About Rosemary Morris, Historical Fiction Novelist by Rosemary Morris

 

 

To learn more about Rosemary please click on the image above

About Rosemary Morris, Historical Fiction Novelist.

 

Writing a novel is a solitary occupation. Every day, alone with my laptop, I work for eight hours, posting on face book and elsewhere, reading historical non-fiction to research my new classic historical romance rich in period detail and writing. Before the threat of covid, I visited places of historical interest to convey the lives and times of the protagonists in my tales of past times, who are not 21st characters in costume.

As a historical fiction novelist, I don’t think it is possible to portray every small fact about the past accurately, but I have a responsibility my readers to thoroughly research the eras in which my novels are set.

When my words flow well, I am tempted to work for many hours without a break, which is detrimental. Writing is mentally and physically tiring, so I have a five-minute break every hour, during which I stretch my body and exercise my eyes. If the weather permits, I work in my oranic garden. Prior to covid, I visited the health suite at the leisure centre to swim and enjoy the jacuzzi, steam room and sauna.

I don’t want to be a writer in a garret but sometimes I wish I lived in an ivory tower with nothing to distract me from my imaginary companions. However, the daily chores, cleaning, washing clothes, shopping etc., keep my feet on the ground, so does time with family and friends.

To read Rosemary’s historical, historical romance and literary fiction, set in Edward II’s reign, Queen Anne Stuart’s reign, and the Regency era, please visit her website to read the first three chapters

 

http://bwlpublishing.ca/morris-rosemary

 

http://rosemarymorris.co.uk

 

Rosemary’s novels are available from Amazon and Books We Love Publishers: https://bookswelove.ca/morris-rosemary/

 

 

Georgette Heyer. English Novelist and Short Story Writer by Rosemary Morris

 

 

To learn more about Rosemary please click on the image above. 

Georgette Heyer. English Novelist and Short Story Writer

 

16^th August 1902 – 4^th July 1974

Brief Biography

 Born in Wimbledon, Georgette is a feminine version of her father’s name, George. Her grandfather, George Heyer, a Russian fur merchant might have fled from a program and settled in England during the mid-nineteenth century and married an English woman. Georgettte’s father, bred to be an Englishman, had three older sisters. He read classics at Sussex College, Cambridge. His father had financial reverses, so he taught French at Kings College School, his salary a pitiful £135 a year. Nevertheless, he married twenty-five year old Sylvia Watkins, (from a family of tugboat owners) who studied the cello and piano at the Royal College of Music. In 1902, Georgette was born, followed by George Boris and Frank Dimitri.

Georgette’s father, who her friend described as a rolling stone resigned from the college Boris and Frank received good educations. In her own words Georgette mentioned: I was educated at day schools and did not go to college. Her well-read father an interesting conversationalist, encouraged her to read widely.

While Boris, a haemophiliac convalesced in Hastings, she made up the tale of The Black Moth to relieve her own boredom and her brother’s. Subsequently published in 1921 she contributed to the family income She later described its publication as ‘the first crack out of the bag.’ Her mother was uncertain about Georgette’s writing, but her father and literary agent encouraged her. She had embarked on a long, successful career as an author.

A friend said the young novelist was attractive, tall, her light brown hair had gold tints curled at the ends, and she had beautiful grey eyes. In the 1920’s ‘she was admirably soignee’.

At Christmas 1920 Georgette met tall, handsome Ronald Rougier when their families were staying at Bushey Park hotel. His family had a Huguenot heritage. They had settled in York and dealt in imports and exports. George was born in Odessa. He lived there for a while, learnt Russian and enjoyed caviar. He qualified as a mining engineer in 1922. After going out with each other for five years they became engaged in spring 1925 when Georgette’s fifth novel, Simon the Coldheart was published. A month later her father had a heart attack and died while Ronald played tennis with George. Her brothers were only 19 and 14. Boris had a job, but their sister supported Frank at school and at Cambridge, and she helped her hard up mother. From then on, Georgette wrote because ‘writing was in her blood’ and she needed money.

25-year-old Ronald married Georgette on the eighteenth of August, two days after her 23rd birthday. Until 1929 they lived in Tanginika Territory (Tanzania) and Macedonia then settled in London. Ronald and their son, Richard, pursued successful legal careers. Richard married Susanna Flint, divorced mother of two little boys. Georgette wrote Susie was the daughter we never had and thought we never wanted. The Rougiers enjoyed the role of step grandparents and were delighted when their grandson, Nicholas, was born

Georgette only answered fan letters about interesting historical facts. She refused to grant interviews, telling a friend: My private life concerns no one but myself and my family. When she died after fifty years of a happy marriage, her fans learned about her private life from obituaries.

