“It took a long time to sink in”: Sasha Butler on her debut book deal and writing The Marriage Contract, her shortlisted historical novel about about lost dreams, second chances, and the courage it takes to choose your own path.
Many congratulations on your book deal with Salt Publishing, as a lead debut for their expansion into historical and genre fiction. How did it feel to receive the book deal news?
It was joyful but also very surreal! I’d wanted it for such a long time – imagined and wondered whether it would happen – so to actually have it happen was a really strange experience. It took a long time to sink in.
How long did The Marriage Contract take to write?
It took the best part of three years to write, and at least seven drafts – although within some of those are mini drafts too. But between starting writing it to publication day, the whole journey will have taken over five years. It’s strange to think of myself five years ago – when I started, I wasn’t even sure whether I could finish a full-length novel. I’ve learnt a huge amount.
How have your agent and publisher influenced the final version of your book?
My agent, Katie Fulford (Bell Lomax Moreton) has been incredible – we did a heavy edit, and under Katie’s guidance I did a lot of work on the structure, on Francis’s story and raising the stakes of the novel. Edits with Salt are beginning imminently, and I’m excited to get started.
The Marriage Contract shone out for your ability to melt away the time and space between now and the C16th. Can you share any crafting insights into the selection of historical details that both bring the story to life and sweep readers along, for example, this passage on your opening page:
“She turns, quick as a hare, feet slipping on stone. The rising sun casts strips of light amongst the shadows as she darts through the house, past the great hall and the parlour, through the kitchen and into the still room, with its smell of rosemary and lavender and thyme. She shouts for Ma, and together they rummage the shelves to the clatter of pottery, searching for the herbs, the tinctures, the something, the anything that could save a child’s life.” The Marriage Contract by Sasha Butler.
That’s really kind of you to say. I wanted the novel to immerse readers, and make them feel that they too were in the room with the characters – a bystander experiencing everything.
I did some broad brushstroke research to get into the period, but I was too eager to start writing my first draft to do a huge amount of research (which is also to say I’m not too much of a plotter in the initial stages!). A lot of my research happened when I was redrafting and editing, once I knew the direction of the novel and where the gaps were – otherwise I could’ve spent years researching and not writing any words, so getting the initial draft down was really helpful in giving my research some focus.
I’ve always loved National Trusts – after lockdown I visited some of properties (Baddesley Clinton, Hardwick Hall, Packwood House to name a few), spoke to volunteers, and tried to imagine what life would’ve been like, living in those places in the 16th Century. I went with very specific questions too – I remember at one point being preoccupied with what floors were made of, and what they looked like (which is also to say, my research led me to some strange, interesting and sometimes incredibly banal topics!). All of which, I hope, has contributed to making the world feel more real and immersive.
Do you have any advice on mixing of historical and ‘modern’ language in dialogue so that speech is both authentic and enjoyable to read?
We can’t know, really, how people in the 1500s spoke, particularly the ordinary person – the yeoman, the local innkeeper – so for me it was about creating dialogue that felt fitting for both that period and a contemporary audience.
I spent a lot of time checking the etymology of words and researching idioms that existed in the 16th Century. Where possible, if a word or idiom didn’t exist in that period, I tried not to use it. I tried to reference things that would’ve been familiar to people of the era, such as the natural world, which, luckily, is still largely recognisable and accessible for readers. I also combed through the novel to remove anything that seemed too contemporary and could pull readers from the period – such as ‘ok’ or ‘teenager’.
Did you make any surprising discoveries during your historical research that significantly influenced the narrative?
I loved finding out about Levina Teerlinc, a miniaturist painter who was employed by the Tudor court. This helped me characterise my protagonist, Eliza. Women who created art and were paid for their art existed in the 16th Century in England – it just took some sifting for me to find them.
Eliza is an artist of fairly high social standing who is in love with a young man who works for her violent father. Can you tell us a bit more about the novel, time period and the inspiration behind the story?
The Marriage Contract is set in the Elizabethan period and focuses on Eliza, a talented artist, who is in love with her childhood friend and sweetheart, Francis. But Eliza’s tyrannical and violent father has other ideas. As summer draws to a close, Francis vanishes after a drunken night at the inn, and Eliza is forced to marry a gentleman. Whilst Eliza adjusts to her new life and husband, Francis is adrift on his own journey and fixated on returning to Eliza. But as Eliza grows closer to her husband, she uncovers a deceit she never imagined, causing her to question her own loyalties and commit her own betrayals. After everything, who will Eliza become? And what choices will she make?
Before I started writing The Marriage Contract, I wrote a short story set in a very approximate Tudor period, with two siblings and an abusive father. When turning over ideas for writing something longer, I used this as a starting point. As a bit of a history nerd, I always knew I wanted to write an historical novel, and the Elizabethan era posed the perfect context for key things I wanted to explore in the novel – such as arranged marriages, love interrupted and a man disappearing – to conceivably happen.
