Time's Echo, by Pamela Hartshorne

Anne here, introducing Pamela Hartshorne, an English writer who writes for Harlequin as Jessica Hart, and whose mainstream historical novel called Time's Echo, is about to be published under her real name. Pam's led an adventurous life — she's travelled widely, has worked as a journalist, a cook on an outback cattle station, and as a production assistant in the theater. She has a PhD in Medieval Studies from the University of York, and she's an excellent, award-winning and best-selling romance writer (& a RITA winner.)(Photographs © Kippa Matthews)

I've always been a huge fan of her contemporary romances and can't wait to read Time's Echo. It's had some wonderful reviews already: "a novel of superb power," and "a tantalising novel that moves effortlessly between the past and the present, detailing the lives of two women joined together by tragedy. This is female fiction at its riveting best." And just yesterday, a word of mouth recommendation of a friend of mine who had no idea I was interviewing Pam, telling me about this "amazing" book that I had to read.

Anne: Pam, after years as a historian and a writer of contemporary romances — presumably quite separate activities — you've branched into writing a mainstream historical novel. What inspired you to do this?  

Pam: I turned 50 in the same year that my 50th romance was published, which coincided in its turn with a spectacular crash and burn on the relationship front, and I realised that I really needed to change. I’ve always loved the idea of a time slip (What if you could know what it was really like in the past?) and having spent years working on a PhD about Elizabethan York, it seemed sensible to put my research together with everything I’d learnt about story-telling over the previous 20 years. (The relationship has since been resuscitated, btw, so I had to give John an acknowledgement for being the inadvertent instigator of my career change!)

Anne: When we first discussed this interview, you told me Time's Echo was "a time slip, set partly in the 16th century and partly in the present, and is part historical fiction, part ghost story, part psychological thriller and part romance." It sounds fabulous — I love time slip novels, and Nicola Cornick, who's already read it, says it's wonderful. My copy was ordered from here.  Tell us about the story.

Pam: I’m thrilled that Nicola enjoyed it and will wait nervously to hear what you think, Anne! As you say, Time’s Echo isn’t strictly a historical novel, but tells two intertwined stories, one in the past and one in the present. The premise in both time periods is one that fascinates me: what if we could turn back time and relive our lives? Would we be able to identify the moment we made a mistake, the tiny choice that changed everything? How different would our life be if we had turned left instead of right, or if we’d turned back because we’d forgotten something rather than gone on?

One day in 1577 Hawise (pronounced Ha-wees-a) Aske smiles at a stranger in the market place and sets in train a story of obsession and jealousy, of love and hate and warped desire. Drowned as a witch, Hawise pays a high price for that smile.

Grace Trewe comes to present-day York intending to spend as little time as possible sorting out her dead godmother’s affairs before moving on, the way she has always done before. Having survived the Boxing Day tsunami, Grace knows how lucky she is to be alive. She looks forward, not back.

But in York Grace discovers that the past cannot always be ignored. Her godmother, Lucy, has been dabbling in the occult, and Hawise is searching still for peace. Through Grace, she has a chance to relive her life, but will she be able to avoid making the same mistakes again? The more Grace is drawn into Hawise’s life in the Elizabethan city, the more parallels she finds with her own life. For Grace, too, has failed a child. . .

Is Grace possessed? Or is she suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder? Either way, she learns that she cannot move on until she has come to terms with the past.

Anne: It sounds wonderful. Tell us about Grace. Do your characters spring to life on the page, fully formed, or do they slowly emerge in the writing?

Pam: Hhhmmnn, that’s a difficult question. I think I’d say both in the case of Time’s Echo. When I set out to write the story, I was expecting to find the present day story easy enough (I’d written 50 contemporary romances, right?) but I thought I’d struggle with the need to make the past authentic without alienating the reader. As it turned out, Hawise wrote her own story. I don’t remember ever thinking: I’ll make her do X or say Y. She just jumped into the screen and took over the writing – I wish that happened more often!

But when it came to Grace, I found it much harder, to tell you the truth. I think it was partly to do with the concept of a time slip. This extraordinary, fascinating, frightening thing is happening to her, and at the same time she’s dealing with the consequences of undiagnosed PTSD. So Grace has a lot to deal with and that doesn’t leave much room for frivolity or fun. For a long time I tried to make her one of my flirty romance heroines, but that just didn’t work. Grace is stubborn and sensible and furiously self-reliant and once I let her be herself, we got on a lot better!  

