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Debut novelist Caroline Sandon talks to BBC journalist and presenter Gwenan Edwards about her historical novel inspired by the home she lives in and the tragic events of 1741 when its then owner Sir William Keyt set fire to himself and the house in a fit of madness. His troubles had started with an affair with his wife’s maid and then the attempted murder of the butler. Sandon’s novel opens in 1731 with the death of Keyt’s youngest son in an accident and follows his destructive passion as he ruins both his family and his once-grand home.

Sandon dreamt of being a writer from the moment she won her first national poetry competition at ten. However, life took a different course including a law degree, a spell as a model, and later founding an interior design company working on many of England’s grand house. What remained of Norton House was acquired by Sandon’s husband’s ancestors 250 years ago and has remained in the family ever since.