Eerie inspiration (From Penarth Times)

Eerie inspiration

AN EX-PAT Penarth writer will this week return to the town to launch her debut novel, which was inspired by a ghostly apparition.

Pamela Barnett's debut novel, The Spirit of Mathilde, will be launched at Penarth Yacht Club on the Esplanade.

Pamela said: "The Spirit of Mathilde has a remarkable provenance. In 2001, I was house-hunting in the South West of France. While staying in a converted dairy, I suddenly awoke to see the figure of a smiling black-clad woman at the bottom of the bed.

"The next day I discovered that I had been "given" the story of Mathilde and her family. I really felt that someone had done that for me. She is still with me. She isn't old yet she always wears black. I feel she is in her late fifties or even sixty. The clothes make it very difficult to put an age on her. She has a lovely smile and gives me confidence."

Pamela started work immediately on her 180-page paperback novel, inspired by the ghostly apparition.

The story starts when Clifford Keating, a young British liaison officer, stumbles across a village in France where reprisals have taken place after D-Day.

He becomes haunted by the story of a traumatised, speechless girl, who has been brutally raped by German troops.

He vows to return to the village after the war to find out what has happened to her.

The Spirit of Mathilde tells the story of Clifford's return to the Limousin community of St Andre, where he is influenced by an elderly woman, Mathilde, who is able to read his thoughts and his future.

Pamela said: "All I know is that I feel very much part of Mathilde's family and the village of St Andre."

The novel is published by Leonie Press.

Pamela lived on Augusta Road in Penarth for 18 years, before moving to Victoria Square.