Writing the Renaissance

Review: THE QUEEN'S COMPANION by Lucy Pick

2025-07-08T07:01:00.000-07:00

In 2014, medievalist Lucy Pick published Pilgrimage (Cuidono Press), a thoughtful and engaging narrative about two Flemish noblewomen who travel to Compostela with a group of pilgrims, searching for healing and forgiveness and finding friendship and purpose along the way (review). The main character of that novel, blind Gebirga of Gistel, had found her life upended when her crusading father Bertulf returned from the Holy Land with a new bride in tow. Pick's latest novel, The Queen's Companion (Cuidono Press, July 2025), takes this reluctant stepmother, Lady Aude of al-Lawza, as its protagonist. Extending the scope of its narrative far beyond Gebirga and Aude's short but rocky coexistence in Flanders, the narrative recounts Aude's efforts to return to the Holy Land to reclaim the birthright stolen from her upon her parents' deaths. After an unexpected rencounter at Antioch with Eleanor of Aquitaine, on crusade with her husband Louis of France, Aude realizes that the queen might prove useful to her quest. She accepts a position in Eleanor's service and soon finds herself entangled in the queen's complicated political and amorous gambits. In many respects, the narrative becomes as much Eleanor's tale as Aude's.

Pick cleverly weaves the two women's stories together by employing Aude as the group's unofficial storyteller. Throughout the course of the novel, Aude recounts fifteen tales drawn from her own life in roughly chronological order. The tales she chooses to tell serve specific purposes that have direct bearing on the present action. For example, she tells her first story to the Queen and her women in payment for having been invited to join the group. With her seventh tale, Aude hopes to show adulterous Eleanor that there are seldom happy endings or valiant rescuers for lovesick ladies. She spins her last seven tales to relieve the boredom of the women's isolation at al-Lawza. Aude acknowledges her role as a real-life Scheherazade: "Every evening, I would continue my account...spinning it out as long as I could and always stop at some exciting or dramatic moment. It was not to save my life, but it might help preserve our sanity at al-Lawza. The dangers of my past seemed to distract Eleanor from worries about her future. And it would pass the time" (178). This evocation of the Persian storyteller and her frameworked tales inevitably calls to mind the works of Western medieval and early modern authors like Boccaccio and Marguerite de Navarre, powerfully encapsulating both Aude's dual Frankish-Armenian heritage and the clash of cultures engulfing the holy land during Louis and Eleanor's Crusade.

The Queen's Companion explores numerous themes--revenge, the agency of women in a era that circumscribed it, the morality of religious conquest--but central all is a focus on the nature and power of storytelling. Aude's tales delight and entertain, instruct and guide. But her storytelling also defines--whether it be her own character, the actions of others, or the political aspirations of individuals and entire nations--by hiding and revealing, comparing and contrasting, elaborating or minimizing. Through storytelling, Aude--and by extension, society at large--attempts to make sense of a world in chaos. Picking and choosing the details she wishes to reveal and controlling when and how she presents these details to her listeners, Aude orders the essential randomness of real-life experience into a coherent, harmonized whole endowed with meaning. In a similar fashion, the Frankish Crusaders attempt to appropriate the history of the Holy Land for themselves, to "retell" it within a Christian framework of their own making. Their failure to do so in the face of concerted resistance becomes part of a broader tale still being constructed to this present day.

Pick draws upon her deep knowledge of medieval history, religion, and philosophy to create another must-read novel for readers interested in the history of Holy Land as well as those who appreciate strong and adventurous heroines. Aude's witness to and participation in Eleanor of Aquitaine's crusade, her agency in the love triangle between the queen, her husband King Louis, and her uncle Raymond of Poitiers presents an intriguing interpretation of long-speculated events and demonstrates how storytelling shapes and even decides history. The Queen's Companion offers readers an intelligent and engrossing take on the Crusades from a feminist perspective.

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Historian Lucy Pick, Ph.D, taught for over twenty years at the University of Chicago, where she is still a research associate. Her research interests include the relationships between gender, power, and religion, the translation of science and philosophy in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and its impact on relations between religious groups.

The Queen's Companion can be purchased directly from Cuidono Press or from Amazon.

