history – Ali Bacon, Author

July 7, 2025

Fanny Stevenson Barges In: #BeyondtheBook #TheAbsentHeart

When I first encountered Fanny Osbourne, she appeared as a footnote in Louis Stevenson’s story—emotionally fragile, grieving, and overshadowed. But the more I read, the more she demanded centre stage. Like my own heroine Frances Sitwell, Fanny was shaped by loss and resilience, but unlike Frances, she courted controversy and defied convention with unapologetic strength. Camille Peri’s A Wilder Shore and other biographies have only deepened my fascination with this remarkable woman—adventurer, writer, and the fierce force behind one of literature’s most celebrated figures. Without Fanny, there may have been no Louis as we know him. Continue reading Fanny Stevenson Barges In: #BeyondtheBook #TheAbsentHeart

October 29, 2017January 24, 2018

A Lot of Linen Going On

My home town of Dunfermline may only recently have acquired a Heritage Quarter but it has never lacked heritage: King Robert the Bruce of Bannockburn fame has his name emblazoned around the abbey tower; more recently Andrew Carnegie lavished quite a few of his millions on the place of his birth, equipping us with the … Continue reading A Lot of Linen Going On

November 28, 2013

Fry’s Chocolate Dream

Sweets and chocolate bars must be as evocative of past times as smells or music. One of the first errands I ever ran was when my granny sent me for a bar of ‘Caddy Pep’(Cadbury’s Peppermint Cream) and my vocabulary was given an early boost by all those long words experienced by Fry’s Five Boys. … Continue reading Fry’s Chocolate Dream