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Author · Storyteller
James Bell
@jamesbell
Writer of historical fiction with a particular interest in believable people, strong settings and stories that earn their endings.
Behind the stories
About the writer
James Bell writes across historical fiction and drama, with a particular interest in character, atmosphere, revision and the details that turn a manuscript into a finished book.
A finished page should still feel alive.
Books and story worlds
Stories by James Bell
On the writing desk
Currently creating
First draft
The Last Bell at St Werburgh's
In 1846 Chester, a parish clerk and part-time bell ringer finds himself drawn into the quiet unravelling of a family dispute over a crumbling house, an unpaid debt, and a child no one seems willing to claim. As the city shifts under railway work, church politics and old grudges, he has to decide whether loyalty means keeping the peace or telling the truth. The book follows ordinary people caught between duty, damage and the practical cost of silence.
37%
Draft progress
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