From the record

Notes on a true story

Sourced notes on Eleanor Velasco Thornton, the woman behind the flying lady, Charles Sykes, The Whisper, and the P&O liner Persia. Period photographs are labelled as period. No invented scenes.

• Eleanor Thornton and the place in the boat

  Eleven days before the Persia. Her place for him. The letter is in the A+ record.

• Eleanor Thornton and the SS Persia

  Passenger death stitch. 30 December 1915. No invented last hours.

• Lord Montagu and Eleanor Thornton, Edwardian record

  Secretary. Fifteen years. The Whisper first. She sat for the public face.

• The Spirit of Ecstasy Rolls-Royce is a public name

  The public figure. Eleanor Thornton. Charles Sykes. Registered 6 February 1911. The Whisper came first.

• The sea took her on a winter afternoon

  WW1 historical fiction based on a true story. The P&O liner Persia, 30 December 1915. The New York Times still had the list in motion.

• Eleanor Thornton and the Spirit of Ecstasy

  The woman behind the flying lady. A period photograph. Rolls-Royce registered the figure on the sixth of February, 1911.

• The Whisper, Charles Sykes

  Before Rolls-Royce had an emblem, Lord Montagu had one of his own. Hush. Say nothing.

• The SS Persia, 1915

  The New York Times, the second of January, 1916. A WW1 shipwreck. She has no grave but the sea.

• Fifteen years. Edwardian England forbidden love

  He sat three places down the table and was not permitted to look at her. His words.

• Two counts that fight stay on the page

  Historical fiction based on a true story. Labelled artefacts. The Persia totals are not tidied. The book is live.

• Eleven days before the Persia

  A shipwreck novel based on a true story. She wrote to his wife. The letter is in the A+ record. No last speech.

• The unnamed face, and the search that found her

  The woman behind the flying lady. Eleanor Velasco Thornton. Charles Sykes never named the face. A period photograph.