Georgette Heyer wrote Pistols For Two in 1960 a collection of short stories, subsequently published as Snowdrift, which included three short stories. She wrote fifty-six novels, Between 1921 and 1972 Georgette Heyer wrote four historical novels, thirty-nine Regency Romances and twelve thrillers. My Lord John a historical biography about Henry V’s younger brother, John, Duke of Bedford was published posthumously in 1975. Six of Ms Heyer’s early novels Instead of the Thorn, Helen, Pastel and Barren Corn The Great Roxhythe and Simon the Cold Heart were supressed.

Georgette’s Regency novels are still in print. They created a popular genre, but few authors research their books as meticulously as the world famous novelist.

www.rosemarymorris.co.uk

 

Rosemary’s novels are available from Books We Love Publishers: https://bookswelove.net/morris-rosemary/

 

 

Elizabeth Goudge Best Selling Author ~ 1900 - 1984 by Rosemary Morris

To learn more about Rosemary and her work please click on the cover.

Elizabeth Goudge – Best Selling Author -1900-1984

By unknown. Original publication The Joy of The Snow by Elizabeth Goudge immediate source scanned from book.

 

Recently I re-read some of Elizabeth de Beauchamp Goudge’s acclaimed novels, which include The Little White Horse that J.K. Rowling selected of her favourite books and one of few with a direct influence on the Harry Potter series. (The novel won Goudge the annual Carnegie Medal of the Library Association, as the year's best children's book by a British subject. It was her own favourite among her works.) I have also re-visited my copy of Elizabeth’s autobiography, The Joy of The Snow. “For the millions enchanted and inspired by Elizabeth’s THE JOY OF THE SNOW will be an enduring monument to her life’s work. It is more than an autobiography. She tells us, in poignant, candid detail, the story of her spiritual, and physical journey from a golden Edwardian childhood…and gives a glimpse of the deeply personal inspiration behind some of the best loved writing of our time.”

Elizabeth’s parents were Reverend Henry Goudge, who taught in the cathedral school in Wells, Somerset, and Miss Ida Collenette, who met in Guernsey. Elizabeth loved her holidays at her maternal grandparents’ home on the Channel Islands. She lived in Wells until eleven years old when her father became a canon at Ely Cathedral and principal of the Theological College. Ely, was Elizabeth’s “Home of homes.” In 1923, her father accepted the prestigious post of Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford, and she was uprooted from Ely.

First educated at home by a governess, then sent to a boarding school in Hampshire in 1914, she was taught ‘how to run a big house, arrange flowers and be presented at court.  However, she had a teacher who introduced English literature, especially Shakespeare. It also familiarised her with the New Forest and the sea marshes at Keyhaven, fodder for her novels. There were few genteel ways for a young lady to earn a living so her parents insisted on her attending an Art College to learn crafts she could teach to others. She liked weaving, leather work etc., and wrote in her spare time.

The only child of a loving family, Elizabeth enjoyed a privileged life, but was neither well-educated nor prepared for the onslaught of the 20^th century, yet places where she had lived, would be the settings in her books. Her first published novel, Island Magic, set in Guernsey, was a great success in England and America. I enjoyed it as much when I read it for the second time as I did when I read it years ago. It incorporates Elizabeth’s invalid mother’s memories, island’s folklore, and myths. In the novel she describes St Peter’s Port where her maternal grandparents lived until they moved to a farm close to one which gave the fictional name Bon Repos. Her characters Rachel and Andre, who live there, are based on those grandparents she adored. The protagonists’ children, whose external and internal lives, hopes, and dreams Elizabeth portrays so sympathetically and vividly, that they almost leap from the page.  

A founding member of The Romantic Novelist’s Association, her next novel Green Dolphin Country published in 1944, brought her fame, won a Literary Guild Award and a special prize of £30,000 from Louis B. Mayer of MGM before being filmed.