Short Story Contest Finalist

2025-01-30T10:38:00.000-08:00

I'm pleased to announce that the original short story I wrote for the Historical Novel Society North America Conference contest was among the twelve finalists chosen to appear in the conference anthology! This was only the second short story I've ever written, and will be my first published piece of fiction. The contest asked for short stories set in Las Vegas (the conference location), at any period at least fifty years in the past. I conducted tons of fascinating research on early nuclear testing at the nearby Nuclear Proving Ground and its effects on Vegas culture. The resulting story, "A Flash in the Pan," focuses on a female spy posing as a waitress in the Sky Room at the Desert Inn resort during one of their infamous early dawn watch parties. Imagine gathering to witness the explosion of an above ground nuclear test only sixty-odd miles away!

Many thanks to the conference committee and the judges for sponsoring the contest. Good luck to the eleven other finalists, as we await the announcement of the grand prize winner on February 7!

Silver Medal, Historical Novel Society 2024 First Chapters Competition

2024-06-30T17:22:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to the second round judges who awarded my manuscript DAUGHTER OF ENVY the Silver Medal in the Ancient to 16th Century Category of the Historical Novel Society 2024 First Chapters Competition! I am humbled and beyond pleased to accept this award. It is gratifying to know that experts in historical fiction found the chapters well-written and engaging; I hope publishers will, too! Just the boost I needed to move full-speed ahead with my current manuscript, a dual-timeline mystery novel set in Amboise in 1560 and 1989 and centered around the conspiracy that attempted to kidnap the king.

Selected for the Shortlist!

2024-05-05T23:30:00.000-07:00

I am thrilled and honored to announce that the first three chapters of my manuscript, DAUGHTER OF ENVY, earned a spot on the shortlist for the Historical Novel Society 2024 First Chapters Competition in the Ancient to 16th Century Category! I am immensely grateful to the judges who spent weeks reading and scoring manuscripts and to the HNS for finding yet another way to support historical fiction writers and help the genre thrive.

Organized in conjunction with the 2024 HNS UK Conference, the new First Chapters Competition garnered over 400 manuscripts from 23 countries. Entries--the first three chapters of an unpublished manuscript--were sorted into nine categories by era or subgenre; judges for each category chose between seven to ten entries for the shortlist. New sets of judges will now read and score the shortlist winners to produce the nine Category winners, to be announced on June 10. These Category winners then compete for the Grand Prize, which will be awarded at the Gala Dinner at the HNS UK 2024 conference on September 7. More information about the contest, as well the nine complete shortlists, can be found on the conference website.

Congratulations to all the shortlist winners and best wishes for the next round! And to those entrants who didn't place, DON'T GIVE UP! The road to publication is long and torturous. Believe me, I've learned this firsthand! Bravo to you for entering the contest, and don't let disappointment undermine your faith in yourself and your abilities. Write the stories you want to read, stories you believe in, stories that entertain and inspire, and someday the universe will smile upon you. My own doubts almost prevented me from entering this contest. Making this shortlist makes me realize how foolish I would be to abandon my dreams, no matter how unattainable they sometimes seem.

Now, excuse me while I go pinch myself yet again! Time to write.

French Renaissance Treasures at San Francisco's Legion of Honor

2023-01-25T07:55:00.004-08:00

It's always a thrill to discover sixteenth century artifacts in twenty-first century America. This past weekend, I visited one of San Francisco's art museums, the Legion of Honor, for the first time in years and was surprised at the number of French Renaissance treasures in the collection. The museum has a wide variety of Renaissance works on display, from furniture to tapestries to paintings and enamelware.

We'll start with the walnut armoire à deux corps, a seemingly requisite item of any sixteenth-century furniture collection. These large, heavy cabinets served as storage closets for linens, tableware, and personal items. They typically featured four compartments, two upper and two lower, accessed by doors. A pair of drawers can separate the upper and lower sections.

The wealthier the purchaser, the more elaborately carved an armoire would be, with vines, arabesques, and mythical creatures adorning the cabinet in grand profusion. Although this one, dated circa 1580, is on the plainer side, it features an interesting display of geometrical perspective on the door panels.

