Research and Sangria

Barcelona November 2024

Whilst the first flakes of snow fell in England, I headed to Barcelona to do some research for my work in progress: The Accidental Heretic.

Set in Valencia and Barcelona in 1756, my protagonist, Antonio, finds himself incarcerated in the Inquisition Prison after performing a clever but innocent prank to uncover a thief. The Palace of the Inquisition, trial hall, and prison, were housed here in the Palau Reial Major, the buildings and courtyard pictured are featured in a lot of major scenes in my book.

The novel is inspired by a transcript of an actual trial, and this photograph gives me goosebumps. At the bottom of the page is the signature of the prisoner who inspired my novel. His name was Antonio Adorno (I have used a modified name in my book - because although I have stayed faithful to the trial records, I have fictionalized the events that brought him there). Here Antonio is signing to agree to pay the costs of his trial - food, clothing and the wages of his jailers and prosecutors.

Such documents are not easy to get hold of, and the story of how this one came into the public domain is as interesting as the trial itself.

In March 1820, citizens of Barcelona stormed the Palace - part of a broader uprising against absolutism. They freed the prisoners and destroyed instruments of torture. Documents were also largely destroyed but a few - including a handful of trial transcripts - were retained, shipped to the New World to be preserved as records.

The Reial Monestir de Santa Maria de Pedralbes.

Another key location in my novel, I spent a lovely morning wandering through its cloisters and picturing the scene of the quiet wedding that I featured in my book.

That wedding culminated in a furious panic-ridden horse-cart chase through the streets of Barcelona. One of the more dramatic scenes in my story - fictional of course, although as I walked towards the city I loved the visual imagery of it.

At the end of several days traipsing through the streets, making notes, correcting my prose and discussing ‘what-ifs’ - I finally got around to a long-promised and well-earned jug of Sangria.

Thanks to my long suffering sister Cathy for waiting so long for her drink.

Research would be nothing without going to the places I write about, touching the stone of the walls, walking on the same paving stones, and seeing what my characters would have seen.