History, Memory, and the Human Thread
I’m John Rees, and I write historical fiction and essays.
My novels weave real people and events with imagined lives, exploring not just what happened, but what it may have felt like to experience it. My essays draw on history, philosophy, politics, and culture, reflecting on how ideas formed long ago continue to shape the present.
At the heart of both is what I call the human thread — the connections that carry memory and experience across time, reminding us how lives once lived still echo in the world we inhabit today.
Set against the bleak industrial landscape of Dowlais, this is a story of resilience and triumph. Orphaned and sent to London as a scullery maid, Eliza Turner’s art becomes her means of survival — and a voice for social reform.
Christmas, 1896. At Dolwyddelan Castle in North Wales, a medieval codex challenges the accepted history between Wales and England and draws Professor Owain Morgan into his first case — one where truth hides not in evidence, but in motive, silence, and fear.
I grew up in a mining village in South Wales, studied history, economics, philosophy, and psychology at University and spent more than 40 years working in the tech and consulting sector globally. I now live quietly in Snowdonia.
[ Read My Story ] →
My Journal is a collection of essays and reflections on history, philosophy, psychology, and the craft of storytelling. It’s a space for quieter writing — exploring how the past connects with the present, and how ideas continue to echo across time.
[ Read the Journal ]