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A bookish chat with Mark Newies, author of The Unburdening of Ruben Miles

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I’m delighted to welcome Mark Newies to What Cathy Read Next today. Mark’s debut novel, The Unburdening of Ruben Miles, was published by Thinkwell Books on 20th September 2025 and is available to purchase now in paperbook or as an ebook. Read on as I chat to Mark about the inspiration for the novel, its main characters and the ups and downs of being a first-time author.

About the Book

Imagine a man who can remember every day of his life.

Imagine that same man at the centre of 20th century events so significant that his take on the world is both unique and startling.

Meet Ruben Miles. Minder to Babe Ruth. British intelligence spy. Serial marriage hombre.

And one of only 50 people on the planet with hyperthymesia (Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory).

Hold on tight. This could get good.

Find The Unburdening of Ruben Miles on Goodreads

Q&A with Mark Newies, author of The Unburdening of Ruben Miles

Q. Ruben Miles, the main character in your book, has hyperthymesia. How did you first come across this condition and what inspired you to make it the basis for a novel?

I read an article in a science journal several years ago and immediately thought a) What a remarkable condition to have and b) It would make an excellent device for the historical novel I had been working on in which I wanted to cover the entire twentieth century through the eyes of one man. Although I realised quickly I would need two volumes to cover the entire century.

Q. Give us a brief pen picture of Ruben, the book’s main character.

    Ruben Miles is a man of inherent contradictions. Despite his remarkable memory and longevity, he is a morally flexible and flawed human being. Some of his actions can be seen as worthy, even admirable, others are difficult to accept or justify. He may remember every day of his adult life in extreme detail, but how does he process some of those memories?

    Q. Apart from Ruben, who was your favourite character to write?

    I enjoyed writing fictional versions of Babe Ruth and other real figures from history. But I think ‘the Fixer’ would get my ultimate vote – a mysterious American criminal/intelligence man who impacts on Ruben Miles’s life in many ways between both World Wars and beyond. I also enjoyed writing the book’s other main character, JoJo Bartlett, a seventeen-year-old student from Newcastle. It is she that Ruben unburdens himself to. She was inspired by many of the fantastic young people I have taught history and politics to over the years.

    Q. The Unburdening of Ruben Miles is your debut novel. What has the experience been like?

    I enjoyed drafting the book very much, it was never a chore and I think that is also important advice for anyone wishing to start. Due to teaching commitments (I am a private tutor) this took a few years. Rereading and editing for months on end do take their toll. There are times you begin to question whether you even like your own work anymore! As an unknown debut author, sending the manuscript out to agents and publishers can be a discouraging experience. I was fortunate that a small, independent publisher was very enthusiastic about the project from early on.

    Q. Who are your writing heroes?

    In no particular order – Anne Tyler, William Boyd, Richard Russo, Paul Auster, Joseph Heller and John Irving

    Q. Can you tell us a little about the sequel?

    It spans the second half of the twentieth century, picking up Ruben Miles’s story during the denazification process in Germany in 1946. He spends the 1950’s working for American intelligence on Cold War operations including ‘The Red Scare’ and ‘The Bay of Pigs’ before returning to London in the swinging 1960’s where he becomes acquainted with many well-known faces of the underworld.

    About the Author

    Mark Newies was born in Northumberland in 1969. After earning a Liberal Arts degree from Northumbria University, he began his career in publishing and financial services in London.

    In 2002, he shifted paths and retrained as a teacher, completing a PGCE and going on to teach History in Scotland and abroad. Mark is the youngest of two children, and his parents now live in Scotland.

    The Unburdening of Ruben Miles is his debut novel, and he is currently working on its sequel.

    Connect with Mark
    Goodreads 

    My bookish chat with Ross Gilfillan, author of In Leicester Fields

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    I’m delighted to welcome back author Ross Gilfillan to What Cathy Read Next. Ross’s historical novel, In Leicester Fields, was published on 26th September 2025 and is available to purchase now in paperbook or as an ebook. Read on as I chat to Ross about the main characters, his research and his writing heroes.