Anne: I'm always fascinated by the spark of inspiration where a writer gets an idea —a face, a piece of music, a painting or a snatch of conversation and thinks "there's a story." Was there such a spark for Time's Echo?  

Pam: It was more of a slow burn than a spark. My PhD was based on local court records in Elizabethan York, and I spent so long working on them that I felt as if I got to know the individuals who were presented for various petty offences.

The entries tend to be very brief, but one incident stood out: a miller called Miles Fell was fined for not muzzling his dog, a mastiff bitch which had bitten Nicholas Ellis on the leg. I don’t know what it was about this entry that made me picture it so clearly. I felt as if I knew what Fell was like (he turns up in the records a lot) and I imagined all the other individuals I “knew” watching him with his dog and poor Ellis hopping around holding his leg.

Once you’ve got a scene in your mind, it’s hard to let go of it. I began to think of what it would be like if you came across that entry and remembered it, if you knew exactly where they were and what had been said … Would that be fascinating or would it be frightening - or both?

Anne: What kind of research did you do for this novel?

Pam: Witchcraft (old and new), the Boxing Day tsunami, PTSD, de Clérambault’s syndrome, sociopaths, exorcism, herbal remedies, regression, New Age religions - and just about everything to do with everyday life in the 16th century! I soon discovered that a PhD about mending the streets and disposing of waste wasn’t much use when it came to knowing about childbirth or marriage rituals, or what people then wore or had for breakfast . . .  all of it fascinating.

I loved doing that research – and there’s still so much to read. Wherever possible, I like to read primary sources for the historical background; reading what people actually did and said in their own words makes the past so much more vivid. I’m currently reading the Assize Court records for the Elizabethan period and finding them really intriguing – so many stories there! I’m less rigorous for the present day stuff, I’ve got to admit. It’s amazing how much you can find with a little judicious Googling!

Anne: You're an avid traveller. Do you write while you're travelling or do you keep the activities separate?

Pam: I wish I could write when I was travelling – I love the idea of tapping away on my laptop under a vine-laden pergola in the sunshine somewhere - but sadly I only seem to be able to work when I’m at home in my study in York. On the plus side, it means I’m never tempted to take a laptop, so I’m able to cut myself off completely when I’m away. I always mean to ponder my next plot, but the moment I leave home, my mind goes blissfully blank. I tell myself that inspiration is simmering away on the back burner but I just don’t realise it. . .

Anne: Do you have a writing routine?

Pam: I write three drafts - a shitty first draft (to quote Anne Lamott in Bird by Bird), a shitty second draft and a final draft, which usually involves a complete rewriting – and my routine depends very much on how close I am to a deadline. I’m hopeless when writing the first two drafts. Every Monday I vow to have a week when I do nothing but write, but I always end up frittering away my mornings, and most of the afternoon too. I am so easily distracted! I really only write effectively after 9.00 at night, which means my days are spent feeling guilty about not knuckling down and then having a late night frenzy of writing.

I wait until I’m really terrified by a looming deadline before I have a real routine for rewriting the entire book. I’ll set my alarm and get up at 6.30, and make myself write 500 words before my shower. Then I have to do another 500 before coffee, 1000 before I’m allowed lunch and so on. I don’t know why I can’t make life easier for myself and write steadily all the time but I seem to need the adrenalin rush of pure panic. My next deadline is 31st October, and I need to rewrite 120,000 words before then; think of me lashed to my keyboard for the entire month!

Anne: Ouch! Best of luck with it. Can you give us a small taste of Time's Echo? 

On her way to meet Francis Bewley for the first time in the orchards outside the city walls, Hawise encounters Sybil Dent, a cunning woman reputed to be a witch.

