Northumberland man draws on heritage background for debut novel
A former leader of some of the North East’s most iconic heritage institutions has published his first novel – a sweeping story rooted in Northumberland’s landscape and history.
David Ronn, from Morpeth, well known for his roles over 30 years including MD of Alnwick Castle and The Alnwick Garden, has released Watermark, a dual-timeline historical novel.
Set largely in the last decade of the 18th century, Watermark is rooted in the countryside, rivers and rugged coastline of Northumberland and the shadowy world of late-Revolutionary France.
Two centuries later, in modern-day Newcastle and Northumberland, it details a chance discovery which reveals a long-buried conspiracy spanning Northumberland and France.
The result is a novel that blends intrigue, sacrifice, courage and an improbable love story anchored in the places and histories David has spent a career interpreting for millions of visitors.
“Central to it is an old stone mill by the banks of the North Tyne,” says David. “It’s still there and used to this day, but for a very different purpose to that for which it was built. By a quirk of circumstance, it was never put to that use. Watermark imagines that it had been and asks what might have happened as a result.”
David’s lifelong work in heritage shaped the book’s sense of place.
“The North East has played a key role in so many defining periods of this island’s history – Roman occupation, the arrival of Christianity, Bede and the great manuscripts created here, Viking invasions, the medieval Scottish wars, the Industrial Revolution.
All are written into Northumberland’s landscape,” added David. “When you combine that with the county’s extraordinary countryside, natural history and the character of its people, you have a compelling setting at the heart of this story.”
Watermark is published by Curlicue, a small independent press based near Hexham, committed to supporting northern voices and distinctive, place-rooted writing.
Publisher Jane Pikett said: “David has an extraordinary ability to bring Northumberland’s landscapes alive on the page. His career spent protecting and interpreting heritage shines through every chapter. We’re proud to publish a novel that not only tells a gripping, multilayered story, but also reflects the soul of a county so many people love.”
Watermark is available in paperback on Amazon.