    About the Book

    London, 1783. Dying artist Henry Grace seeks redemption for unspeakable crimes committed with a secret society, but his act of atonement threatens the city’s most powerful men.

    When fiery female apprentice Michel Angelo and Grub Street journalist Morris “Mouse” Malone investigate Grace’s final masterpiece, they are drawn into a world of scandal, opium and murder that stretches from the stark wards of the Foundling Hospital to the artists’ salons of Paris and Venice.

    Find In Leicester Fields on Goodreads

    Q&A with Ross Gilfillan, author of In Leicester Fields

    Q. Can you give us brief pen pictures of your main characters?

    Henry Grace, a celebrated artist torn apart by guilt. Michel Angelo, his fiery female apprentice. Mouse Malone, a journalist on The Enquirer, a Grub Street newspaper.  Osiris De’Ath, a charismatic force for evil. 

    At the start of In Leicester Fields we briefly encounter the bricklayer, who acts like the Chorus or Prologue in a play. You can read an excerpt that illustrates his role here.

    Q. Can you tell us some more about Henry Grace?

    There was a time, and not so long ago, when Henry was a handsome young man and a much sought-after painter. Following a Grand Tour taken some years ago, Henry did something which gave his painting a sudden and much talked-about depth. What Henry did brought him riches and fame but also plunged him into a terrible morass of consuming and inescapable guilt. To make atonement for his sins, he takes up his paintbrush and, sequestered in his attic room, begins painting a secret, epic masterpiece which will serve as his own confession and an indictment of his accomplices. He works in darkness alleviated only by a thin strip of light for reasons the reader will discover.

    Q. The book is set in 18th century London. What do you think is the secret of creating a strong sense of time and place?

    It has always been profoundly important for me to create a credible sense of time and place. I want the reader to see the streets and people as they might have been viewed at the time and to do this convincingly takes research and in my case, one or two visual aids. Tacked-up on my writing-room wall in Suffolk is a hugely detailed 6′ x 4′ map of London as the cartographer John Roque mapped it in the mid-eighteenth century and using this I’m able to walk my characters past buildings which were landmarks of that time and to have them inhabit streets that have long since been erased by development.

    Q. How did you go about your research for the book?  Did you discover anything that surprised you during your research?

    Most of my research necessarily comes from books rather than the internet. Research is immensely important not only because it lends credibility and prevents accidental anachronisms. On several occasions, I have unearthed absolute treasure, something which took my breath away and sent the novel off in a new and exciting direction. It was just such a discovery which gave In Leicester Fields its dark centre. Researching 18th century remedies for syphilis – some of which left the patients in a worse condition – I stumbled across a measure so evil and so desperate it left me shocked, but equally certain that this was the very thing to account for Henry Grace’s unbearable burden of guilt.

    Q. Do you have any writing heroes?

    I remember enjoying 18th century writers such as Samuel Richardson, Henry Fielding, Richard Sheridan and Laurence Sterne. I love a novel that opens with brooding darkness and uncertainty. This probably comes from my love of Charles Dickens. My personal writing heroes are mainly 19th century English, European and American writers but I also like a lot of contemporary writing. I’m presently reading Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping. 

    About the Author

    Ross Gilfillan is an established literary novelist and former Daily Mail book reviewer (1998–2009). The Snake-Oil Dickens Man was 4th Estate’s lead fiction title at the Frankfurt Book Fair and sold at auction. His second novel, The Edge of the Crowd, was runner-up for the Encore Award for Best Second Novel. After completing a non-fiction title, Crime and Punishment in Victorian London, and debuting in crime fiction with The Capo’s Daughter (Rampart Books, 2025) under his pseudonym J.R. Fillan, Gilfillan now returns to his roots in literary historical fiction with the devastating In Leicester Fields.

    Connect with Ross
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