Bringing Historical Women to Life

Andrea here, musing on starting a new book project. I’m excited—and also a little nervous—because it’s a new genre. Now, writing never gets easier, but the genres of romance and mystery are a familiar landscape. And I while I always try try to find new path through the nuances with each book, the landmarks are familiar—I have a mental map and feel pretty confident of navigating my way from start to finish.

This new project takes me into historical fiction, and more specifically into a emerging sub-genre of fictional biographies inspired by remarkable women of the past who for too long have had their accomplishments hidden in the shadows of traditional narratives. I’ve occasionally mentioned in my previous blogs how exciting it is to me that so many hidden stories are emerging to broaden and enrich our understanding of the past. So many people and events that didn’t fit into a narrow view of what was deemed “important” or “true” are now getting the acknowledgment they deserve.

So, my new project is a fictional biography of Lady Hester Stanhope, a Regency “rebel” who is famous because of her later life, when she journeyed to the Middle East, earned the moniker “Queen of the Desert” for establishing her own little fiefdom and fortress among the fierce male warriors (and earning their respect!) wore men's clothing and “inventied” modern archeology with her careful excavation of ancient ruins. (left)

She became one of the most famous adventurers of the 19th century—and a good part of why is because she so scandalized society by breaking all the rules. But my book is going to focus on her earlier life, which to me is even more fascinating. Hester was born into a household of aristocratic power and privilege. The Stanhope family had marital ties with the Pitt family over several generations. Her grandfather was the legendary orator and British prime minister William Pitt, and her uncle was William Pitt the Younger, the youngest prime minister in Britain’s history. Her father was a prominent man of science who hobnobbed with Joseph Banks and along with his friend Benjamin Franklin was one of the leading experimenters with electricity.

Lady Hester served as hostess, private secretary and confidante for Pitt the Younger, as he never married. Clever, intelligent and possessing a razor-wit, she make a place for herself at the very center of male-only power, winning the respect of prominent politicians who came to her for counsel and a way to whisper in Pitt’s ear.

She loved it. However, her passions were hotter and brighter than Society allowed for ladies of the era. She dared to defy a number rules . . . and her romantic life was a source of disappointment and heartache. Lady Hester made reckless mistakes, but what I love about her was her resilience and and ability to reinvent herself after experiencing set-backs that would crush most people. (above: Pitt the Younger)

I’ve just begun my research—you’ll hear much more about Lady Hester in the coming months. But right now, one of the really cool things has been to discover so many satirical prints of the era involving her family. (This is particularly fun for me as many of you know that in my Wrexford & Sloane mysteries, Charlotte Sloane a is a London satirical artist who creates this exact type of cartoon.) It's fascinating for me to to see how the era viewed the people about whom I'll be writing. Though it's sharp satire, it's an interesting perspective.

I’ve haven’t yet found one on Lady Hester, though I did discover one on the scandalous elopement of her sister, who married the local apothecary. It served as fodder for James Gillray’s pen because Lady Hester’s father was an earl but after the French Revolution he became a radical republican and railed against aristocratic privilege—which Gillray found hypocritical,so the cartoon implied Stanhope should be pleased with a commoner as son-in-law. (above)

And I also found a satirical cartoon on Lady Hester’s first real love interest—her cousin, Thomas Pitt, Lord Camelford, who was a rakehell adventurer and sometimes spy. He was apparently quite a volatile person and prone to violent rages—I’ve just ordered an out-of-print bio on him called The Half-Mad Lord. Lady Hester found his adventures seductive . . . but when he was killed in a duel, it’s said she was a little relieved. (above)

Another interesting discovery was that her other great loves (both very prominent men) have famous portraits painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence, who is one of my favorite portrait artists. One of them, Lord Granville Leverson-Gower, called the handsomest man of his era, is in the British Art Center at Yale, which is close to where I live, and I have frequently stopped to admire it . . . and now I’m going to be featuring him in my book. Funny how life makes those little connections. (left)

Stay tuned for further progress on the story. As I said this new writing journey is just beginning! We'll see where it leads!

