My next book, Too Dangerous for a Lady, is set in 1817. The date is demanded by the ongoing timeline of my Company of Rogues books. They started in late 1814 (An Arranged Marriage) and so have progressed through Napoleon's return from Elba, Waterloo, and into the post-war period which was marked by economic depression and real hardship. That's often the case after wars, even for the victorious, because war is expensive and leads to massive debt, plus the high demand caused by the war machine goes away, leading to unemployment.
Some of my Rogues books are directly involved with the events of the time and some only have it as a backdrop, (you can read more about the Rogues here) but I'm always aware of the historical timeline.
In 1817 things were coming to a boil. There was severe unemployment in many parts of the north where demand for cloth goods and weapons had gone way down. To add to that, the end of hostilities meant the possibility of cheaper imports from abroad. There were many small gatherings and protests, especially in the north. As a reaction, the government repealed the Habeas Corpus Act, making it possible to arrest and hold people without trial.
I originally wanted to use the Blanketeers March as backdrop to my story, but it wouldn't fit in a variety of ways so I invented something similar later in the year. My story isn't about the Blanketeers or the details of the reform/revolution movement, but it all plays a part. My hero is working as a sort of undercover cop, trying to stop the extremists who want to use the genuine unrest to cause a revolution as bloody as the one in France. These people aren't concerned with employment for the poor. When they gather in the King's Head Inn on the night before the planned march, they propose toasts.
“To the King’s Head. Soon we’ll have the king’s head off on our guillotine!”
Indeed, they had a beheading machine built and stored in a warehouse in East London, so everyone had drunk to that.
Solange had added, “And the head of the monkey-faced queen and her far too many whelps.”
The woman disgusted Mark, but he drank and added,“Especially the fat Regent’s.”
“And his pampered daughter,” said Benjamin Durrant. “Before her whelp is born.”
(It's true, by the way, that one pro-revolutionary group built a guillotine, to have it to hand.)
My heroine, Hermione, and her family happen to be stopping for the night in the King's Head, and they wake to general alarm because a huge mob is gathering.
She, Polly, and the children made their way along the corridor and downstairs to a crowded entrance hall. They struggled in the crush even though the flow was all in one direction. It seemed everyone was fleeing, so perhaps Polly’s reaction hadn’t been overblown.
“The mob is planning to march to London,” a man said as he pushed by them in the hall. “Carrying petitions.”
“Carrying petitions!” Polly gasped, as if he’d said, “Carrying guns." "Come, come!” Polly rushed toward the innyard, carrying the baby.
“Polly!” Hermione protested to her back. She was left with two children and a valise.
But the prospects of a mob and riots are not the worst of it. Hermione has already become entangled with Mark and soon things are going to become very dangerous indeed for her.
How do you feel about real historical situations in historical romances?
How do you feel about authors making one up?
It seems to me that there are a lot more spies and soldiers in Regency romances than there are people dealing with the social problems, economy and politics of the time, even though there were some true heroes there. Do spies and soldiers seem more dashing?
One commenter on this blog will get to read the adventures of Hermione and Mark before the release date of April 7th, because I'll send them an early reading copy. So have your say. I'll pick a name next Sunday.
Jo