Giving women of history a voice

In a historical novelist, PAUL LAMBIS finds a woman keen to present stories from a female perspective, especially those from patriarchal societies

In gripping tales of feminine courage, strength and spirit of adventure, historical novelist Nikki Marmery gives voice to the women who have been silenced by the history books.

“It is very rare to find women’s voices in history, and they are often presented as men see them,” Marmery said. “My new novella, which will be published next year, reveals the story of a wronged woman, and the female fury and wisdom that might just save us all.”

Since her debut novel On Wilder Seas in 2020, Marmery has cemented her place as a historical fiction writer of the modern era whose research and writing skills bring her characters to life. The thought-provoking and ambitious themes explored in her novels are underpinned by clear literary voices and engaging heroines.

Born in Bristol in the United Kingdom in the mid-1970s to a British father and Greek Cypriot mother, Marmery continued to hone her love of writing, research, debate and history at the University of Nottingham, where she studied history. After working as a financial journalist for 15 years, specialising in credit and foreign exchange markets, Marmery opted to temporarily put her career on hold to concentrate on raising her family.

However, since writing is deeply ingrained in her DNA, it was only a matter of time before she would put pen to paper, taking fiction-writing courses at the Faber Academy in London. After reading one line in a browned and curling manuscript at the British Library in London about “a proper negro wench called Maria,” who sailed on the Golden Hind for eight months during Sir Francis Drake’s circumnavigation voyage in 1577-1580, Marmery began a painstaking research quest that would eventually inspire her to write her first novel.

“I wanted to know everything about her. Where had she come from? What was it about her that made Drake defy his own rule forbidding women on his ships – uniquely – in her case? What happened to her after she was abandoned? But scarcely more than this brief reference that exists in the historical record.”

But after extensive research, she discovered fleeting references to Maria. Described in objectifying, dehumanising language: a “black-more maid”; a “proper negro wench”; a passive object who is taken and set down; “gotten with child”; it is hard to see the real woman. “I wanted to know what Maria would say about herself if she could, including her motivations and aspirations,” Marmery told Living.

“Despite the lack of information about the historical Maria, I chose to develop an image of her by studying other women who led comparable lives. It was important to use own-voice narratives to avoid the misrepresentation that often occurs when women are described by men.”

Through these voices that echoed across the centuries, Marmery found inspiration to reconstruct Maria as an active and courageous woman armed with the skills and intelligence to exert her will, despite her circumstances. “A woman on a journey of her own no less important to her than Drake’s, with her own secrets, aims and motivations,” she added. Her story is told in On Wilder Seas.

From her home in the Chilterns in Buckinghamshire, Marmery is currently polishing the last draught of her second novel, which will be released in the autumn of 2023. Similar to her previous work, she is breathing life into protagonist Lilith, the first woman who, according to biblical fable, was banished from Paradise when she refused to obey Adam.

With the help of “a cast of characters similarly mistreated or erased by patriarchal religion,” such as Noah’s wife Norea, Jezebel, and Mary Magdalene, Lilith seeks retribution in Marmery’s well-researched work. “As Lilith observes the catastrophic consequences of a world built on inequality, she finally understands what must be done to correct the wrong done to women and all humankind, since the beginning of time.”

According to Marmery, her book takes place across the ancient world, from Israel, Iraq and Syria to Greece and Turkey. “Cyprus plays a host to a number of scenes in the book, specifically the ancient site of Palaipaphos,” Marmery said.

As a Greek Cypriot of the diaspora, Marmery is fascinated with the ancient Greek and eastern Mediterranean world, including “the glimpses of historical reality we see in the myths of the region.”

She has a profound love for Cyprus, especially Paphos, the hometown of her maternal grandparents. “I had a very pleasant childhood spending time with them in Cyprus, and I still keep good contact with my family, who we occasionally visit.”

As a compelling writer, Marmery uses the voices of her protagonists to question culture and society. Through her work, she constantly seeks to define, establish and support equal rights for women in traditionally patriarchal societies, at the same time enriching literature and changing history through the power of her pen.