The Truth of Sheemore
M.C. Widdowson
Type: ARC
Genre: Historical fiction, literary, dual timeline
Word count: 75,000
When a Liverpool nurse inherits her late father’s papers, she is drawn into the 1786 Irish murder trial of her ancestor Robert Keon. As the surviving testimony begins to fracture, Maud must decide whether she is uncovering a miscarriage of justice or repeating a family’s need to believe its own version of the past.
What's this?
The Truth of Sheemore is inspired by a real eighteenth‑century Irish murder case and the trial of the author’s own ancestor, Robert Keon, convicted and executed in 1786 after a jury took just fifteen minutes to reach its verdict.
When Maud inherits her late father’s research, she discovers a single handwritten note beside an old witness statement: “Liar?” That one word sends her on a journey from Liverpool to Ireland, determined to uncover what really happened on Sheemore Hill over two centuries earlier.
As Maud pieces together court records, witness testimony and family secrets, the story moves between the present day and 1786, where the events leading to the fatal shooting unfold. Drawing on verbatim courtroom testimony, the novel blends documented fact with fiction to explore a question that still resonates today: when history is written by the powerful, where does the truth survive?
Madeleine Widdowson is a retired nurse with a passion for genealogy and bringing ancestral stories to life. Her fascination with the Keon family began through her own family research and grew into years of archival work, visits to historic sites, and the study of original documents.
The Truth of Sheemore is inspired by the real 1786 trial of Robert Keon and weaves documented history with fiction to give voice to those whose stories have been overlooked. Madeleine lives on the Wirral, where she continues to uncover forgotten lives and transform them into historical fiction.
Please log in first.
Only ARC team members can mark as completed.
Only ARC team members can log a review.