The carved panels create the illusion of a room of vast depth and height, its different floors supported by pillars and lit by arched windows. The blocks behind the central pilaster have a pocked appearance, mimicking the rough surface of stone. It is a beautiful piece of furniture, one any wealthy merchant or nobleman would be proud to own.

Beside the armoire stand two carved wooded chairs called caquetoires. This name derives from the French verb caqueter, meaning to chat in a relaxed social situation. Caquetoire chairs feature a trapezoidal seat and outward curving arms, the better to accommodate the voluminous skirts worn by Renaissance women. The chairs are lightly built, allowing them to be drawn up close to a bed- or fireside. Seats and back were sometimes covered; Catherine de Medici's 1548 inventory includes "small caqueteuse chairs with tapestry." The examples at the Legion of Honor date from around 1550. I had never heard of a caquetoire before and was happy to learn about them in this article.

The final piece of furniture on display was an elegant cassone, or bridal chest. This one, carved in walnut, was constructed in Italy around 1550. A cassone was a status piece, commissioned by the family of a wealthy bride and filled with her personal goods. Placed in the bridal suite at the foot of the bed, it could serve not only as a storage box but as a place to sit. Flat-sided fifteenth century cassone painted with mythological scenes eventually gave way to intricately carved and gilded works like the one below. I found it moving to stand next to this piece and imagine a sixteenth-century bride filling it with new gowns and linens, eager to begin life as a married woman--or, perhaps, dreading union with a man she hardly knew.

The Legion of Honor collection also includes two tapestries. The first, dating from about 1470, is called Rabbit Hunting with Ferrets and depicts exactly that:

It took me a while to find a ferret, but I finally located one at the bottom, towards the left. A hunter introduces the ferret into a rabbit burrow, presumably to frighten the rabbit out through a different hole, where it is caught in a net--a late medieval version of "out of the fire, into the frying pan." The result is the same--rabbit stew.

The second tapestry was woven in Brussels around 1535. Triumph of Justice is one of seven panels from a series called The Triumph of the Seven Virtues. This series features allegorical depictions of the three theological virtues (Faith, Hope, and Charity) and the four cardinal virtues (Justice, Prudence, Fortitude, and Temperance). Such series were meant not only to delight the senses (and warm cold rooms!) but to provide moral instruction.

The Legion of Honor owns two other panels in the series (Triumph of Fortitude and Triumph of Prudence). The three tapestries had been stored, rolled up, for twenty-five years in the museum basement and had to be painstakingly restored before they could be displayed. The process took six years; Justice was the last one finished. The National Museum of Scotland owns a Triumph of Prudence and has posted an informative video about the repair and conservation of the tapestry on its website.

Needless to say, I had a wonderful time "geeking out" at this display of amazing artifacts. My delight soared when I discovered a large collection of enamelware--a Renaissance speciality that I take a particular interest in and that will be the subject of my next post.

Party Central: L'Art de la Fête à la cour des Valois

2022-05-14T15:06:00.000-07:00

Renaissance courtiers loved a good party. Fêtes, or celebrations, at court lasted for days and included any number of events: lavish banquets, jousts and mock battles, dramatic spectacles, elaborate costume balls. Festive gatherings served a multitude of purposes: impressing visiting dignitaries, marking births and marriages, commemorating important victories, displaying the skills and ingenuity of court artists--and, of course, manifesting the munificent generosity of the king.

Above and beyond their political purposes, parties were just plain fun.

Photo credit: Cleveland Museum of Art

Despite the frequency and extravagance of Renaissance court festivals, however, they are difficult to document. Parties are, after all, ephemeral things: the food is consumed, the decorations discarded, the music fades away. Before the invention of photography, it was impossible to capture such events in real time. Modern historians must rely on written memories and rare artifacts as they attempt to reconstruct the look, activity, and tenor of celebrations at the Renaissance court.

A current exhibition at the Château of Fontainebleau, the primary residence of François I and a favorite of his son Henri II and grandson Henri III, attempts to recreate the Renaissance celebration for modern-day visitors. L'Art de la fête à la cour des Valois, which runs through July 4, presents over one hundred works, many lent from international collections, in an attempt to capture these festivals in all their splendor and document the extensive behind-the-scenes preparation that glory required.