How about you? Have you read any of the recent historical novels “inspired” by real life women? Do you like the genre? What women in history would you like to see done in this fictional biography format?

Comments

[Lil Marek]

I love fiction about real people. What they did may be a matter of record, but why they did what they did is conjecture, and fiction offers a way to make their actions believable, even when they really messed up. I'm really looking forward to reading about Lady Hester's life in England—I think it's in many ways more intriguing than her famous adventures in the Middle East.

[Lil Marek]

And because I hit post before I finished answering, I'd love to read a novel about Galla Placidia, who ended up ruling the Roman Empire as regent for her son. (I'd write it myself, but the research is daunting.)

[Quantum]

I always like to read about strong women who struggle against professional bias, particularly in science..... I will follow your researches with interest Andrea, especially the archaeology aspects.

One example that I enjoyed was Tracy Chevalier's novel 'Remarkable Creatures' which features the life of Mary Anning, collecting fossils at Lyme Regis on the Dorset Coast.

More recently the 1974 Nobel prize for physics was shared by Anthony Hewish for discovery of pulsars. His research student Jocelyn Bell Burnett actually did the work and first noticed the strange pulses in the radio telescope. Arguably she should have shared the prize .... this could form the basis of an interesting novel. Hewish is dead now but Bell-Burnett is still with us which might affect the writing?

[Jeanne Behnke]

I can't wait to read your book Andrea. I was just reading something about this woman so your post got my attention. I've read a few of Marie Benedict's books. The one about Hedy Lamarr was so interesting. In her case, I knew about her scientific discoveries but I had no idea about her early life and where she came from.

[Andrea Penrose]

Thanks, Lil. You've hit the essence of it why i think this is a fascinating project. researching her her and trying to imagine what gave her the strength to be so resilient and reinvent herself is so interesting and challenging.Already I've found some very intriguing connections/motivations.

And yes, I really do think her time in England is more interesting than the later years. It the story of how Hester became Hester.

[Andrea Penrose]

Wow, that sounds amazing! Research is fun, and with so many university/library/museum archives digitized these days,it far easier than it used to be to do serious research in your pajamas!

[Andrea Penrose]

Thanks, Quantum. Yes, Mary Anning is fascinating.

And I saw that there's a recent fictional biography on Rosalind Franklin, who did the imaging of the double helix, and should have shared in the Nobel Prize and fame of Crick and Watson.

I didn't know about Jocelyn Bell Burnett. Science has always been a tough field for women.

[Andrea Penrose]

Thanks, Jeanne.

Hedy Lamarr's story is absolutely fascinating, isn't it.

[Janice]

Hedy Lamarr had such a sad later life, though. The world didn't want her for her intellect; they only wanted her for her beauty, and when that faded, they ignored the rest and she fell upon hard times professionally, mostly lost her eyesight, and spent her last years in seclusion. She even got arrested for shoplifting at the May Company at Wilshire & Fairfax (now the Academy Museum).

She married a number of times - she is reported to have said, when asked about all those husbands, "Well, at least I married them!" But she had estrangements with her family.

She did not, however, die broke.

I am happy to see that lately she's finally gotten credit for other aspects of her personality. I think she would have been an interesting friend.

[Andrea Penrose]

So, true, Janice. Women who break the rules have it tough—even today when it is supposed to be easier. In the past, their challenging of preconceptions—especially the one that women were inherently not as smart as men—was frightening to the hierarchy. And so they were belittled and subject to nasty personal attack for wanting to step outside the box. And that takes its toll. Lady Hester had a very sad life, but triumphed in so many ways be refusing to let adversity crush her.

[Mary M.]

Looking forward to your book, Andrea. Love this genre.

