A Wicked Wench in Wales!

Nicola here, and today I’m talking about the background and inspiration to my story in the Word Wench anthology Mischief and Mistletoe.

It’s been fascinating to see the posts by the other Wenches on what makes their heroines wicked. My heroine, Lydia Cole, is the landlady of the Silent Wench Inn in a dark and dangerous corner of Wales. It’s the first time I’ve set a story in Wales and I wonder why I’ve waited so long because the setting really appeals to me. It feels wild and lawless, the perfect place for a handsome and rakish hero to be marooned on a winter's night.

It was a co-incidence that I was on holiday on the west coast of Wales around the  time that we were discussing ideas for the Wench anthology but I think it must have been serendipity. We were staying in a seaside cottage close to the town of Newport and as soon as I visited it I knew it was the town where my heroine Lydia Cole would hide when she runs away from society to reinvent herself. I won’t give away too many details of Lydia’s “wickedness”; let’s just say that the Silent Wench Inn doesn’t simply offer refreshment to travellers, it runs a fine sideline in other less respectable activities too, some of which are downright illegal. Records show that Newport was a trading port from the 16^th century onwards and it's geographical position made it an ideal centre for free trading. Smuggling in Wales continued a lot later into the nineteenth century than it did in many other parts of the British Isles.

I also wanted to bring Newport Castle into the story. The west coast of Wales was fought over for hundreds of years. The Normans established a barony in Newport in the 13^th century and the site of their first wooden motte and bailey castle can still be seen. Subsequent stone castles were destroyed when the Welsh fought back under Prince Rhys Ap Gruffydd and later under Owain Glyndwr. The current castle is a seriously spooky looking place, a nineteenth century renovation of a medieval building. I actually saw a bat fly out of the open window!

One little detail that I picked up from the history of Newport and wanted to incorporate into my story was the school. The first school in Newport was established in 1809 funded by and named after Madam Bevan of Laugharne. It was part of a nationwide movement of “Circulating Schools” set up to give children in rural communities the opportunity to receive an education. In my story Lydia may be complicit in some illegal trades but she also teaches at the school and is an important part of the local community.

The other inspiration for my story was Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas. This evocative description could have been written to describe Newport:

“It is spring, moonless night in the small town, starless and bible-black, the cobbled streets silent and the hunched courters'-and-rabbits' wood limping invisible down to the sloeblack, slow, black, crowblack, fishingboat-bobbing sea.” 

 I substituted winter for spring and away I went with On A Wicked Winter Night!

Today Wench Pat is offering a copy of Mischief and Mistletoe to one commenter in North America and I am offering a copy to a commenter from "the rest of the world" so you get two Wench giveaways for the price of one!

The question:

Where do you stand on stories where the hero or heroine breaks the law? Does it depend on the circumstances or is it just plain wrong no matter the reason? Do you have a favorite book with a law-breaking hero or heroine?

Comments

[Betty Hamilton]

I am looking forward to reading this book!!

[michelle mcgrath]

as long a a heroine is not mean and vindictive breaking the law is always and option.

[Marleen Gagnon]

While breaking the law is not recommendable in everyday life in a book the reader is taken to another world where they live through the characters. As long as the hero or heroine realize they broke the law and grow from the experience then I have no problem with it.

[Nicola Cornick]

Thank you, Betty!

Michelle, I agree that mean and vindictive characteristics make a heroine far less sympathetic. If she is acting illegally for no good reason it is difficult to like her.

[Nicola Cornick]

That's a very interesting point, Marleen. In everyday life we are aware of where the boundaries are and hopefully wouldn't cross them. Is fiction different? Can we suspend morality more because it is fiction or should the same rules apply? I like the idea that it's part of a learning curve for the characters.

[ElaineK]

When the laws seem unfair and the characters are in desperate situations, it seems natural to sympathize with them--it is different if they are acting just for personal gain and at the expense of other people.

[MJ]

Since the basis of the American Revolution was centered on breaking the unjust laws of the British, I have no problem with heroes or heroines fighting against an unjust law. "The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh" was one of my favorite Disney series when I was a kid. Patrick McGoohan was one of my early heartthrobs in his dual role as Dr. Syn and The Scarecrow. I also think this is why I like pirate books so much, too.

[Margot]

In historicals, I'm generally fine with characters breaking a whole lot more laws than in contemporaries. And thieves, for whatever reason, I tend to like whatever the era. (Even if they're stealing from the innocent, as long as they're not stealing from the poor I'm fine with it.) Pretty much, as long as the character isn't majorly hurting anyone (who doesn't deserve to be hurt), then I'm fine with it.

Which really doesn't seem to say anything good about my own morals.

[Jane O]

Since I have since childhood been in love with Robin Hood, I can't say I have any intrinsic objection to lawbreakers. Like everything else, it depends on both the law and the reasons for breaking the law. No one is likely to condemn the people working on the Underground Railroad or a mother stealing food for her hungry children.