Elizabeth’s gift of changing the commonplace into a magical, wonderous world inhabited by unique characters enthralled her fans. Her realistic, fantasy or historical fiction intertwines, legend and myth, spirituality and love of England that add to their appeal; She stated “As this world becomes increasingly ugly, callous and materialistic it needs to be reminded that the old fairy stories are rooted in truth, that imagination is of value, that happy endings do, in fact, occur, and that the blue spring mist that makes an ugly street look beautiful is just as real a thing as the street itself.”

www.rosemarymorris.co.uk

 

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Baroness Orczy by Rosemary Morris

 

To enjoy more of Rosemary's work please click on the image above.

Baroness Emma Orczy

    

I am a fan of well written historical fiction which recreates past times.  Baroness Orczy’s books are among my favourite novels, and I became curious about the author’s life and times.

 

 

Baroness Orczy

 

Best remembered for her hero, Percy Blakeney, the elusive scarlet pimpernel, Baroness Orczy was born in Tarna Ors, Hungary, on September 23, 1865, to Baron and Baroness Orczy.  Her parents frequented the magnificent court of the Austrian Hungarian Empire where the baron was well known as a composer, conductor and friend of Liszt, Wagner, and other composers.

Until the age of five, when a mob of peasants fired the barn, stables and fields destroying the crops, Emma Magdolna Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála “Emmuska” Orczy, enjoyed every luxury in her father’s magnificent, ancestral chateaux, which she later described as a rambling farmhouse on the banks of the River Tarna.  The baron and his family lived there in magnificent ‘medieval style’.  Throughout her life, the exuberant parties, the dancing, and the haunting gypsy music lived on in Emmuska’s memory.

After leaving Tarna Ors forever, the Orczys went to Budapest.   Subsequently, in fear of a national uprising, the baron moved his family from Hungary to Belgium.  Emmuska attended convent schools in Brussels and Paris until, in 1880, the baron settled his family in Wimpole Street, London.

 Fifteen-year-old Emmuska, learned English within six months, and won a special prize for doing so.  Later, she first attended the West London School of Art and then Heatherby’s School of Art, where she met her future husband, Montague Barstow, an illustrator.

Emmuska fell in love with England and regarded it as her spiritual birthplace, her true home.  When people referred to her as a foreigner, she replied there was nothing foreign about her, she her love was all English, for she loved the country.

Baron Orczy tried to develop his daughter’s musical talent. Emmuska chose art and had the satisfaction of her work being exhibited at The Royal Academy. Later, she turned to writing. 

In 1894 Emmuska married Montague, and, in her own words, the marriage was ‘happy and joyful’. 

The newlyweds enjoyed opera, art exhibitions, concerts, and the theatre.  Emmuska’s bridegroom was supportive of her and encouraged her to write.  In 1895 her translations of Old Hungarian Fairy Tales: The Enchanted Cat, Fairyland’s Beauty and Uletka and The White Lizard, edited with Montague’s help, were published. 

Inspired by thrillers she watched on stage, Emmuska wrote mystery and detective stories. The first featured The Old Man in the Corner.  For the generous payment of sixty pounds the Royal Magazine published it in 1901.  Her stories were an instant hit.  Yet, although the public could not get enough of them, she remained dissatisfied.

In her autobiography Emmuska wrote: ‘I felt inside my heart a kind of stirring that the writing of sensational stuff for magazines would not and should not, be the end and aim of my ambition.  I wanted to do something more than that.  Something big.’

Montague and Emmuska spent 1900 in Paris that, in her ears, echoed with the violence of the French Revolution.  Surely, she had found the setting for a magnificent hero to champion the victims of “The Terror”.           Unexpectedly, after she and her husband returned to England, it was while waiting for the train that Emmuska saw her most famous hero, Sir Percival Blakeney, dressed in exquisite clothes.  She noted the monocle held up in his slender hand, heard both his lazy drawl and his quaint laugh.  Emmuska told her husband about the incident and within five weeks had written The Scarlet Pimpernel.

     Very often, although the first did not apply to Emmuska and Montague, it is as difficult to find true love as it is to get published. A dozen publishers or more rejected The Scarlet Pimpernel.  The publishing houses wanted modern, true-life novels. Undeterred Emmuska and Montague turned the novel into a play.

The critics did not care for the play, which opened at the New Theatre, London in 1904, but the audiences loved it and it ran for 2,000 performances. As a result, The Scarlet Pimpernel was published and became the blockbuster of its era making it possible for Emmuska and Montague to live in an estate in Kent, have a bustling London home and buy a luxurious villa in Monte Carlo.