I begin to turn away, but Widow Dent lays a hand on my sleeve. It is gnarled and knotted and mottled with age, but there is strength to it, too, that stops me in my tracks, and Hap whimpers.    
        ‘Go back,’ says the widow.
        Her eyes have taken on an eerie blankness, just as they did that day Elizabeth and I met her. ‘Go back,’ she says tonelessly. ‘Go back while you still can.’
        I look down at her in confusion. ‘I don’t understand. Go back where?’
        ‘Back the way you came,’ she says. ‘Or take a different path.’
        I bite my lip. I am late as it is. What is the point of taking a different path?
        ‘Go back!’ The urgency in the widow’s voice makes the fine hairs at the back of my neck stand up.
         Frightened, I step back from her and click my fingers for Hap. ‘I’m sorry,’ I say. ‘I have to go.’
         Picking up my skirts, I run along the path, to the ash tree and to Francis, with Hap at my heels. I choose not to go back. I go on.

Anne: I can't wait to read it. There's another excerpt here. So, Pam, what are you working on next?

Pam: I’m back in Elizabethan York, writing another time slip called The Memory of Midnight. Although the premise of a time slip is the same, it’s a very different story, and much darker in lots of ways. I’ve been making myself uneasy with some of the scenes! As I mentioned above, this has to be finished by the end of October, and there’s a lot of work to be done yet. . .

After that, I’ll be putting my Jessica Hart hat on to write another romance – my 60th – so I’m looking forward to a change of tone for that, and then I’ll be slipping back to the past again!  

Anne: Ooh, good, I'm so glad you're not giving up romances — I love your romances.
Thanks so much Pam, it was lovely to have you on Word Wenches.

Thank you for inviting me, Anne. I often read the Word Wenches blog - so it’s a real thrill for me to be here with all you experienced historical authors!

To celebrate, I have a copy of Time’s Echo to give away. It’ll be no surprise to learn that I’m a huge fan of historical novels. John of Gaunt, in Anya Seton’s Katherine, was the first historical hero I fell in love with, but there have been so many gorgeous heroes since. . .

Leave a comment below telling me which hero from any historical novel you would most like to meet, and I’ll put you in a lucky dip. I’ll post a book anywhere in the world, so if you’re a winner, Time’s Echo could be winging its way to you very soon!

Meanwhile, do visit my website and blog, or drop in on my Facebook page – I’d love to see you! Or let’s meet on Twitter: I’m @PamHartshorne.

Comments

[Annie West]

Hi Pam, Hi Anne. Thanks for sharing so much about your routine and your current book. It sounds terrific and the next one is fascinating too - darker than being killed as a witch? Intriguing. Good luck with that looming deadline. I sympathise!

Choosing a favourite hero to meet is tough. I was thinking of someone from a Sharon Penman novel but have decided to go for something a bit lighter. How about Rupert Carsington from 'Mr Impossible'? I'm sure he'd be good company over a dinner table.

[Pamela Hartshorne]

Hi Annie! Oh, yes, Rupert would be such fun! Or of course I'd love to meet Richard III from The Sunne in Splendour as that was the book that started my interest in history and started me writing. A book really can change your life!

[Alison Reynolds]

Fabulous article, Anne and Pam!

You made me feel so much better about my own writing habits when you said your don't write on holidays.

And I agree that John of Gaunt definitely seems to come across as a very sexy hero type.

[Barbara Hannay]

I'm actually lucky enough to have already read Time's Echo and I can assure everyone here, it's as fabulous as it sounds. I'm so glad Pam's taken this step in her career, because she's totally the perfect person to write this kind of time slip. The romance is wonderful, the complications of the different times are intricate, yet all work together beautifully, and the villain is one of the most haunting and memorable I've encountered in fiction. I'm in AWE!
I particularly loved the everyday details of ordinary people in Elizabethan times -- as we usually only read about nobility.

Congratulations to Pamela Hartshorne! I can't wait to read the next book.

PS. John of Gaunt was the first historical hero I fell in love with, too.

[Kandy Shepherd]

Hi to both Pam and Anne. TIME'S ECHO sounds fabulous, Pam, complex and intriguing. I can't wait to read it and hope it is a huge success with readers.

BTW your writing routine sounds almost identical to mine! Scary, isn't it?

I'm going right back to my first historical novel, given to me by my mother, THESE OLD SHADES and the hero Justin, Duke of Avon. I've since read many historicals (including some wonderful ones penned by Anne Gracie!) but Justin was the hero who got me hooked!

[Anne Gracie]

Kandy, These Old Shades was my first Heyer and I loved it to bits. I even mentioned His Grace of Avon in a speech I gave on the weekend about heroes.
Alison, holidays are to refill the well, I think. I 'm looking forward to having one— soon, I hope.
Annie, I think Rupert Carsington would be a delightful dinner companion.
And Barbara and Pam, I think I need to know more about John of Gaunt.

