shop in Westminster, while Belle is an heiress being brought up by her aunt and uncle at grand Kenwood House – but they both share a love of solving mysteries.
It’s the summer of 1777, the night of the grand unveiling of Sancho-Mansfield’s family portrait. But soon enough things take a chaotic turn – the painting has been stolen! This theft is only the start, revealing a terrifying secret that haunts the cobbled streets of London. A conspiracy is underway, one that has links to the kidnapping of Lizzie’s friend Mercury.
When anyone could be involved, who can Lizzie and Belle trust? Once again it is up to the two girls to unveil the truth and put an end to the corruption that plagues the city.
The book will be published on Thursday 30th March. You can pre-order here.
Interviewed by Kianna Best