During the next 35 years, Emmuska wrote sequels to The Scarlet Pimpernel such as, Lord Tonys Wife, 1917, The League of The Scarlet Pimpernel 1919, but other historical and crime novels.  Her loyal fans repaid her by flocking to the first of several films about her gallant hero.  Released in 1935, it was produced by her compatriot, Alexander Korda, starred Lesley Howard as Percy, and Merle Oberon as Marguerite.

 Emmuska and Montague moved to Monte Carlo in the late 1910’s where they remained during Nazi occupation in the Second World War.

Montague died in 1943 leaving Emmuska bereft.  She lived with her only son and divided her time between London and Monte Carlo.  Her last novel Will-O’theWisp and her autobiography, Links in the Chain of Life were published in 1947 shortly before her death at the age of 82 on November 12, in the same year. Raise your glass and drink a toast to them.

 

http://bwlpublishing.ca/morris-rosemary

 

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Baroness Orczy and The Scarlet Pimpernel ~ Fiction and Fact by Rosemary Morris

 To learn more about Rosemary please click on the image above.

 I am a fan of well written historical fiction which recreates past times. After I read Baroness Orczy’s novels about her gallant hero, the scarlet pimpernel, I became curious about the author’s life and times.

 

Baroness Orczy

and

The Scarlet Pimpernel Fiction and Fact

 

                                          “They seek him here, they seek him there,

                                          Those French men seek him everywhere.

                                          Is he in Heaven? – Is he in hell?

                                          That damned annoying Pimpernel.”

 

The Scarlet Pimpernel, Baroness Orczy’s most famous character, is Percy, the gallant daredevil, Sir Percival Blakeney Bart.  He is the hero of her novels and short stories set in The French Revolution, so aptly nick-named The Reign of Terror.   

Orczy was a royalist with no sympathy for the merciless Jacobins who spared no efforts to achieve their political ambitions.  Historical accounts prove everyone in France was at risk of being arrested and sent to the guillotine.  Orczy’s works of fiction about the Scarlet Pimpernel display her detailed knowledge about Revolutionary France and capture the miserable atmosphere which prevailed in that era.

When writing about her novel The Laughing Cavalier, Percy’s ancestor, Orczy described Percival’s “sunny disposition, irresistible laughter, a careless insouciance and adventurous spirit”.

As I mentioned in my previous article in Baroness Orczy, in Vintage Script, Percy revealed himself to Orczy while she was waiting for a train at an underground station.  She saw him dressed in exquisite clothes that marked him as a late eighteenth century gentleman, noted the monocle he held up in his slender hand and heard both his lazy drawl and quaint laugh.  Inspired by their meeting she wrote The Scarlet Pimpernel in five weeks.

On the second of August 1792, Percy founded his gallant League of Gentlemen composed of nine members.  When ten more members enrolled in January 1793 there was “one to command and nineteen to obey.” Percy and his league saved innocents from the French Revolutionary Government’s tool, Madame Guillotine.

London society speculated about the identity of The Scarlet Pimpernel but, with the possible exception of the Prince Regent, only the members of Percy’s league knew his true identity.

     Percy, a man of wealth and influence well-acquainted with the Prince Regent, heir to the throne, married Marguerite St. Just, a French actress.  Until Percy discovered Marguerite was responsible for an aristocratic family’s death, he was an adoring husband.   Percy kept his alias, The Scarlet Pimpernel secret from Marguerite for fear she would betray him.  Still loving Marguerite despite her crime, he feigned indifference, treated her coldly, shunned her company and acted the part of a fool so successfully that he bored her.  However, Marguerite discovered the truth about Percy and saved his life.  After the romantic couple’s reconciliation, Marguerite is mentioned as a member of the league in Mam’zelle Guillotine.

At the beginning of each of Orczy’s novels about The Scarlet Pimpernel and his league, the current events of the French Revolution are summarised.  Thus, Orczy weaves fiction and face by not only featuring English and French historical figures such as Robespierre, d’Herbois, The Prince of Wales, and Sir William Pitt, the younger, but by making use of historical events.  For example, in Eldorado Orczy describes the Dauphin in the care of the brutal shoemaker, Simon, who teaches the prince to curse God and his parents. 

Amid horror, Orczy uses romance and heroism to defeat evil, as she did as a child when playing the part of a fearless prince while her sister acted the part of a damsel in distress.

