Welcome to the Joy McAlpine-Black book page, where you can find news and updates on my latest book, Ann Shaw (1788-1854), which is out in 2025.
The catalyst for Ann Shaw (1788-1854) was reading the memoirs of my great-great-great-grandfather, William Shaw (1798–1872), the apostle of Wesleyanism quoted in every history of South Africa. It was then I discovered Ann, his wife, was almost entirely absent. I was curious and suspicious. Had something occurred to necessitate Ann’s removal from the records? Yes, it had.
Ann Shaw was a daughter of the Fens, a leader of the 1820 Settlers, and the Mother of Methodism in South Africa. After her 200 years in obscurity, I followed Ann to find her words to tell her story. I discovered how a publican’s daughter from the edge of the Wash influenced the education, alliances, and spirituality of a nation, but was erased by the men she trusted most. The narrative also laments the silencing of women in history and the high cost of motherhood.
If you enjoy reading literary nonfiction about historical women’s lives, or British and South African history, or are thinking of investigating your own family history, then Ann Shaw is for you.
I am currently editing Ann Shaw for a publisher and will announce a publication date, with a linked series of talks, in due course.
The Methodism Ann initiated at the Cape (Nelson Mandela’s faith) has now become the largest denomination in South Africa today, with over two million members. The time to reveal its strong female roots is long overdue.
Photography by Roddy Fox © Joy McAlpine-Black
Edited Out
The majority of a writer’s work is edited out (thank goodness). But sometimes there are small sections that writers keep and tuck away like loose scraps of paper in a drawer. This tab is my small drawer for edited out bits that group naturally under a theme. The first collation of edits includes three odd writerly coincidences that happened to me when writing Ann Shaw. Where it felt like Ann was stalking me as much as I was hunting her.
You have brought Ann Shaw to life … Her character shines through, her strength, resilience, devotion to God, and her commitment to William. What she endured living in the Cape during those times, the wrench of being away from her family, friends, and country, yet still her determination to more than just endure, to thrive. As an African woman reading this, I salute Ann Shaw, and this is because of how you have told her story.
Mbozi Haimbe, Winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Africa
This is a compelling and unusual non-fiction tale of an early nineteenth-century life. To read it is to feel the presence of ghosts of so many women considered unremarkable in their time or culture… Here your skills as a novelist are blended with the research and accurate detail a non-fiction work requires.
The Faculty of English, University of Cambridge