Magical synchronicity

Hi, Jo here, late for my blog date! Part of my excuse is -- you guessed it, lost in research. I've been lost in the delights of reading newspapers.

I set my books precisely in time, in part because there's a sequence but also because it roots me in reality. I need to run a calendar of my books anyway, if only to see the time of the week. There has to be a Sunday now and then, which will mean church. Attending church can be a mention, but sometimes it's a good occasion for people to meet their community.

I've been reading the papers on line for early December 1817. My local library had electronic access. Yours may well, too. I can read The Times, The Morning Chronicle, and the London Gazette along with many others.

I was looking for particularly fun London activities but I haven't found much, probably because this is still shortly after the tragic death of Princess Charlotte on the 6th of November and the whole country is still in mourning. However, the London theaters were open, and I could see what was on, which was good because I wanted my characters to go to the theater.

I sent my characters to Covent Garden. What was playing on Saturday, the 6th of December? A farce called Husbands and Wives, in which a couple of rascals take on other men's identities to escape pursuit, with the collusion of their wives. Score! Some elements feed in nicely as subtext to my plot.

I was also looking for news of the royal dukes, the sons of George III other than the Regent. Slim pickings, but I found some. The Regent at this point is permanently at the Pavilion in Brighton, huddled in grief over the death of his daughter. His grief is understandable, but there's a succession crisis and a load of other stuff he should be doing. My plot is connected to this, with a fictional attempt on the lives of some of the royal dukes -- Clarence, Kent, and Sussex.

The pictures are of King William IV, who was Duke of Clarence at the time, third in line to the throne after the Regent and the Duke of York. On the left he's a lad and with the future Duke of Kent.

Browsing the Court Circular, what do I find? The Regent surprised everyone by turning up at his London residence,Carlton House, at 9pm, two days after my invented incident. Score! Of course he would hurtle up to deal with that, and my hero, now Lord Dauntry, is summoned to the presence. The Regent stays only two nights and returns to Brighton, but he hold a court and a meeting with his Privvy Council. Of course. To discuss this new crisis.

 

A less dramatic discovery, but when visiting Canterbury Cathedral on some recent travels, (which I intended to write about in this blog) I saw a memorial plaque that synced with my book  in a less direct way. My heroine is a widow, and her husband was badly wounded at an early battle in the Peninsular War at Roleia. (Sometimes called Rolica.) Though sometimes cast heroically, the battle didn't go well largely because of an impetuous charge by the 9th and 29th foot in which most of the men in the 29th died.

The plaque remembers Lt. Col John Stuart of the 9th. I suspect the words might have been designed to overcome the tarnished reputation of the battle. You can click on it to enlarge it.

 

 

Apologies for this blog being late, but I hope you find it interesting. Do you find an interweaving with real events interesting or distracting? Do you ever read old newspapers on line?

Jo

Comments

[Paige B.]

I found this blog interesting. I very much enjoy when authors interweave real events into the storyline.

[Mary Jo Putney]

I LOVE when history provides this sort of synchronicity! I'd seen that portrait of William VI before, but it was interesting to see him as a buy with one of his younger brothers. (Kent eventually becoming the father of Queen Victoria.) There's a real family, brotherly resemblance there.

But my real curiosity is about the play HUSBANDS AND WIVES. Were the rascals doing identity theft with the help of their OWN wives, or the wives of the men they were impersonating???

[HJ]

I like the interweaving with real events, especially since I know you'll do it with a light hand! (Some authors show too much of their research, understandably given the effort it takes.) You shouldn't be surprised that you find real-life events which fit your plot, because it shows how immersed in the period you are!

[Margaret]

How fascinating! And yet another wonderful reason not to feel guilty for spending time in your wonderful books - I'm learning history!

[Jobev]

Thanks, Paige. It's always fun.

[Jobev]

It's a wacky plot, Mary Jo, but that's typical for a farce. I haven't been able to find the text, only a synopsis. But I think the wives are disgruntled with their real husbands and the rascals are appealing, so they back the impersonation, and their husbands get arrested. I assume it all works out in the end!

[Jobev]

That's interesting, HJ. Yes, sometimes these details arise because the plot is based on something real. But I was surprised by the Regent's flying visit to Town.

[Jobev]

True, Margaret. And it is an interesting time, just after the death of Princess Charlotte.

