I am pleased to welcome Anna Belfrage to my blog today to share a guest post to promote her novel, “Their Castilian Orphan.” I would like to thank Anna Belfrage and The Coffee Pot Book Club for allowing me to be part of this blog tour.
I write Historical Fiction. While my protagonists are entirely fictional, they now and then have to interact with “real” people who’ve existed, lived, and died for real. This can be a bummer – especially when your perfectly crafted timeline suddenly crashes headlong into the wall of historical facts. That conversation your protagonist was to have with the wife of the 14th-century Earl of Lancaster can no longer happen, seeing as the lady died some months before the planned meeting. The touching scene in which Philippe Augustus of France reconciles with his Danish wife, Ingeborg, must be scrapped – the king would no more reconcile with his wife than he would have a crocodile in his bed (which would not only be very weird but also anachronistic, as there were no crocodiles in medieval France. As an aside, no one knows just why Philippe Augustus stormed out of the chamber in which he’d just spent his wedding night said Ingeborg, determined to never, ever have her near him again). See? These real-life characters are hard to deal with. In actual fact, so are the invented characters, as all of a sudden they start developing opinions of their own and generally refuse to cooperate when they don’t agree with the overall plotline, but that is neither here nor there – not in this post.
Including real characters in the story adds a certain nerve. People can read the book, become intrigued, and spend some time googling the real characters. Hopefully, they come away with the impression that the author has done a good job adhering to the overall facts. If not, there may be a problem, as readers of historical fiction tend to be sensitive to incorrect information.
The further back in history you write, the more leeway you have when utilizing real-life characters. Also, I think it important to underline that Historical Fiction is precisely that: fiction. Even when writing about real historical people, we must keep in mind that we don’t know these shadowy ghosts from the past. What we have are fragments of their lives (at best), mentions in this roll or the other, acidic comments in one chronicler’s version of events, and praise in another’s. So what any good historical fiction author does is that he/she constructs a picture – fleshes out the spare bones we have left to create a living, breathing character (in as much as characters can breathe, of course). Every such representation is incorrect in that it does not – cannot – be a fair representation of the person who lived and died all those years ago.
This is why we get such varied depictions of historical people. Authors may start with the same bare facts, but then they’ll add biases and personal values, which is why Henry Tudor comes across as the villain in one book, as an earnest man with a mission in another. The thing is, we have no idea what he was really like. Was he passionate in bed? Did he have the enervating habit of sucking his teeth as he thought? Did he take reading matter with him to the garderobe? Did he eat the veggies first? Did he now and then curse that meddlesome mother of his to hell and back? We simply don’t know. What we do know is that he won at Bosworth – and that, according to some, is down to pure luck, while others will argue for divine intervention.
I guess the long and short of all this is that a historical fiction author must know his/her period, and must be familiar with customs and foods, clothes, and values. Of course, when writing about real people, the author needs to have read up on the facts that exist. But these are just the building blocks. A historical fiction author wants to tell a story, and sometimes those real-life characters have to be tweaked – a bit – to create the required tension. And so Henry Tudor is at times represented as diabolical, at others as an ambitious man who truly believes he deserves the English crown. A skilled author will have the reader accepting either or – for the sake of the story as such.
In my recent release, Their Castilian Orphan, I am writing about a very, very bad year for Edward I. 1294 is probably one of his least favourite years, even if nowhere close to that most awful year, 1290 (when his wife died. And see what I am doing here? I am imbuing Edward with romantic traits by indicating he never, ever got over the loss of Eleanor. While there seems to be plenty of evidence this was the case, we do not know. Not really. . .) In 1294, Philippe IV of France more or less tricked Edward into turning over parts of Gascony to him, and, as icing on the cake, the Welsh seized the opportunity offered by Edward’s conflict with France to rebel.
Obviously, Edward plays an important role in my novel. While he is not one of my protagonists, most of my invented peeps live in his shadow, some in closer proximity to him than others, but none untouched. As Edward was king, we know more about him than about other players in the period. We can, for example, track his itinerary through his rolls—and boy did the man move about a lot! But the documents offer little insight into his mind and innermost thoughts.
My Edward is a man determined to come across as powerful. Being humiliated by the much younger Philippe must hurt, as does, in all likelihood, his gouty toe. But Edward would refuse to show weakness in public—it suffices that some of his more vociferous nobles are insinuating he was tricked by Philippe because Philippe promised him his young sister, Marguerite as a new bride. Ugh, his nobles exclaim, a king ruled by his lusts! My Edward doesn’t want to wed again—but he knows he has no choice, not really, seeing as he only has one surviving son, and everyone knows a king needs at least one spare. My Edward is temperamental and at times he unfairly subjects those who serve him to his anger. I have no idea if the real Edward would ever throw a heavy candlestick at a boy, but my Edward does—and is incapable of bending his pride sufficiently to apologise for it afterwards.
Many would probably portray Edward as more demonic—especially those writing about his campaigns against the Scots. And yes, to them he probably was the devil in disguise, but like every other person in the world, Edward was a multifaceted person, even if he does seem to have had a propensity for ruthless violence when riled. On the other hand, he was a medieval king, and such kings ruled through the force of their swords.
In conclusion, as I said right at the beginning, I write fiction. I have the joy of constructing a plot that weaves its way through the tapestry of known history, my invented leads interacting freely with the people who populate the history books – as I see them. Lucky me, hey?
Blurb:
It is 1294 and Eustace de Lamont is back in England after five years in exile. He will stop at nothing to ruin Robert FitzStephan and his wife, Noor d’Outremer.
Robert’s half-brother, Eustace de Lamont, has not mellowed during his absence. He is more ruthless than ever, and this time he targets Robert’s and Noor’s foster son, Lionel.