Organized by curators Oriane Beaufils and Vincent Droguet, the exhibit includes paintings, tapestries, parade armor, costume sketches and commemorative pamphlets from celebrations across several reigns. From the most solemn to the most extravagant, Renaissance celebrations were living, moving, breathing works of art that sprouted from the ingenuity of some of the greatest artists of the time: Rosso Fiorentino, Francesco Primaticcio, Robert Delorme, Antoine Caron, and poet Pierre de Ronsard. The collected works at Fontainebleau resurrect the decorations, program, and costumes of some of the Valois court's most magnificent events.

Masquerade balls were central to Valois celebrations. Sketches of costumes designed by court artist Primaticcio for events like the festivities surrounding Emperor Charles V's state visit to Fontainebleau in 1539 (I blogged about that here) survive to this day.

Photo credit: Musée du Louvre

In order to recreate the feel of the fête for modern visitors, the Château engaged the costume workshop of nearby Disneyland Paris to render two of Primaticcio's sketches into life-sized garments. These faithful, fanciful costumes stand on display in the Château's ballroom, site of so many Valois parties. If you can't make it to the salle de bal in person, you can view the recreated costumes here, courtesy of La République de Seine-et-Marne.

Scribeaccroupi.fr, a French art history site, has an excellent written preview of the exposition, as well as an engaging short film animated by Oriane Beaufils herself. Her enthusiasm for the subject is palpable.

As much as I'd love to view the exposition in person, I must content myself with the printed catalogue, which I expect to arrive next week. I'll share about it soon. In the meantime....

Party on!

(You can find more about the exhibit on Twitter under the hashtags #PartyLikeaValois and #FeteAFontainebleau.)

Review: DOWN A DARK RIVER by Karen Odden

2021-11-14T19:59:00.000-08:00

Any novel that quoted Victorian poet Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach" would be a favorite of mine, but when one of the victims in Karen Odden's just-released mystery DOWN A DARK RIVER (Crooked Lane) offers the poet's famous admonition--"Ah, love, let us be true / To one another! for the world /... / Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light, / Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain"-- as a message of hope, it's icing on an already delectable cake. Odden's fourth novel, the first installment of her new Inspector Corravan series, links matter and message together so profoundly readers will find themselves musing on the fundamental questions the novel poses long after they close the cover on this thoroughly satisfying read.

An expert in Victorian literature and culture, Odden conjures a vividly convincing setting populated with memorable characters that reverberate with historical and psychological authenticity. An emotionally scarred Irishman who grew up on the docks in the seedy Whitechapel district of London, protagonist Michael Corravan has traded the boxing ring for the neighborhood precinct. He now works for Scotland Yard at a time when the agency is under intense scrutiny for corruption. When a dead young woman in a ball gown is discovered floating down the Thames in a boat à la Lady of Shalott, Corravan must apprehend her murderer before newspaper coverage sparks panic among London's upper crust. Concurrently working on the case of a runaway wife, Corravan suspects the two cases might be connected, but all too soon another body comes floating down the river, then another.... Abrasive and irregular in his methods, Corravan incurs the censure of his superiors just as his investigation begins to bear fruit. With his career, the reputation of the Yard, the safety of his lover, and the lives of future victims on the line, Corravan pieces together the clues, only to face a soul-wrenching question--can justice be served in the face of horrendous injustice? Corravan's answer and actions to this dilemma upends the mystery genre's traditional norms and provides plenty of fodder for thought on the meaning of justice in an unjust world of stark class and economic disparities.

Odden's intricate plot merits praise for its keen execution, but the completeness and particularity of her characters endows this novel deep emotional resonance. No cardboard characters populate these pages; the reader can sense the detailed backstory Odden has imagined for each and every player. Issues in the characters' pasts complicate their present, and the author reveals just enough in just the right places to elucidate the characters' motivations. Corravan's traumatic past shapes his effectiveness as an inspector in strong yet subtle ways, and readers will be pleased to discover a man of broad generosity and deep compassion behind his prickly exterior.

