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A bookish chat with Thomas Messel, author of The Nightingale of Bath

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I’m delighted to welcome author Thomas Messel to What Cathy Read Next today to talk about his historical novel, The Nightingale of Bath, based on the life of soprano and society beauty, Elizabeth Linley.

Enticingly subtitled ‘Love, Jealousy, Betrayal and Revolution in Georgian England’, The Nightingale of Bath is available to purchase as an ebook or in paperback from Amazon.

Thomas is giving a talk about Elizabeth Linley at 7.30pm on Wednesday 2nd September 2026 at The Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution. You can find more information about the event and purchase tickets here. If you’re unable to attend in person, online tickets are available.

How and when did you discover Elizabeth Linley?

I was aware of the Linley family through an ancestral connection. Although I knew a little about Elizabeth, it wasn’t until I read Alan Chedzoy’s biography, Sheridan’s Nightingale, that I realised she was a much more intriguing character than I had previously assumed. Perhaps families tend to overstate ancestors, regarding their geese as swans, but she turned out to be no goose!

What was it about her story that inspired you to make it the basis for a novel? Did you consider writing a work of nonfiction?

My original intention was to write a biography, but there were so many aspects of her life that were not covered and of which no primary or secondary sources existed. Her disappearance at the age of 17 and flight to a convent in France meant to me that she was following a well-trodden path of the time in the case of an unwanted or forced pregnancy. Therefore, I changed course and, to fill the gaps, decided that the only way to cover her life would be through a historical novel.

How did you approach your research for the book?

To start with, I covered as much primary material as possible, drawing from museums and archives, especially the Bath City Archive, the V&A Theatre Collection and the Bristol University Theatre Collection. I bought several printed collections of letters, such as those of Thomas Gainsborough, Richard Sheridan, Mozart, and Fanny Burney, as well as the plays of Sheridan and Samuel Foote. Then followed a mass of reading into the lives of other protagonists in her story: Charles James Fox, Lord Edward FitzGerald, Mehitable Canning and William Pitt.

Did you come across anything that surprised you during the course of your research?

The shocking position of a married woman at that time, who, on marriage, became totally disempowered: stripped of her property, possessions, income and wealth, with no rights over their children or of complaint against her husband.

Were there any scenes you found particularly challenging to write?

There is one in which the powerlessness of women is graphically demonstrated. It’s a scene I found agonising to write.

The Nightingale of Bath is set in 18th-century England. What do you think is key to transporting a reader to a different time and place?

I am fascinated by the 18th century and find the route in is through sensual descriptions of places, clothes and everyday events such as travel and food.

What was your favourite and least favourite part of the writing process? 

One of the many joys of writing the book was that the plot was already set for me so now I had many characters from history to play with and manipulate, like toy soldiers, into words on the page. My least favourite process was without doubt seeking a publisher.

Are there particular historical novelists you take inspiration from?

Robert Harris is my No.1. I also admire Thackeray, and the writing of Lucy Jago and Emily Howes.

About the Book

‘It gives me great discomfort to tell you that realistically you must not stay here in Bath. You must vanish.’

Bath 1772. Elizabeth Linley, wildly famous, celebrated for her voice, charisma and beauty, and painted by Gainsborough and Reynolds, the most eminent artists of her day.

Events on the 18th March 1772 leave her no option but to weave herself through the intricate world of society dominated by The Prince of Wales and the scandalous Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, the precarious nature of Garrick and Sheridan’s London theatre, and the perils of political intrigue, manipulated by the rivalry between Charles James Fox and William Pitt.

Set in an age of revolution, this is a captivating story of love, ambition, jealousy and betrayal, based upon the true life of Elizabeth Linley.

Find The Nightingale of Bath on Goodreads

About the Author

Thomas Messel is better known as one of Britain’s most respected furniture designers, in which field he has worked for 40 years, and built up a celebrated reputation both in the UK and the USA. In 2011, he co-wrote and edited the study of the work of his uncle, Oliver Messel, in the Theatre of Design for which he won the Speares Book Award in 2012.

The Nightingale of Bath is his first historical novel.

Connect with Thomas
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#WWWWednesday – 26th August 2026

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Hosted by Taking on a World of Words, this meme is all about the three Ws:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

Why not join in too?  Leave a comment with your link at Taking on a World of Words and then go blog hopping!

What I’m Currently Reading

Farewell to Eden by Sebastian Faulks (Hutchinson Heinnemann via NetGalley)

Philip Deval, a soldier recently returned from the beaches of Normandy, arrives in Palestine on a peace-keeping mission in the final days of the British Mandate. The Sea of Galilee glitters in the distance as war-weary troops marvel at the novelty of oranges and sun – a paradise that belies a fierce new conflict about to erupt.