My favorite was about Elizabeth Armistead and her marriage to
Charles James Fox. The book, I think, was Confessions of a Courtesan by Elizabeth Charles and Deborah Hale. When Elizabeth was young, Fox and his society friends ruined her. Instead of slinking off to penury, she called them together and insisted they help her become a high-class courtesan. She became mistress to one of them (maybe more than one, I don't remember), mistress to Prinny, and eventually mistress to Fox, a political powerhouse in Georgian England, who insisted over her objections that they marry.

It was an improbable marriage that worked because he was besotted and she had the affable good sense to support his career but not push for acceptance at the highest societal levels. There's a famous caricature of them showing in exaggerated form that she was tall and spindly while he was short and round--sort of the Laurel and Hardy combo of their time.

Talk about a fascinating her-story!

[GrowlyCub]

There is an old M&B title (early 90s or earlier) about the real life marriage of Granville Leveson-Gower and Harryo Cavendish. I have forgotten the author and title, sadly.

[nancy]

The letter's of both Lord Granville ( as he later became) and Lady Harriet Cavendish have been published as well as a biography of HaryO.Lord Granville Leveson Gower was devilishly handsome and must have been a stud. He had two children with Lady Blessington who was aunt to Lady Harriet so that when Harriet took the two in her her home she wasn't lying when she called them cousins. Harriet seemed to accept her husband as he was.I don't know when he had time for all those affaires as he was off to Russia and other places in the foreign service before he married Harriet.He was also in the foreign service after marriage. What made me blink is that often in her letters Harriet would mention that they lacked funds or something about finances. Her father , the Duke of Devonshire gave her a smaller dowry than he gave her illegitimate half sister who married one of Lady Melbourne's sons. Her brother made up the difference when he became duke. Lord Granville was the son of one of a marquess. Even as a son of the 3rd wife he should have had a generous allowance. I think it was all relatative.

[Andrea Penrose]

Thanks for sharing, Mary! Fascinating, indeed! What a strong woman, using her intelligence and cleverness to take control of her own destiny. It took tremendous strength of character and daring to take control of one's destiny.

[Andrea Penrose]

I will look that up. I know it was a very strange match. Leverson-Gower was the longtime lover of Harryo's aunt, who encouraged the marriage.

[Andrea Penrose]

Thanks, Nancy. Yes, quite a complicated web of relationships. Lady Hester was caught up in it with sad results.

Granville was considered the handsomest man in all of Britain.

[Annette N]

Thank you so much for the post and for all the information from your readers. I think that it is sad that Harriet has not gotten more recognition. So it is good you are doing to do that for her. She must have been a pistol.

Hope everyone is well.

[Andrea Penrose]

So glad you enjoyed the post, Annette. So many of the unsung historical heroines were pistols. They had to be!

[Kareni]

Thanks for a fun post, Andrea. I've heard snippets about Lady Stanhope's later life but nothing of her as a younger woman, so your idea is inspired.

Best wishes with this new direction!

[Andrea Penrose]

Thanks so much, Kareni!

[Karin]

I have not read a lot of fictional biographies, that I can recollect, but you certainly picked a fascinating character for your book. I love the painting of her up top, with the ruff and feathers in her hair.

[Andrea Penrose]

Thanks, Karin. Lady Hester really is incredibly interesting. Such a strong woman who didn't flinch from following her passions.

I love the portrait at top, too. (It looks like an Elizabethan costume, likely for some sort of masquerade entertainment.) The artist has really captured the look of fierce independence in her eyes.

[Teresa Broderick]

Oh Janice, that is so sad! I hadn't heard that part of her story. The world is such a cruel place but even more so in the past and to women especially.

[Andrea Penrose]

Very true, Teresa. Strong women rarely have it easy.

[Faith Freewoman]

Oh, I am so excited.

I've always wanted to know the real story of Lady Stanhope, and I can tell just from reading this that there are aspects of her life that I know absolutely nothing about--I can't wait!!

Eagerly awaiting...

Cheers, Faith