Orczy spent 1900 in Paris that, in her ears, echoed with the horrors of the French Revolution.  Surely, she had found the setting for her magnificent hero The Scarlet Pimpernel, who would champion the victims of The Terror.   But why did she choose such an insignificant flower for Percy’s alias?   It is not unreasonable to suppose a Parisian royalist organisation’s triangular cards, which were hand painted with roses that resemble scarlet pimpernels, fuelled Orczy’s imagination. 

Further fuel might have been added by a man called Louis Bayard, a young man with similarities to the real life Scarlet Pimpernel, although he might not have been motivated by Percy’s idealism

William Wickham, the first British spymaster, engaged the nineteen-year old Louis Bayard.  In the following years, Louis proved himself to be as elusive as Percy. Like Percy, Louis had many aliases. Not only did Orczy’s fictional hero and Louis fall in love with actresses, but both also appeared and disappeared without causing comment.  Real life Louis’s and fictional Percy’s lives depended on being masters of disguise. 

In disguise, Percy fools his archenemy, Citizen Chauvelin, who Orczy gives the role of official French Ambassador to England.  It is an interesting example of her distortion of historical personalities and incidents for them to feature in her works of fiction.  In fact, it is doubtful that Bernard-Francois, marquis de Chauvelin ever assumed a false identity as he did in Orczy’s novel, The Scarlet Pimpernel, about Percy and his League of Gentlemen, among whom are such fictional but memorable characters such as Armand St Just, Marguerite’s brother, Sir Andrew Ffoulkes, Lord Hastings, and Lord Tony Dewhurst.

Another example of Orczy weaving fact and fiction is Louis-Antoine St Just, a revolutionary, who she describes as Marguerite’s cousin.  Louis-Antoine St Just, a young lawyer, was Maximillian Robespierre’s follower. He supported the punishment of traitors as well as that of anyone who was a ‘luke-warm’ revolutionary.  In The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel Marguerite’s brother, the fictional, Armand St Just, meets with Robespierre and other Jacobins.  Orczy portrays him as young, fervent, and articulate as the real life Louis-Antoine St Just.

Throughout the history of publishing countless authors, who became famous and whose work is still enjoyed as books, films, plays and t.v. dramatizations, found it difficult to place their work.  Orczy’s most famous novel was no exception.  Percy took the leading role in her play called The Scarlet Pimpernel and captured the audience’s hearts. Subsequently the novel was published, and Percy became famous.  His fame increased with each sequel about his daring exploits.

 

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Brief History of Christmas Trees by Rosemary Morris

 

To learn more about Rosemary please click on the cover.

Brief History of Christmas Trees

 Whatever their size Christmas trees topped with a star or an angel and bright with baubles, lights, tins and other decorations make my heart glow.

 Prior to bringing a tree indoors, pagans and Christians decorated their homes with holly, ivy and other greenery. During the winter the solstice reminded pagans that spring was near. The Romans brought fir trees into their temple when they celebrated Saturnalia. Christians believed greenery at home and in church represented life everlasting in heaven with God.

 It is said that on a night before Christmas day, the sixteenth century preacher, Martin Luther, walked through a forest. When he looked up through the branches, he saw stars shining brightly and wanted to share the experience with his family, so he brought a tree into his house and decorated it with candles.

  Germany has the credit for the  tradition of bringing Christmas trees indoors and decorating them with delicious gingerbread, gold-painted apples, and little ornaments made by glassmakers.

 However, the claim that Queen Victoria, and Albert, the Prince Consort, a German, were the first to install a Christmas tree in England is false. In the 1760’s Victoria’s ancestress, George III’s German wife, Charlotte, decorated a Christmas tree with her family. A tree was also set up in the Queen’s Lodge in Windsor where she held a party for children of noble families. Soon some rich families also installed decorated trees in their houses; and in 1848, the widespread tradition was created after The Illustrated London News published a drawing of the Christmas Tree at Windsor Castle.

 In 2004, Pope John Paul declared the Christmas tree is a 'symbol of Christ. He said that “this ancient tradition exalts the value of life and reminds Christians of the 'tree of life', which is found in the Bible's first book, Genesis”.

 Whether the trees are real or artificial many 21^st century people still take pride in a beautifully decorated one which fills their hearts with joy.

 

http://bookswelove.net/authors/morris-rosemary

 

rosemarymorris.co.uk

 

Gentlemen’s Fashion in the Early 18th Century Part One by Rosemary Morris

 

To find out more about Rosemary and her books please click on the cover.

