Order Conflagration! here.
My second mystery
novel, Conflagration!, is my first historical mystery. BWL has
a series of
historical mysteries than span Canada from coast to coast. I was offered the
opportunity to write the book and step back to 1734 when the colony of New
France was ruled by King Louis XV. It was an opportunity I embraced. With
trepidation.
At readings and book clubs, I joke that the I am not from
Quebec, I do not speak French
as more than 80% of Quebecers do, and I do not write
historical mysteries. So, of
course, I said “yes” when I was offered me the opportunity
to write
Conflagration!. I am grateful I did.
What scared me most about the writing the book was getting
something wrong.
Misspeaking. Misunderstanding. Misconstruing. The foundation
for Conflagration! (and
for all historical mysteries) is accuracy. As a freelance
journalist, I am used to writing on
topics that I knew little (and somethings nothing) about. I
have written articles on
everything from buying cyber insurance to surviving a
helicopter crash to paying the
tooth fairy. I know how to research, how to interview
people, how to find people to
interview, and how to find accurate sources of information.
For the most part though, the
research I’ve done was contemporary or contemporary
adjacent. It wasn’t from 300
years ago.
Conflagration! chronicles the arrest, trial, and
subsequent execution of Marie-Joseph
Angélique, an enslaved Black woman accused of setting the
lower town of Montreal on
fire. When the flames were finally squelched, forty-six
homes and buildings were gone.
The quarter, where the merchants lived and ran their
businesses, was destroyed.
Fortunately, no one died.
I had never heard of Angélique, had never read her story in
the many history classes I
took throughout school and university. I was not alone in
this lack of knowledge. That is
because Angélique’s story is also the story of slavery in
Canada, and for centuries we
have avoided the topic or rewritten the facts to shape the
narrative. Fortunately,
Angélique’s story is more well known in Quebec, where a
plaque has been erected in
her memory in Old Montreal.
As I delved into the events of April 10, 1734, I discovered
others had gone before me.
There were books, websites, articles, documentaries, shorts.
I embraced them all.
Some of these sources also referenced court documents,
meticulously recorded, albeit
in French. One site translated those documents although
translations from old French to
modern English are not always clear and understandable. The
golden rule in journalism
is you must have at least two sources before you use any
information. I also embraced
this rule.
As nerve-wracking as ensuring my story accurately referenced
the trial transcripts and
sequence of events from the first flames to Angélique’s
final breath, I discovered that
the justice system was only one element of research
required. At one point, I had my
main character Philippe Archambeau, a court clerk assigned
specifically to document
Angélique’s case, get up early and make himself a cup of
coffee. Then I asked myself,
“Did they drink coffee in New France in 1734?” (They did,
but tea was more common.)
This issue of everyday life came up in a myriad of ways.
Philippe goes to put on boots.
(Did they wear boots three hundred years ago? What kind?)
His wife, Madeleine, is
making supper. (How do you make supper when there are no
stoves, no ovens, no
electricity? What do you eat?)
The answers to these and a multitude of other questions were
answered thanks to
reliable sources on the internet, books written by
authoritative sources, individuals
knowledgeable about aspects of the story, the time, the
history – and more.
I owe them all a debt of gratitude.