[Sue W. McCormick]

I love reality mixed with fiction. In the last day or two my husband commented on my knowledge of some American battle fields, (Revolution, 1812, and U. S. Civil War — in the southern part of our east coast many areas are sites of battles in all three of those wars). I commented that I grew up reading a series of boy-oriented books in which the hero took part in those wars (brothers or cousins fighting on both sides in some cases, so you could understand the war from Patriot and Tory view points or Yankee and Johnny Reb versions). I read the stories for the fun of them, but as I learned the history, the stories were true to the events; and the stories were what set the events in my mind.

This stories set a standard for historical fiction in all my future reading. I can tolerate some stories where the period is merely background, but I much prefer authentic reality thrown into the mix.

[Vicki N Hammons]

I loved ready this. I don't get out much to go to the library but I do love reading about history, more so, when it coincides with something that I am currently reading. I love anything that you write about:)

[Tai]

I love when historical dates and details are intertwined into the story! The way you do it is marvelous! And I like to know what day it is and time of the day too. It seems some authors think it can be left out but believability relies on the reality that everything occurs in time! Just like setting and setting is often defined by time!

[Jenny]

I do like real events interwoven throughout the fiction, but I also have to keep my mind on the reality and the fiction, which is sometimes difficult. I also love reading old newspapers. Many of the old Australian newspapers have been downloaded and they make great reading. In some cases it is hard to stop laughing. Everything was reported, and I mean everything, from the top, i.e. Government, military, to the smallest towns smallest children and everything in between. Every town had a newspaper. The other interesting thing is these old newspaper reporters seem to paint the picture - you can see the drought, smell the dust, hear the animals, enjoy the policeman chasing the ??? down the street. (There was quite a bit of alcohol consumed). Today, the reporters just seem to report facts. Its all there but not as colourful.

[Mary M.]

Historical facts and cultural practices lend weight to a genre that too often, I regret to say, has little story and too high a prurience ratio. When an author has done the research that bestows a feeling of authenticity, it usually means she's also created a worthwhile, stimulating story as well. You, Jobev, are a master writer and at the top of my author A-list. Score! (And thank you!)

[Nancy Mayer]

Serendipity , indeed.
I love when that happens.
However, it isn't always possible nor necessary to find exact matches with the story. Possibility will do.
As for Prinney's grief-- I wonder how sincere it was. He treated his daughter badly while she was alive.
The American Representative to the Court of St James at that time-- who arrived in December --said he really didn't see the Regent until February.Has anyone ever seen copies of the Morning herald? I have heard it was the one for gossip.

[Karin]

I really admire that you work so hard to fit the events of your story closely into the real history of the time. It's interesting to me, but my grasp of the historical details is not that great, so I probably wouldn't notice unless an author makes a real blooper! What I do notice, and what bothers me, is if an author writes something that doesn't make sense for the season of the year it's supposed to be. For instance, if the daffodils are blooming in midsummer.
I've read some newspapers of the earlier 20th century, but I've never gone back to the 19th.

[Cathy]

I have found my relative mentioned in the mid-1700's Pennsylvania Gazette here in the USA so I'm keen to read anything of that period here in the States. I love it when fiction and history merge. It helps make the fiction more real to me.

[Jobev]

I learned a lot of my history from historical novels too when I was young.

[Jobev]

Thanks, Vicki. The newspapers I read through my library are on line. Check out what your library has in "online resources."

[Jobev]

It's true, Tai. A sense of time is very important.

[Jobev]

Good point, Jenny. These old newspapers are often quite gossipy. They love a bit of scandal as well.

[Jobev]

Thanks, Mary! I just love having some roots as I write a story.

[Jobev]

It's hard to say when grief is genuine. The Regent was odd in his emotions, but I suspect he did feel bereft, if only of the future. Then it probably snowballed and his emotions fed off everyone elses. It was a kind of mania. I don't think the Morning Herald is one of the ones I have access to.

[Jobev]

That's fun to see an ancestor in the papers! I was able to find a friend's ancestor in a book I have about Brighton in 1800. It lists most of the property holders and tradespeople. No details, but the name was there.

[Jenny]

I like history, and I love historical fiction. Add in the true facts and reading your books is just a very enjoyable way to learn. Love the way you have told us how the book ties in to the actual time period, and the fact that your novels do follow a "timeline", whether it is daily or weekly - much appreciated. Now I am off to research this period a bit more, so that it will be even easier to immerse myself into the book. And yes, I do like to read old newspapers.