In pretty much every story I consume I’m always searching for the love story, so I knew when I started writing The Marriage Contract that this was going to be a central part. But I wanted my protagonist, Eliza, to want something more than a romantic relationship; in this way her desire to become an artist became a cornerstone of the novel.
I also knew I wanted to write about ‘ordinary’ people in the past; although I love reading court novels, I wasn’t interested in recreating this. I wanted to explore how, despite the gap of over four hundred years yawning between us, the essence of what it is to be human – with dreams, desires and fears – is still the same.
“I was keen to show that nothing is ever neatly sewn up; I wanted it to be reminiscent of real life in that way.” – Sasha Butler.
You take the reader right inside Eliza’s heart and readers felt a strong connection with her experience of domestic violence and the complex choices she is faced with in a deeply patriarchal time. Why do you think these challenges resonate so strongly with contemporary readers?
Sadly, we still live in a patriarchal world, and one with endemic violence against women and girls. The domestic violence described in The Marriage Contract is not specific to the 16th Century – although it was perhaps more of an overtly violent era. Again, it’s a novel about ‘ordinary’ people in the Elizabethan era, facing struggles and pressures that are still prevalent in the 21st Century, which perhaps makes it resonant.
The Marriage Contract explores themes of love, betrayal, and autonomy. What do you hope readers will take away from Eliza’s journey?
Female autonomy was a key theme in the novel for me, and it was really interesting to discover real women who fell through the pretty watertight strictures of patriarchy and found their own control.
I hope the novel surprises readers, and I hope it divides and provokes discussion. I hope readers are able to root for particular characters, and that some plot points provide a deep satisfaction! But I was keen to show that nothing is ever neatly sewn up; I wanted it to be reminiscent of real life in that way.
The Marriage Contract shortlisted for the Bath Novel Award 2022. What did this mean to you?
It was amazing! It gave me confidence in what I was doing.
At the time of submitting to the Bath Novel Award The Marriage Contract (formerly As Soft as Dreams) was my first novel, I didn’t have much of a writing support network, and I was unagented. I had a dream of being a published author, but I was largely adrift and isolated, chipping away at words in my spare time, wondering if they were any good. Being shortlisted for the Bath Novel Award was amazing – it made me feel that maybe this pipe dream could be a reality. It was great to receive feedback, helped me to connect with other writers, and gave me the confidence to take my writing seriously (although hopefully not too seriously!), and for others to take it seriously too.
What is your writing routine and where do you like to write?
I try to write during a couple of evenings each week, and I write every Friday afternoon, when I usually go to a local café. I find being in a different space away from home can help to provide a fresh perspective and less distractions.
What’s next for your writing journey?
I’m currently writing book two – another historical novel set in a completely different period. I’m learning that no project is the same, and what I thought I would be sure about following my first novel, such as the process, or the time something will take, keeps changing! It’s a challenge and a brain workout, but I love it.
Lastly, do you have any advice for writers thinking of entering 2025’s Bath Novel Award?
Working towards a deadline is a really helpful way of finishing a draft; I found entering the Bath Novel Award a brilliant way to focus and to ensure that I finished something. Finishing anything is a huge success, regardless of the outcome of the prize, and you deserve to celebrate this.
But of course, entering opens up the possibility of being long listed, short listed or winning – which can open amazing doors for your writing career. Banish that self-doubt: someone’s work has to make those lists, someone’s novel has to win – why not yours?
Interview by Caroline Ambrose
SASHA BUTLER is a Birmingham based writer. Her first novel, The Marriage Contract will be published in 2025 and was shortlisted for the Bath Novel Award 2022, under the former title, As Soft as Dreams. In her spare time, Sasha enjoys exploring National Trusts and planning trips to far-flung places. She lives with her partner in a little apartment with an ever-growing collection of books and plants. Follow Sasha on Instagram: @sashabutler_writes
The Marriage Contract by Sasha Butler
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‘Once she had thought of them, their love, as a fortress that nothing, not giants nor dragons nor men with fists and minds of gore could tear down. She realises now, that their love is malleable, mouldable, breakable. As soft as dreams.’
Worcestershire, 1577. Eliza Litton, a talented artist, has loved Francis since they were children. But when he vanishes after a night at the inn, her brutal father forces her to marry Edmund, a wealthy and distant stranger.
At first, Eliza grieves for Francis, her heart caught in the past. But Edmund surprises her — with kindness, encouragement, and a life she never dared imagine. Slowly, she begins to fall for the man she never chose. Far away, Francis fights to return to her. But when Eliza uncovers a secret that shatters her fragile peace, she must decide where her heart truly lies — and what she is willing to risk for love.
