Jessica Thomas was born in North Wales, and currently makes her home on the border of North Wales and Cheshire, and joined the team at Reynolds's News and Miscellany in June 2021.
She undertook her undergraduate degree in English, in the University of Wales, Aberystwyth and had a particular interest in the emergence of the novel and Victorian fiction.
Following her undergraduate degree, Jessica then completed the Graduate Diploma in Law and practised as a solicitor for several years, whilst studying for a Masters in English Literature with the Open University.
This degree had a focus on Eighteenth Century Literature and the development of the novel form. This passion and commitment to the academic study of literature led Jessica to return to university and complete a PGCE degree with Liverpool Hope University in 2010, followed by a Masters degree in Nineteenth Century Literature and Culture in the University of Chester, in 2020.
Jessica is currently working towards a PhD with Chester University. Her particular area of interest is the writing of Zola and Huysmans and the effect of Napoleon III, the Second Empire of Paris and the redevelopment of Paris, by Haussmann.
In addition to this area, Jessica also has a fascination with the writing of G. W. M. Reynolds and also that of his wife, Susannah. She has edited several journalistic and fictional works of Reynolds, including Pickwick Married and the poetry of Susannah Reynolds. She has written several articles about Reynolds’s writing and British Victorian culture and technology, and is currently editing Reynolds’s novel, The Seamstress.
Dr Stephen Basdeo
Stephen Basdeo is a historian and writer based in Leeds, UK. He is the author of several peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and popular history books.
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