About Rosemary Morris
My large collection of fiction
and non-fiction is kept in bookcases throughout my house.
To bring order to my books, files and
magazines I decided to use the smallest bedroom as a combined office and
library. The walls are painted a honey-tinted cream, there is easy-clean
laminate flooring and an oriental rug in which reds and cream predominate. When
the cream Venetian blinds are raised, I look out of the window at my organic
garden, beyond which is a green and a fringe of trees which border woodland.
Now, I am looking forward to the
arrival of a custom made 6ft high 8ft wide oak bookcase and a desk.
I spend a lot of time reading
non-fiction and making notes for my novels.
It will be about eighteen months
or more until I begin writing Grace, Lady of Cassio, the sequel to Yvonne, Lady
of Cassio, which is set in Edward II's reign. Before I write the first
sentences of a new story I immerse myself in the era.
Today I read that in 1369, during
the reign of Edward III, the Black Death broke out in England for the third
time. Among those who died was the young Duchess of Lancaster - the lady
Blanche wife of John of Gaunt, daughter of the great warrior Henry of
Lancaster, the heroine of Chaucer's earliest major
poem.
Froissart's description of her
touches my heart. "Who died young and fair, at about the age of twenty-two
years. Gay and glad she was, fresh and sportive, sweet, simple and humble semblance,
the fair lady men called Blanche."
Writing Romantic Historical Fact Fiction
There is a
hypothesis that there are only seven basic plots. This should not deter new
novelists, who need to devise their own special twists in the tale and write
from the heart.
I write
romantic historical faction fiction, which I shall focus on it in this blog.
You might ask,
what is the classification of all genres of historical fiction? The Historical
Novel Society’s definition is: ‘The novel must have been written at least fifty
years after the event, described, or written by someone who was not alive at
the time of those events, and who therefore only approached them by research.’
Historical
novelists are under an obligation to readers to transfer them into another
believable time and space, that need to be based on fact, even in, for example,
time slips in which the social and economic history should be correct.
My characters,
other than historical figures, are imaginary. Their backgrounds are researched
to the best of my ability.
To ground my
novels in times past, I weave real events into my plots and themes. To recreate
days gone by I study non-fiction and visit places of historical interest,
including museums, which are gold mines of information.
There are many
excellent novelists who write, historical fiction, romantic historical fact fiction,
and genre historical romance, etc. Unfortunately, there are other novelists who
cause me, and, presumably, other readers, to suspend belief.
Once, I was
torn between shock and hysterical laughter when I read a mediaeval romance in
which, the hero, a knight in full armor, galloped to a castle with sheer walls
to rescue the proverbial maiden in distress. Without putting aside his shield
and weapons, he flung himself off his horse. The knight scaled stone walls that
had neither handholds nor footholds. The author described him climbing through
a window - impossible as a castle in that era only had narrow apertures through
which arrows could be fired. When he gained access through the mythical window,
the fair heroine, seemingly unaffected by her ordeal, asked: ‘Would you like
some eggs and bacon and a nice cup of tea,’ as though she were offering him a
modern day English breakfast. At that point, the sense of the ridiculous
overcame me. I lost faith in the author and did not read on.
Of course, the
above is an extreme example from a novel accepted by a mainstream publisher.
However, I am frequently disappointed by 21st century characters
dressed in costume who have little in common with those who lived in previous
eras. Over the centuries, emotions, anger, hate, jealousy, love etc., have not
changed, but attitudes, clothes, the way of life and speech has.
To ground novels
in historical periods, a novelist should study them and verify their research. Inaccuracy
in any novel, whether it is set in the past or present, annoys the reader, and,
there will always be someone who points out a mistake, or even tosses the book
aside and never reads another one by that author.
Recently, I
was enjoying a historical romance when an American author described the heroine
admiring bluebells in bloom and simultaneously picking ripe blackberries in a
wood in England. In the United Kingdom, bluebells bloom in spring, and
blackberries ripen in the autumn. This is not the only novelist, who has jerked
me out of a story with horticultural errors.
Misnamed
characters also make me pause when reading. The first pages of a mediaeval
novel held my attention until I reached the part when the heroine’s sister,
Wendy, joined her. I sighed and went to make a cup of Rooibos tea. J. M. Barry
first used the name in his novel Peter Pan.
When searching
for a name, for example, suitable for a Tudor novel, the author might be
tempted to call the heroine, Lorna, although R. D. Blackmore invented it in
1869 when he wrote Lorna Doone.
I’m sure that
I’m not the only historical novelist, who agonises over character’s names. I recommend The Oxford
Dictionary of English Christian Names, an invaluable resource.
Since R. D.
Blackmore wrote, a significant change in some published fiction has been the
introduction of explicit sex, which is often gratuitous. In my opinion less is
more. The impact of the scene in Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind, in the
book and in the film, when Rhett Butler sweeps Scarlet off her feet and carries
her to their bedroom, would have less impact with explicit details of how they
made love.
In conclusion,
a skillful historical novelist should hold the readers’ attention and take them
into the realm of fiction on a factually accurate, enjoyable journey.
Yvonne Lady of Cassio
When Yvonne and Elizabeth, daughters of ruthless Simon Lovage, Earl of
Cassio, are born under the same star to different mothers, no one could have
foretold their lives would be irrevocably entangled.
Against the background of Edward II’s turbulent reign in the fourteenth
century, Yvonne, Lady of Cassio, contains imaginary and historical characters.
It is said the past is a foreign country in which things were done
differently. Nevertheless, although that is true of attitudes, such as those
towards women and children, our ancestors were also prompted by ambition,
anger, greed, jealousy, humanity, duty, loyalty, unselfishness and love.
From early childhood, despite those who love her and want to protect
her, Yvonne is forced to face difficult economic, personal and political
circumstances, during a long, often bitter struggle.
Novels by Rosemary Morris
Early 18th Century novels. Tangled Love, Far Beyond
Rubies, The Captain and The Countess
Regency Novels. False
Pretences, Sunday’s Child, Monday’s Child, Tuesday’s Child, Wednesday’s Child.
Thursday’s Child will
be published in July 2018
Mediaeval Novel. Yvonne
Lady of Cassio. The Lovages of Cassio Book One
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