Kentish Tales is an exhibition of work by authors who lived in or wrote about Kent and is currently taking place in Augustine House library until the end of October. It has been curated by the Kent Maps Online team.

The Passenger to Folkestone by J.S. Fletcher

The 1920s and 30s was the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. This novel, written by crime writer, Joseph Smith Fletcher, begins with a mystery set in Folkestone (listen to the opening paragraphs of the book below to find out more). It was published in 1927 and the New York Times described it as “one of Fletcher’s best”. Fletcher wrote 230 books including both fiction and non-fiction and was one of the most prolific crime writers of his time.

Love in a Mist by Pamela Wynne

Set in Margate, Love in a Mist by Pamela Wynne is a “vivid romance of the English seaside and of two who were afraid they lost love”. It was published in 1932, the same year that she got divorced. Pamela wrote 60 romance novels, many inspired by her time living in India. You can read more about Pamela Wynne at Kent Maps Online.

Dover Harbour by Thomas Armstrong

Set in Dover against the backdrop of the French Revolution, this novel published in 1942, explores themes of local politics, smuggling, espionage and pressgangs. The book is full of local colour as this scene of a smuggling run illustrates: “The graveyard of St James’ Church, beneath the Castle Hill, was the scene of that night’s run. There, in the blackness of night, a single lantern cast its yellow light over crazy-leaning tombstones and on the soft carpet of grass and the pale gold of fallen leaves.” However, the smugglers evade detection: “Only the spirits of the dead were in the quiet churchyard of St James’s when Mr Toke and his men arrived. But there was a trail of tea from a punctured dollop, and a two-way track of planks as evidence of a large and carefully-planned run.”

The Green Alleys by Eden Phillpotts

A comedy published in 1916, set in the Kentish Weald. The Green Alleys, which are the hop fields, are described in the novel in great detail: “The riot and medley, the fling and leap of their twiners and spirals; their entanglements, where hands caught hands and clasped and curled together; the drooping laterals that rained down over each stout column and flung light across it; the expression of lush, unconquerable life, now still, now agitated with the wave and twinkle of a breeze — for such phenomena words are medium too clumsy”. (Yes, quite!) You can read more about hop-picking and the literary imagination on Kent Maps Online or if you would like to hear a description of the Weald you can listen below:

A Sheltering Tree by Richard Parker

A book about smuggling in the Romney Marshes published c. 1969/1970. Listen to the opening paragraphs as two boys lie sprawled on the banks of a dyke: one is to become a smuggler, the other a baker’s apprentice. You can read more about writers who have been inspired by the Romney Marshes such as Henry James and Joseph Conrad at Kent Maps Online.

Maggie of Margate by Gabrielle Wodnil

Maggie of Margate: a romance of the idle rich was published in 1912. It is the tale of Lady Margaret Taunton who bored with her life seeks ‘romance and realism’ by pretending to be a housemaid at her aunt’s guest house in Margate. Gabrielle Wodnil, pseud. wrote at least two novels and was a theatrical journalist and songwriter. She was described by the Daily Telegraph as a “new writer of promise and originality”.

Stealthy Terror by John Ferguson

‘I wandered out on the Leas, amid the gay butterflies listening to the military band, which that afternoon was playing on the glorious headland. In the midst of all that kaleidoscope of colour and buzz of talk I had a sense of being separate and aloof.’ Stealthy Terror (1918).

Read more about John Ferguson and his connections with Folkestone at Kent Maps Online.

The books in this exhibition are part of the library’s special collections. Please ask at the Library point if you would like to read these in the library.