[Louise Reynolds]

Hi Pam,

Gosh, first hero? I think it was someone called Raoul in a Victoria Holt novel. I think it was 'The King Of The Castle'.
As someone who has sat up all night reading 'Time's Echo', congratulations on such a fantastic book. I've always loved your romances but I'm so glad you're writing time slip now as well. It's one of my fave sub-genres and Time's Echo is superb!

[Nicola Cornick]

What a fabulous interview. Thank you so much, Pam and Anne. Pam, as Anne has already said, I thought Time’s Echo was wonderful. It was one of those books I got lost in and I felt bereft when it was finished. I thought about it for a long time afterwards. There were so many layers and such depth to the characters and the historical atmosphere was marvellously realised. I’ve loved reading about your research and I’ll be looking forward to The Memory of Midnight very much.

It’s so tough choosing a favourite hero from a historical novel… I think a lot of us here have been reading the same books! I too loved John of Gaunt in Katherine and Richard III in The Sunne in Splendour. Vidal in Devil’s Cub is a particular favourite of mine and Nick Beauvallet in Beauvallet is possibly my favourite Heyer hero!

[Joss Alexander]

Great piece - I love time-slip books and York is such an interesting city. I did some work at the Minster and it was fascinating.
Historical heroes - yes Nick Beauvallet and the Duke of Avon,but I really fell in love with his son Vidal when I was a teenager. Sent out to do the shopping I took the book with me to read on the way, and walked into a lamp-post.
So it's either him or Rory from M M Kaye's Trade Wind. If anybody hasn't read it, you're missing one of the sexiest seduction scenes ever!

[Pamela Hartshorne]

Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you, ladies - I've been out recovering from yesterday's launch with some retail therapy! - but how wonderful to come back to so many lovely messages!

Barb, Louise and Nicola - thank you so much for your kind comments. I am SO pleased you enjoyed Time's Echo. I have to admit I feel much more 'exposed' branching into a different genre - it's like being the new girl at school - so to hear that someone has read and liked your book is wonderfully reassuring.

I love the way we share so many books in our background. I'm a huge Heyer fan, of course, and have a shelf full of her books (except the medieval ones!) If I had to pick a favourite Heyer hero, I think it would be Sir Tristram in The Talisman Ring, but then there's Freddy in Cotillion or Sir Richard in The Corinthian ... a hard call!

And Joss, thank you so much for reminding me about Trade Wind. I LOVED that book and remember that scene vividly. In fact, I'm just off to my spare room to dig out my old copy. I haven't read it for years and it's high time I rediscovered it.

[Kelly Hunter]

Pam, I'm so looking forward to reading Time's Echo. I've heard so many good things about it, and I ordered it the other day on Barb Hannay's rec.

Hero wise - I'm rather partial to Anne's Gideon from The Perfect Rake. He's quite the honey.

[CateS]

Well, he's not quite a hero, but I'd love to meet Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson!

[Barbara O'Neal]

This sounds like an absolutely delicious novel! I can't wait.

And as I am currently staring down a horrific deadline, terrified, I understand exactly what you mean. I wish I had a better process, but I seem to just have to go to the Crazy Land and work there until the book is finished. Sigh.

[Fiona Marsden]

I'd love to meet The Great Roxhythe from Georgette Heyer's book. I know it isn't considered a particularly good book but something about the lead character stayed with me and when I think about rakish unsatisfactory heroes that inspire love and devotion he always comes to mind.

[LouisaCornell]

Fascinating post and I cannot wait to read the book. I love the idea of pondering reliving one's life and what one might choose to do differently.

I would love to meet Hugh de Singleton from Mel Starr's medieval mystery series - The Chronicles of Hugh de Singleton. The think I like most about the series is the seamless way Mel Starr wraps you in the medieval period. And Hugh is such a likeable and all too human character.

[Michelle Douglas]

Fabulous interview ladies. Pam, I can't wait to get my hand on Time's Echo, it sounds riveting!

You know, while I will always say that Mr Darcy is one of my all-time favourite heroes, I have a big soft spot for Colonel Fitzwilliam. And I have a feeling he'd be a far more comfortable dinner companion.