Some years later, Philip begins work teaching at a school in the English countryside and meets the enigmatic music mistress, Frances Darwood. Over long evenings spent listening to records in her music room, they grow close.

But Philip is a changed man, and must confront the secrets and scars of all he has lived through – which threaten, even now, to upend his future.

Seething Lane by Jack Jewers (ARC, Moonflower Books)

January 1670. London is enduring its worst winter in decades. But for Samuel Pepys, the darkest days are yet to come.

When a strange young man turns up at his office on Seething Lane asking for help, Samuel Pepys is too distracted to take him seriously. Nell Gwyn is about to make her scandalous return to the stage and he wouldn’t miss it for all the world.

But in the cold of a winter’s dawn, tragedy strikes. Called upon to investigate the brutal murder of a libertine aristocrat, Pepys discovers that the dead man is connected to his mysterious visitor in the most shocking way possible.

A trail of secrets leads Pepys from the backstreets of London to the glamorous world of the theatre, where nothing is quite as it seems. But whatever the dangers, he may find that the deadliest threat lies closer to home…

What I’ve Just Read

Our Noble Selves by Kate Atkinson (Doubleday)

It’s the summer of 1951 and everyone is looking to put the dark days of the war behind them. The government’s solution: The Festival of Britain, a celebration of the country’s creativity, grit and ingenuity.

For foreign correspondent turned war reporter Harry Flynn, it might offer the chance of redemption after a bad war in the Far East and a peace that is proving no easier to negotiate. Having failed to resume his journalistic career, he reluctantly joins an oddball team of misfits, ne’er-do-wells and downright chancers helping to ready the Festival of Britain for launch.

Flynn’s attempts to resume some semblance of a romantic life also founder when one of his dates goes missing and he is deemed to be the last person to have seen her alive. Could he have been in some way responsible for her disappearance?

Little does he realize that the answer to some of his mounting problems may lie in the hands of a precocious, straight-talking thirteen-year-old called Veronica and a rather scruffy terrier who goes by the name of Mrs Betty… (Review to follow)

A Thought Without Collision by Adrian Duncan (Tuskar Rock)

Summer, 1923. Six-year-old Catherine Carolan grows restless on her parents’ farm. It’s already clear that her intellect will soon outgrow the two-room schoolhouse across the fields. But in post-Civil War Ireland, an education is not an easy thing for a girl to access, and young Catherine is not the only one in her family who will come to tire of rural life.

Summer, 1951. To ease him through his final days, Dr. Josef Alois calls for someone from his past. Enter Catherine Carolan, now an Oxford professor. As Alois’s mind and body falter, Catherine must decide how far she will follow this man that she loves. (Review to follow)

Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams (Pan Macmillan)

Sarah Wynn-Williams, a young diplomat from New Zealand, pitched for her dream job. She saw Facebook’s potential and knew it could change the world for the better. But, when she got there and rose to its top ranks, things turned out a little different.

From wild schemes cooked up on private jets to risking prison abroad, Careless People exposes both the personal and political fallout when boundless power and a rotten culture take hold. In a gripping and often absurd narrative, Wynn-Williams rubs shoulders with Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg and world leaders, revealing what really goes on among the global elite – and the consequences this has for all of us.

Candid and entertaining, this is an intimate memoir set amid powerful forces. As all our lives are upended by technology and those who control it, Careless People will change how you see the world. (Review to follow)

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (Penguin)

Sybil Van Antwerp is seventy-three, slowly losing her sight and always writing letters . . .

To her children. Her favourite authors. Her ex-sister-in-law. The journalist poking into her past. Her doctor. Suitors. Kindly neighbours. The infuriating gardening club.

All receive Sybil’s witty, wise correspondence, rich with everyday concerns.

But there is one letter that she has never sent. It concerns the darkest period of her life. To post it, Sybil must find forgiveness within herself.

The hardest letter to write is the one you’d never dare to send. (Review to follow)

What I’ll Be Reading Next

Cold Sunset by William Boyd (Viking via NetGalley)

Gabriel Dax is on route to Russia, tasked with delivering a mysterious Blanco drawing to celebrated defector, Kit Caldwell. But Caldwell is convinced that the KGB suspects him of treachery and he wants to get out – now.

When Gabriel is ordered by his enigmatic handler Faith Green to help, he is pulled into a web of shifting loyalties and dangerous escape plans. As tensions rise and trust fractures, he is forced to confront the fine line between devotion and deception. But which will he choose?