An interview with Rachel Elwiss Joyce.
What inspired you to start writing?
I used to write a lot as a child – mainly stories about a princess who lived in a castle(!) but also timeslips. Historical fiction was always my favourite – even when I lived in the US for a short time, I was fascinated then by the stories of the Pilgrim Fathers and Native Americans. But English history – from Stonehenge to the Tudors, has always been my favourite.
I was never taught creative writing at school and, being good at physics, maths, chemistry and biology, I stopped dreaming of writing and immersed myself in a scientific career.
But the desire to create my own historical fiction never left me and when my children studied for their English GCSEs and were taught creative writing, I could see it was possible.
One day, I just decided to start. I wrote my first novel (yet unpublished, as it needs a lot of work), set in 8th Century Lincolnshire. I loved researching it, I loved the world, the characters, and writing the story. In fact, I was hooked.
But it was when we visited Lincoln Castle that I came across the story of the remarkable Nicola de la Haye. I knew, with an absolute and surprising certainty, that I had to write about her.
What was the hardest part about writing this book?
Lady of Lincoln was a work of pure passion, so I wouldn’t describe it as “hard.” I loved the research, the storytelling, and the challenge of shaping real people from history - alongside fictional characters - into a cast who felt vivid, complex, and alive.
The most demanding part was the more niche historical research. Historians often say that little is known, for example, about Nicola’s first husband, but I discovered that there was information out there. It was simply buried deep in contemporary chronicles. Some had never been translated from Latin; others had not been digitised or indexed. That meant going through them page by page, which was slow, painstaking work - but ultimately incredibly fruitful.
At times, it felt like finding buried treasure. I uncovered surprising and highly story-worthy details about both Nicola’s first husband and her uncle, including material I had not seen mentioned in any history of the family. Discovering those hidden sources of conflict - events that must have had a profound impact on Nicola and those around her – ended up being one of the most exciting and rewarding parts of writing the novel.
Does one of the main characters hold a special place in your heart? If so, why?
Nicola holds a very special place in my heart because she is the reason I wrote the book. I first came across her story at Lincoln Castle and was astonished that a woman who had played such a remarkable role in English history was not better known. The more I learned about her, the more I wanted to understand the girl she might once have been before she became the formidable woman who held Lincoln Castle against all comers.
In Lady of Lincoln, Nicola is brave, but not effortlessly so. She makes mistakes, follows her heart when perhaps she should not, and often has to learn through pain, grief and responsibility. That is what makes her so compelling to me. She is not simply ‘strong’ in an easy, modern sense; her strength is earned. She grows into leadership through love for her family, her people, her castle and, eventually, through a hard-won belief in herself. I admire her courage, but I think I love her most for her loyalty: once she accepts that others depend on her, she will do almost anything to protect them.
The character many people tell me is their favourite is a secondary character – one of the castle’s garrison – called Saewulf. Saewulf also holds a special place in my heart because he is so much more than the rough soldier he first appears to be. He has grown up in the harshest of circumstances, the son of a woman who worked in a brothel, surrounded by poverty, judgement and violence, yet he is not hardened in the way people might expect.
Saewulf loves his mother and sister fiercely, and that love shapes him. Saewulf is capable of brutal acts; he lives in a brutal world and has learned to survive within it. But he also has a profound respect for women, especially those whom society is quickest to dismiss or condemn. He can be frightening, even dangerous, yet he is also loyal, protective and deeply human. Through him, I wanted to show that honour is not always found where medieval society expects to find it. Saewulf has no noble blood, no polished manners and no easy life, but he understands loyalty, gratitude and respect in a way some far grander men never do. His devotion to Nicola matters because she earns it not through rank alone, but through seeing the humanity in him and in the people under her care.
If your book was to be made into a movie, who are the celebrities that would star in it?
Lady Nicola (main character) - Saoirse Ronan
Sir William FitzErneis, ‘Fitz’ (love interest) – Henry Cavill
Sir Gerard de Camville (love interest) – Pedro Pascal
Bella (best friend, daughter of Aaron) - Golshifteh Farahani
Gyda (old nurse and maid) – Brenda Fricker
Raghild (young maid) - Florence Pugh
Baron Richard de la Haye (Nicola’s father)- Gabriel Byrne
Sir Edwin (garrison commander) – Sean Bean
Saewulf (soldier) - Stephen Graham
Aaron of Lincoln (leader of Lincoln’s Jews) - Ben Kingsley
Baron Ralph de la Haye (Nicola’s uncle) - Mark Gatiss
King Henry II - Ciaran Hinds
Henry the Young King (Henry II’s rebellious son) - Timothée Chalamet
Sir William Marshal (knight) - Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
What do you hope your readers take away from this book?
I hope readers come away from Lady of Lincoln feeling that Nicola de la Haye is no longer a forgotten name from the margins of history, but a living, breathing woman whose courage, flaws, loves and losses mattered.
At its heart, this is a story about female agency in a world designed to deny it; about duty and desire, love and loyalty, ambition and honour, and the quiet strength required to protect others when power is uncertain and survival is never guaranteed.
Nicola begins as a young woman taught to believe she needs a man to safeguard her inheritance and her people, but through heartbreak, betrayal, war and responsibility, she learns that true leadership lies not in birth or gender, but in courage, judgement, compassion and service.
I hope readers feel immersed in the danger and texture of the twelfth century, while recognising something timeless in Nicola’s struggle for self-belief and respect. Most of all, I hope they remember her not simply as the woman who held Lincoln Castle, but as a woman who loved fiercely, endured deeply, inspired loyalty, and earned her place in history.
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