[Carol Marinelli]

What a great article Anne and Pam - I am really looking forward to reading Times Echo!! Pam, I loved you deadline panic routine :-) Yes, Gideon from The Perfect Rake was my first historical read and I was hooked from that point on.
cxx

[Pamela Hartshorne]

There's something about the first hero that sucks you into an author's books, isn't there? Kelly and Carol, Gideon was the first Anne Gracie hero I read, so he'll always have a special place in my heart too.

Michelle, I laughed to read your comment about Col. Fitzwilliam - you are so right! I've always felt he would have made a great subject for a sequel. I'm sure if Jane were writing today, she would have been on the case ...

Fiona, have to hold up my hand and confess I've never heard of the The Great Roxhythe - and I thought I had an encyclopaedic knowledge of GH, too! Must go and look it up.

Louisa, I hadn't heard of Hugh de Singleton either but that's definitely another series I'm going to search out. I was originally trained as a medievalist before being ambushed by the Tudors, and it's such a fascinating period. Very hard to write with authenticity, though, so it's great to have a recommendation.

Must confess I'm less keen on the Victorian period, but interested that you'd pick Sherlock Holmes, Cate - he's such a know-it-all!

And Barbara - good luck with that deadline! If the book is anything like THE LOST RECIPE FOR HAPPINESS, it will be absolutely *wonderful*!

[Nikki]

Yes, yes...Mr Darcy, he is fabulous. But in fact I'm more of a Mr Rochester girl. He always struck me as much brighter and cleverer (and more three-dimensionally flawed) to go with the surly. And (just to back up waht you've said) Jane Eyre was the first historical I ever read. Special place in my heart.)

But what I'm *really* here to say is massive contrats for that cover, Pam. It's really gorgeous and evocative. Love it. Best of luck with the release.

[Pamela Hartshorne]

Thanks, Nikki - it is a gorgeous cover, isn't it? I can't claim any credit for it, though. All due to a wonderfully enthusiastic team at Pan Macmillan. You can probably imagine how grateful I am to them!

[anne]

Time's Echo sounds compelling and wonderful. The interview was fascinating. Thanks for being here. My favorite historical hero whom I would love to meet is Jamie in the Outlander series.

[diane]

A fabulous post with an excellent interview. I enjoy this historical novel greatly and will be reading and enjoying it. Meeting Gervase Frant in the Georgette Heyer novel, The Quiet Gentleman is someone special.

[Susan/DC]

I was in York for the first time in July and took a walking tour of the city led by a woman who was getting her PhD in medieval history -- not Ms. Hartshorne, but the tour was fascinating nonetheless and I loved the city.

As for historical heroes, there is a lot of debate about whether he was a hero or a villain, but I'd love to meet the Richard III of Josephine Tey's "The Daughter of Time". It is a mystery, not a romance, but Tey creates such an intelligent, poignant character that I still carry a bit of him in my heart even though it's been many years since I first read the book (of course, the very fact that I was so young and impressionable may be why he has stuck with me for so long).

[Pamela Hartshorne]

Richard III is one of history's love-hate characters, isn't he? There's a whole society dedicated to his reputation, and of course, we still like him in York. He had a close relationship with the city, and when he was killed, the civic authorities wrote that he had been 'pitiously slane and murdred to the grete hevynesse of this citie'.

Hope you enjoyed your visit, Susan, and Anne and Diane, thank you for commenting. Both interesting choices for heroes to meet!

[Cathy P]

Tough to choose just one hero. I'll choose Rhett Butler.

[Sue Stewart]

I can hardly wait for Time's Echo -- It's on my "buy immediately" list. :)

It is indeed very tough to choose just one -- I considered Rhett Butler, I lingered over Darcy -- but I've settled on Sebastian St. Cyr, for his intelligence and passion for justice. And, of course, his other obvious attractions ...

[Gail Mallin]

Great post, Pam. I'm looking forward to reading Time's Echo as I love time-slips and York is one of my favourite cities - such an atmospheric place! Laughed about you saying you needed a deadline to get you writing, Pam, I know that feeling very well.
As for choosing one hero who is extra special, that is a tough call, but I think my favourite hero is Sacha Arloff, the moodily romantic Russian aristocrat in an old Regency called The Troika Belle by Ira Morris. I read it as a teenage and it made a great impression on me - Sacha is fabulously wild and bad, but has a kind heart, the type of hero I still fall for all these many years later.