[Nicola Cornick]

Elaine, I agree that if the characters are in desperate straits or if circumstances demand that they break the law, it's easier to find them sympathetic. As MJ points out, bad laws in whatever historical era or whatever country, probably made people behave badly.

[Nicola Cornick]

LOL, Margot! But that is interesting about it being more acceptable in historicals because perhaps that distances us more from the crime.

I have a soft spot for outlaws too, Jane. Usually it feels as though they are on the side of the majority against the oppressor. MJ, I think pirates are a good example - not particularly admirable or attractive in real life but generally very attractive in historical romance.

[CateS]

It seems to me that some of the early English laws were meant to keep the 'lower' classes in line.... and not encroaching on the status and wealth of the upper classes..

[Nicola Cornick]

Definitely, Cate. I think that the early laws in the UK were a great deal fairer before the Normans came along. After that the foreign invaders definitely used the law to keep the locals in line and to focus the wealth and privilege in the hands of the few.

[Janice]

I agree with Elaine K :) I would have to consider the lawbreaker's motive. In general, I don't like lawbreakers. In my part of the world, laws in theory are the people's rules for living together and the lawbreaker sets himself above everyone else if he breaks them.

If he (or she) breaks the law to prevent a greater wrong when time or circumstance leaves him no practical alternative, then I would be more forgiving. If he only broke it to suit his personal convenience, or just because "he could" -- then no, I would think him a selfish bastard who doesn't give a damn about anybody else.

So, in a story, if men are smuggling in brandy because there's no work and they have to earn money to feed their families, they're not awful, but the guy who buys it just so he can avoid the tax would be. He ought to pay full fare or get drunk on something else.

[Barbara Elness]

I don't mind a law breaking hero or heroine, but I like there to be a reason they're breaking the law - extenuating circumstances, etc. I recently enjoyed The Runaway Countess by Leigh LaValle in which the heroine does everything she can to obstruct the investigation of the highwayman who has been plaguing the neighborhood. He's her brother and she wants to protect him even though she's falling for the Earl who's investigating the case.

[Lyn S]

Legalities are often subjective, so if there is a moral reason, I can support them. That is not to say that I believe the end always justifies the means.
As far as setting your tale in Wales, I just got a notice about this feature of the British Library. They are crowd sourcing out a map with locations based on English literature. There is a pin for Thomas Dylan's poem. http://www.bl.uk/pin-a-tale/pin-a-tale-map.aspx

[Gail Mallin]

Oh, I like the sound of this book, Nicola. I used to live in Wales and agree it is easy to imagine wild law-breaking going on there in days gone by. So many of the laws in the past were unjust and providing the hero or heroine have a good motive for their behaviour and their actions don't hurt the innocent, I don't mind law-breaking at all. My favourite law-breaking character is probably the hero of "Trade Winds" by M M Kaye, a man who could make black seem white if necessary.

[Nicola Cornick]

That's a good distinction between the smugglers and the purchasers, Janice.

Thanks for the recommendation, Barbara. I will look out for the Leigh LaValle book. I like the sound of that.

[Nicola Cornick]

Thanks for letting me know about the British Library feature, Lyn. I will definitely take a look at that.

Gail, thanks so much for dropping in! Trade Winds. Oh yes, I was very conflicted about that hero. He made smuggling and piracy seem very attractive!

[Carol Cork]

My favourite law- breaking hero is Mickey O'Connor, the ruthless river pirate, in Elizabeth Hoyt's Scandalous Desires. He had to do the things he did to survive in the stews of London and more than redeems himself during the course of the story.

I love Under Milk Wood and no-one can read it like Richard Burton. Did you know that Llareggub, the town in the poem, is 'bugger all' spelt backwards!

[Marie]

I am really looking forward to reading this anthology. I agree with you, I think that Wales is an excellent setting for a girl to go and reinvent herself.

[Nicola Cornick]

Thanks, Carol! A good choice of a hero who does what he has to do to survive.

Richard Burton's voice is wonderful, isn't it. I love his reading too, and the poem is so evocative. I read just the other day about Llareggub!

[Nicola Cornick]

Thanks, Marie! Yes, I think Wales in the 19th century is a good place to go to start a new life. I hope you enjoy the book!

[Linda]

I all depends on the reason why they did so in the 1st place. I've read quite a few historicals where either the hero or the heroine were a thief, a pirate (yummy!) & still thoroughly enjoyed the book & adored their characters. Seems different when it's a historical; maybe because during that time period life was more difficult & the law was hardly ideal.

[Nicola Cornick]

LOL, Linda, another pirate fan! I am so intrigued by the enduring appeal of the pirate. Definitely the historical angle distances us from any crime and often gives a character a strong reason for behaving as they do.