I write classic, fact fiction, historical novels set in different eras. At heart I am a historian and enjoy research that brings my characters’ lives and times to life. Three of my published novels, Far Beyond Rubies, Tangled Love and the Captain and the Countess are set in Queen Anne Stuart’s reign, 1702-1714. I am now writing my fourth novel set in her reign.

Throughout the 18^th century the basic details of a gentleman’s suit, a coat, waistcoat, and breeches were the same. However, the details changed. Full dress and undress differed according to the materials they were made from. Hard wearing ones were chosen for undress, less formal wear. Damask. cut velvet and satin, often lavishly trimmed, or embroidered were popular for full dress. At court, gold stuff, silver stuff, brocade, flowered velvet, or embroidered cloth was worn.

Coats were close fitting, with wide skirts that flared from the waist to a little after the knees. The loose-fitting, full sleeves with large cuffs ended above the wrist allowing the sleeves to be gathered into a narrow band edged with a ruffle aka frill.

Neckcloths. The lace edged ends of a simply tied neckcloth made, of linen, lawn or muslin flowed from the throat to halfway down the chest. An alternative was the steinkirk with ends threaded through a buttonhole on the right and fastened with a brooch. 

Waistcoats were tightly fitted at the waist, the skirt stiffened with buckram. Buttons and buttonholes matched those on coats. The lower buttons were unfastened. Bridegrooms wore white waistcoats.

Breeches were made of cloth, velvet, plush or silk knit lined with holland linen, dimity or shagreen silk. Unless they matched the coat, except for leather riding breeches, they were often black.

Stockngs. Hand knitted stockings were either plain or ribbed with clocks either knitted into the design, or hand embroidered with coloured silks, gold, or silver thread. They were made from thread, cotton, yarn, jersey knit, worsted, and silk; and were worn either over the hem or below it, held in place by a garter. Popular colours were red, scarlet, sky blue, brown, black, white, or grey. White stockings were worn at royal weddings.

The Greatcoat, aka Surtout or Cape Coat was a voluminous, knee length overcoat with a flared skirt, and a vent at the back necessary for riding a horse. A small collar, above a wide, flat one, could be pulled up over the ears to keep them warm. The greatcoat was often unfastened from the waist down. They were made from cloth, oilcloth, duffle, frieze, and other materials, and were fully or partially lined

Cloaks were full and gathered at the neck and fastened by a clasp beneath the chin. Sometimes they were worn over the shoulder.

Extract from W. Winthrop of Boston written to his brother in 1706. I desire you to bring me a very good camlet cloak lyined (sic) with what you like except blew (sic). It may be purple or red or striped with those, or another colour (sic), if so worn.

Footwear. According to research shoes with square toes and high square heels were made from black leather, but it is worth noting beaux wore shoes with red heels. Metal buckles were small, square, or oblong. Gold and silver ones were studded with diamonds. Thin, flexible pumps, some made from Spanish leather, had low heels, and were fastened with buckles. Slippers were worn indoors, For riding, hunting, and travelling, and for the military, Jackboots made of heavy black leather reached above the knees. Light Jackboots were shaped close to the leg but had a U-shape at the back to make it easy for the wearer to bend his knees. Half Jackboots were tight fitted to below the knees. They had cuffs in light coloured soft leather turned down over the tops.

 

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Writing a Historical Novel ~ Part 2 by Rosemary Morrise

 

To find more of Rosemary's work please click on the cover above.

Writing a Historical Novel - Part Two.

Food and Drink in The British Isles.

Beware of Anachronisms.

 

I suspended belief when I began to read a medieval novel set in England written by one of a famous publishing house’s authors.

An armed Norman knight in full armour with a shield on his back scaled a castle’s stone wall to rescue the heroine locked in a turret. He is described climbing through a lancet window (an impossible feat). The maiden welcomed him and asked him if he would like to have a cup of coffee, and eggs and bacon with fried bread for breakfast.

My mind boggled! Coffee was not imported to medieval England and, even if the beauty in distress had the means to cook, she would not have served that food for breakfast.

What people ate in the past can be a minefield of errors for me and other historical novelists. Prior to Christopher Columbus’ return from the New World potatoes were not known in the Old World. Novelists should never assume that because potato blight caused famine in Ireland potatoes reached the British Isles before the late 1500’s.