[Anne Gracie]

Oh, Gail, I had to jump in here — I loved the Troika Belle, and almost nobody I know has ever read it. It was a library book I read when I was a teenager and we were on holidays, and every time we went to that place, I'd borrow it again and reread it. I haven't read it for years, but I've never forgotten it.

Sacha is a gorgeous hero — the classic rake/bad boy with a delicious wild cossack edge. The heroine was gorgeous too, giving her heart to him so completely in her youthful innocence. I also adored Miss Smith, aunt to Dukes and full of such gorgeous, pithy common sense.

[Pamela Hartshorne]

OK, that sounds like ANOTHER book to track down ... It's always the way when you get a lot of book lovers together! Is the Troika Belle still in print, do you know?

Anne, isn't it interesting the way some books are associated so strongly with where you read them? Even thinking about them brings back intense memories - positively time-slippy, in fact! I used to get a book out of the British Council library in Jakarta: set before First World War (I think), it had a British hero escorting a princess from some Balkan country on a train back to safety in the UK, where he had a very nice fiancee waiting ... I loved that book, but can't remember the title or the author, although got a feeling it might have been a man. Does it ring a bell with anyone? Would really like to read it again, even though it might be disappointing 25 years on!

Have to confess I could never get to grips with Gone With The Wind, so Rhett Butler isn't one of my own faves, but Cathy and Sue, you can have him (she says generously)

[Anne Gracie]

" I used to get a book out of the British Council library in Jakarta: set before First World War (I think), it had a British hero escorting a princess from some Balkan country on a train back to safety in the UK, where he had a very nice fiancee waiting ... I loved that book, but can't remember the title or the author,"

Not sure, but I *think* it might be Eva Ibbotson's, The Morning Gift, where an English scientist/professor marries a young woman trying to get out of Nazi Austria. . . It's a gorgeous story, as all of Ibbotson's are. And that one's in print.

[Pamela Hartshorne]

No, it was definitely pre WWII, Anne - but thanks for the reminder of Eva Ibbotson's books. I've read A Song For Summer, and it was magical. Putting The Morning Gift on my list!

[Artemisia]

Archeologists have found what they think might be Richard's remains. An arrow in the back and trauma to the head. Fits the legend that his head was "broken" when it hit the side of the stone bridge.

[Anne Gracie]

I saw that referred to on TV, Artemisia. I'll be very interested to see what happens once the scientists really examine it. I'm reserving judgement at the moment. I still remember the "medieval bra and pants" nonsense of a few months ago.

[Leah Weller]

OMG I can't just pick one, LOL! I have narrowed it down to two though. Henry II of England or William the Conqueror. If I could get over being speechless, I would need days to pick their brains. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could just slip back to when we wanted to with full access to the people and places of our wishes? I'd also love to see the look on their faces as I opened my mouth and the southern twang came out. :)

This post has me so excited about reading Time's Echo and congratulations on the release! Thank you for the chance in the giveaway also.

[Judith Laik]

Well, dang! I wrote a whole long comment and then got a phone call, went looking for my husband, and when I came back I was told I timed out! So, I'll try again, but it won't be as brilliant, of course.
I'm already so late posting, I'm sure nobody is reading comments any more. But I was inspired by the great interview to post anyway. I'm just getting caught up on things after being gone for two weeks with a very cranky, mostly nonworking internet access.
I'm fascinated with Time's Echo and will definitely get it. Usually the medieval perios isn't my favorite, but when it's done well it's fabulous.
Pam, you give me hope with your writing process. I've written one crappy draft and am working on the second, which I was hoping would be at least a little better, but is also crappy.
On heroes: I've loved a lot of the ones already mentioned. Katherine was one of the first romance novels I read; I loved Sasha of The Troika Belle (and also many other moody heroes in novels set in Russia -- why aren't novels set there being published nowadays?) M.M. Kaye's Rory is wonderful -- I named my hero of my current crappy draft after him, and hope that by the time the book is finally finished, my Rory will be at least a pale shadow of that Rory. But, I can't believe nobody mentioned the mysterious, complicated Francis of the Lymond Chronicles! He has to have my vote.