Inside Story with Lucinda

Throughout almost thirty years of study, Kirsty Stonell Walker has championed the lives of 19th-century women, whom history has otherwise overlooked. In 2006, she published the only biography of Dante Gabriel Rossetti's most notorious model and muse, Fanny Cornforth. This was followed by a novel based on the life of another Pre-Raphaelite muse, Alexa Wilding, entitled A Curl of Copper and Purple. In 2015 she published her second novel, We Are Villains All, a murder mystery set around the lives of a Victorian poet and his best friend, a photographer. Since 2011, Kirsty has also been the writer of ‘The Kissed Mouth’ (www.fannycornforth.blogspot.com) a blog which airs Victorian dirty linen in a humorous and thought-provoking way.

In 2018, Kirsty published a non-fiction book, Pre-Raphaelite Girl Gang, revealing the lives of Pre-Raphaelite models, muses and artists, lushly illustrated by portraits by renowned illustrator and artist, Kingsley Nebechi, alongside the wonderful original paintings. In 2020, Kirsty published a dual biography of the pioneer photographer Julia Margaret Cameron and her model Mary Hillier, entitled Light and Love. Returning to her roots, this year Kirsty has released a new edition of Stunner: The Fall and Rise of Fanny Cornforth, in a colourful, deluxe edition. 

On the 15th of July, at midday, join Kirsty as she chats to Lucinda Hawksley about her writing career, for the Goldster Inside Story.