A FORMER teacher drew inspiration from a famous historical tapestry to write her debut novel.

Carol McGrath had taught history lessons to students at Bicester’s Cooper School about the Bayeux Tapestry using pictures of theNorman Conquest artwork.

But when she saw the tapestry for real during a visit to France, its scenes involving three women got her thinking.

Mrs McGrath decided to do an MPhil in research and creative writing at the University of London, and knew she had discovered a story that she wanted to write.

She has since won a book deal to write a trilogy based on three women depicted on the tapestry.

Her first book, The Handfasted Wife, is a novel looselybased on the life of Edith Swan Neck, common law wife of Harold, the English king slain at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

Images from the tapestry, including Edith searching the battlefield for her lover’s body, have been included in the book.

Mother-of-two Mrs McGrath, of Launton, near Bicester, said: “There was a little film shown just before you go in to see the tapestry, and I saw Edith wandering through the battlefield trying to identify her husband’s body.

“I then got interested in what these women went through.We have always heard stories of men but don’t know what those royal women went through.

“I had to do a lot of research before writing the novel and I also did quite a lot of speculation to fill in the gaps in the story.”

Part of her research involved reading chronicles at the Bodleian Library in Oxford which she said were “beautifully written, full of life, intelligence and poetry”.

The book was launched at Bicester’s Coles Bookstore, in Crown Walk, earlier this month.

She added: “I loved writing the books. It became quite emotional.

“They always say with writing that what you see as a reader will be the tip of the iceberg.

“I wanted to present a book that offered readers possibilities. We don’t know what happened between Harold and Edith. We can only guess what happened.”

Novelist Fay Weldon, one of her examiners, said it was “compelling”.

It is published by Accent Press and is available online at Amazon or from Coles bookstore.