An error in novels by American novelists is often the assumption that, on the other side of the big pond, corn means sweetcorn. It does not. The old corn markets were held to sell wheat.

Tomatoes, also introduced from the New World were rare and, at first, considered poisonous. Later, people did not know whether they should be eaten as a fruit or a vegetable.

Fresh fruit and vegetables were eaten in season unless, for example, strawberries were grown in a hothouse owned by a very wealthy person. Strawberries ripened at the end of May or in June. If they were eaten at any other time of the year they would have been preserved. I imagine a thrifty housewife serving them as a treat in winter.

When I write historical fiction, I check and double check what my characters eat and drink. Once, I assumed Camembert cheese was imported from France in the early nineteenth century and described a character enjoying some in1813. I researched Camembert and found out it was first made in 1790, and not produced in large quantities until the 1890’s.

There were no bars or boxes of chocolates. At first it was served as a hot drink made with grated cacao whisked with milk sugar and water or from cacao paste. Ladies drank it first thing in the morning, and chocolate houses later supplanted by coffee houses, were popular.

Eight of my novels are set in the ever-popular Regency era, so I have included are a few notes from my research that helped me avoid anachronisms.

“Vegetables are cheapest when they come into full season. All vegetables are best if dressed as soon as gathered; and are in greatest perfection before they begin to flower. Most articles for pickling will be in their prime from July and August; but walnuts not later than the middle of July; and mushrooms and white cabbage in September and October.

Herbs should be gathered on a dry day, and when the roots are completely cut off and perfectly well cleaned from dust, etc., they should be divided into small bunches and dried very quick by heat of a stove or in a Dutch oven before a common fire, rather than by the heat of the sun, taking care they be not burnt When dry put them into bags and hang them up in a dry place, or pound them and sift them through a hair sieve, and keep them in bottles closely stopped. Sweet and savoury herbs are best in fragrance from May to August, according to their kinds. The flavour and fragrance of fresh herbs are much finer than those that are dried.”

 

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Writing a Historical Novel ~ Part One ~ Choosing Names for My Characters by Rosemary Morris

 

To learn more about Rosemary's work please click on Grace, Lady of Cassio.

My new novel, Grace Lady of Cassio, the sequel to Yvonne, Lady of Cassio, is a classic, fact fiction, medieval romance set in Edward III’s reign, has been released as a paperback and an e-book.

I am often asked; “How do you write a historical novel?”

There is no right or method to write any novel, so authors have different methods. Some plunge in with no preparation, others plan each chapter before they write the first paragraph.

I spend a long time thinking about the characters. Before I begin a new novel, I must become acquainted with the hero, heroine and other important protagonists.

It takes me a long time to choose appropriate names. The first names of most medieval English males and females derive from their religion. For example, Yvonne stems from Ivo, in old French, Ive (s) and St Ives is said to have come to England from Persia In Latin the meaning of gratia is Grace.  Gracia, Grecia, Gricia occur in 13^th and 14^th century and may represent Grace. These examples justify my appropriate choice of Christian names in the first and second stand-alone novels about The Lovages of Cassio. I am equally careful to choose suitable names in my novels set in Queen Anne Stuart’s reign, 1702-1704, and those set in the ever popular Regency era.

Medieval parents’ choice of names was conservative. Although the choice for new-born sons and daughters were limited, I imagine that, in common with 21^st century parents, some medieval mothers and fathers had earnest discussions about what to name their babies. Apart from being baptised with saints’ names or their derivatives, sometimes children received the first names of legendary figures, famous people, or royalty.

As the saying goes, I think it is worthwhile ‘going the extra mile’ to carefully select my character’s names, bearing in mind they should be appropriate for their social class. While researching my novels I discover lots of names that have gone out of fashion. For example, I chose Richelda for the heroine in my novel, Tangled Love, set in Queen Anne’s reign.

I neither invent improbable names which are glamourous, nor do I choose recently invented names such as Shanna or Sky. I also stick to conventional spelling instead of using a different one, for example Maree instead of Mary or Richearde instead of Richard which would jerk me out of the story.

Recently, I read the first few pages of a historical romance in which the hero and heroine’s exotic first names would only be found in today’s kindergartens or primary schools. I discarded the novel because, in my opinion, I did not have faith in a historical novelist who could not be bothered to choose appropriate names for characters will not accurately create past times for her readers.

 

http://bookswelove.net/authors/morris-rosemary

 

www.rosemarymorris.co.uk