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Iconic Bury St Edmunds Grade II Listed Cupola House and Halley's Comet inspire new novel by Anne-Marie Howell




A global event and 'house full of secrets' have inspired the lastest novel by an award-winning Bury St Edmunds author.

Mystery of the Night Watchers is the latest novel by Anne-Marie Howell and was inspired by Halley’s Comet, her home town, in particular the iconic Grade II Listed Cupola House.

It tells the story of Nancy who, in May 1910, is uprooted from her home in Leeds, to start a new life in Suffolk with a grandfather she has never met.

Ann-Marie Howell. Picture by Tom Soper
Ann-Marie Howell. Picture by Tom Soper

The only explanation her mother gives is that her grandfather is unwell and, as a keen astronomer, needs assistance viewing Halley’s comet.

Her grandfather lives in Cupola House, in The Traverse, Bury St Edmunds.

“The idea for this story arose from an article I read about Halley’s comet where I discovered that some members of the scientific community of the time thought that the gas present in the comet’s tail could poison the air we breathe.

Cupola House, Bury St Edmunds, in Edwardian times, is the setting for the historical adventure novel. Picture by Mark Westley.
Cupola House, Bury St Edmunds, in Edwardian times, is the setting for the historical adventure novel. Picture by Mark Westley.

“I read many old newspaper articles and learned that this hysteria was felt in many parts of the world.

All of the things I refer to in the book did happen, such as the manufacture of anti-comet pills by people trying to make some easy money, the sale of gas masks and the advice to seal up windows and doors.

Anne-Marie’s previous book, The House of One Hundred Clocks, won the Mal Peet Children’s Award and the East Anglian Book of the Year Award.

“Once I’d decided to write about Halley’s comet, I needed a worthy building where someone might view it from,” said Ann-Marie.

Anne-Marie Howell's latest novel.
Anne-Marie Howell's latest novel.

“Cupola House is an iconic landmark with a vaulted cupola, a type of rooftop observatory.

I’ve always wondered who might have sat up there and taken in the bird’s-eye view.

"Visiting the cupola, I was able to look over the roofs of Bury, along streets and even into other people’s homes. It was then that my book idea began to form more clearly.

"What if the family in my story were pretending to look through their telescope at the comet, but were in fact looking at something else?”

Ann-Marie’s love of bringing the past to life and finding inspiration in the stories around her has earned her huge local support.

Her last book, The House of One Hundred Clocks, won the Mal Peet Children’s Award and the East Anglian Book of the Year Award, the first time a children’s book has won the prize, whose past recipients include Sarah Perry.

Since her 2019 debut The Garden of Lost Secrets, Ann-Marie has fast cemented herself as a 'stand-out' author of middle-grade historical fiction.

She has enjoyed widespread critical acclaim, twice being afforded the prestigious Times Children’s Book of the Week slot.

Mystery of the Night Watchers, by A. M. Howell, is aimed at readers between the ages of eight and 12-years-old.

It publishes July 8 in paperback from Usborne, priced £7.99.

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