Lionel is serving King Edward as a page when Eustace appears at court. Not only does Lionel become the horrified witness to Eustace’s violent streak, Eustace also starts voicing his suspicions about Lionel’s parentage. The truth about Lionel’s heritage is explosive—should King Edward find out, all would be lost for Robert and Noor.
In October of 1294, Wales rises in rebellion. Robert must leave his family unprotected to fight the Welsh rebels on the king’s behalf, comforted only by the fact that Eustace too is called to fight.
Except that Eustace has no intention of allowing his duty to his king—or a mere rebellion—come between him and his desire to destroy Robert FitzStephan . . .
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Author Bio:
Had Anna been allowed to choose, she’d have become a time traveler. As this was impossible, she became a financial professional with three absorbing interests: history, romance, and writing. Anna has authored the acclaimed time travelling series The Graham Saga, set in 17th-century Scotland and Maryland, as well as the equally acclaimed medieval series The King’s Greatest Enemy which is set in 14th-century England. Anna has just released the final installment, Their Castilian Orphan, in her other medieval series, The Castilian Saga, which is set against the conquest of Wales. She has recently released Times of Turmoil, a sequel to her time travel romance, The Whirlpools of Time, and is now considering just how to wiggle out of setting the next book in that series in Peter the Great’s Russia, as her characters are demanding. . .
All of Anna’s books have been awarded the IndieBRAG Medallion, she has several Historical Novel Society Editor’s Choices, and one of her books won the HNS Indie Award in 2015. She is also the proud recipient of various Reader’s Favorite medals as well as having won various Gold, Silver, and Bronze Coffee Pot Book Club awards.
“A master storyteller”
“This is what all historical fiction should be like. Superb.”
Find out more about Anna, and her books and enjoy her eclectic historical blog on her website, http://www.annabelfrage.com
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The year is 1480 and King Edward IV sits firmly on the throne, yet the Lancasterian threat lurks in the shadow. Things have taken a drastic turn for Sebastian Foxley’s workshop and his family. It has been months since a fire destroyed the Foxley home and workshop, which also left his brother Jude injured. Seb has decided now would be the perfect time to go on a pilgrimage to Canterbury to pray at the shrine of St Thomas Becket. The pilgrimage had its perils on paper before even setting out on the road. What terrors await Seb and his monty crew of pilgrims and can they survive the trip? Toni Mount’s twelfth Sebastian Foxley Medieval Murder, “The Colour of Sin,” takes our hero on a journey beyond the streets of his beloved London into a wider world full of intrigue.
The Woodvilles were a family synonymous with the Wars of the Roses and the rise of King Edward IV. Some of the more notable names from this family include Jacquetta Woodville, the family’s matriarch, and Elizabeth Woodville, the controversial choice for King Edward IV’s wife. However, it was not just the women of the Woodville family who made a name for themselves. Anthony Woodville, the son of Jacquetta and brother of Elizabeth Woodville, would become famous for his unexpected execution at Pontefract Castle. Still, there was so much more to his story than his death. Who was Anthony Woodville and what is his legacy? Danielle Burton hopes to answer these questions and more in her debut biography, “Anthony Woodville: Sophisticate or Schemer?”
The ninth century is coming to a close and England is at a major crossroads. King Alfred the Great is dying and England being unified is still a long-term goal. The only hope for a united England lies in the hands of his son and successor Edward. However, the road to the throne will be challenging as other Saxons and Viking warriors desire the throne. Only one man can help the young king, but which side will Uhtred of Bebbanburg choose? The fight for England’s future continues in book six of the Saxon Stories, “Death of Kings” by Bernard Cornwell.
I am pleased to welcome Stella Riley to my blog today to share an excerpt from her novel, “A Splendid Defiance.” I would like to thank Stella Riley and the Coffee Pot Book Club for allowing me to be part of this blog tour.
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I am pleased to welcome Malve von Hassell to my blog today to share a spotlight for her novel, “The Falconer’s Apprentice.” I want to thank The Coffee Pot Book Club and Malve von Hassell for allowing me to be part of this blog tour.
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The Wars of the Roses, a conflict that engulfed English politics for over 30 years and heralded a new dynasty, the Tudors. While there were battles and political intrigue galore during this period of unrest, there were also births, marriages, and deaths of powerful figures. Each day during the Wars of the Roses holds significance to nobles and commoners alike. Dan Moorhouse has compiled his years of research into this conflict into his book, “On This Day in the Wars of the Roses.”
Like many other countries, England has been through growing pains when it comes to reforming its political, military, and judicial systems. None more so than the pains of the medieval period, specifically from 1199 to 1399. In those two centuries, there were six Plantagenet kings, each with a different style of being king and a different way of changing England with each reign. We often think that the biggest change to England’s political history during this time was the Magna Carta, but in fact, that was only just the beginning. Caroline Burt and Richard Partington have combed the archives to do a deep dive into each reign of these Plantagenet kings, examining the political and judicial changes that happened in a short period. Their comprehensive book is entitled, “Arise, England: Six Kings and the Making of the English State.”
The 16th century was known for its dramatic changes in religious issues. None more so than during the late Tudor dynasty especially during the reign of Elizabeth I. However, France also saw the religious pendulum swing between Protestantism and Catholicism. Many families from all walks of life were caught in religious squabbles, like the Montgomery family. Lady Gabrielle Roberda Montgomery found herself in the middle of the drama and was forced to marry into a prominent Devon family in Elizabethan England, far from her native France. Roberda’s extraordinary story is told masterfully in Rosemary Griggs’ latest novel, “The Dartington Bride.” 
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Adventures of a Tudor Nerd 