Though the novel's action takes place in the kitchens, gentlemen's clubs, and grimy streets of Victorian London, the issue at the heart of DOWN A DARK RIVER--whether the powerless can ever receive justice from the hands of the powerful who have wronged them--remains relevant, and just as thorny, today. Now, as then, the silenced need a voice to bring injustice to light. Through the efforts and humanity of Inspector Michael Corravan, a welcome addition to the ranks of fictional police inspectors, Karen Odden gives them one.

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Karen Odden earned her Ph.D. in English from New York University and subsequently taught literature at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She has contributed essays to numerous books and journals, written introductions for Victorian novels in the Barnes & Noble classics series, and edited for the journal Victorian Literature and Culture (Cambridge UP). Her previous novels, also set in 1870s London, have won awards for historical fiction and mystery. A member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime and the recipient of a grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, Karen lives in Arizona with her family and her rescue beagle Rosy.

Visit her website to learn more about Karen and her novels.

Diane de Poitiers: Big Stars on the Small Screen

2021-10-06T13:06:00.000-07:00

Fans of sixteenth century France, rejoice! A new miniseries about Diane de Poitiers, the mistress of King Henri II, is currently under production for France 2. Filmed on location at the Château de Septmonts near Soissons and various châteaux of the Loire, the cast features superstars of the French silver screen.

Photo credit: Georges Biard

Isabelle Adjani, who played Marguerite de Valois in the 1994 film La Reine Margot, stars in the title role as Diane de Poitiers.

Photo credit: Siebbi

Gérard Depardieu, a fixture of French historical drama (Germinal, Vatel, Le Retour de Martin Guerre) plays the seer Nostredamus.

Photo credit: Georges Biard

Samuel Labarthe (De Gaulle, La Forêt) portrays François I;

Photo credit: L.helas

Hugo Becker (Leonardo, Osmosis), François's son Henri II.

Photo credit: Georges Biard

Virginie Ledoyen (Les Misérables, Notre Dame) plays the part of François's mistress, Anne de Pisseleu, Duchesse d'Étampes.

Photo credit: Georges Biard

French rapper and actor JoeyStarr participates as the comte de Kervannes;

Photo credit: Georges Biard

Guillaume Gallienne (Cézanne et moi) has been cast as the famous surgeon Ambroise Paré.

Didier Ducoin, author of major television movies including Les Misérables, The Count of Monte Cristo, Balzac, and Napoléon, has penned the screenplay. Josée Dayan, of blockbuster TV series Dix Pour Cent fame, directs the miniseries. Anne Holmes, director of French fiction at France Télévisions, sees Diane de Poitiers as a "free, modern, feminist woman" who "incarnates certain of today's values." Although knowledge of the details of Diane's life remains limited, power, love, drama and jealousy--elements TV audiences gobble up--combined to produce her "exceptional destiny." The story of Diane's decades-long hold over the much younger king and her rivalry with his wily wife Catherine de Medici is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

Filming runs through October, with broadcast planned for next year. Let's hope a streaming service quickly picks it up for diffusion to English-speaking audiences.

(Information for this post comes from Le Point, "Isabelle Adjani dans la peau de Diane de Poitiers.")

A Snapshot in Time: Clouet Portraits on Display at Azay-le-Rideau

2021-07-22T09:19:00.002-07:00

Like any author, I love it when characters I have written about come into the public eye. Artist duo Jean and François Clouet, featured in my second novel, worked as portraitists at the courts of François I, Henri II, and Henri's sons. I posted previously about their work here and here. This summer, the Clouets take the spotlight in an exposition of Renaissance portraiture at the Château d'Azay-le-Rideau in the Loire Valley.

A notable group of thirty-six French Renaissance portraits are on display at the château through September 19, 2021. The collection demonstrates the unique formula developed by Jean Clouet (c. 1485-c. 1541) and his son François (c. 1505-1572) over the course of their long careers. Working in modest dimensions against a neutral background at three-quarters view, the Clouets paired their truthfulness to the sitter's physical traits with an acute expression of psychology. Their exquisitely rendered portraits capture the personalities as well as the appearances of the French Renaissance's most compelling figures. Taken as a whole, the hundreds of chalk sketches and formal paintings the two Clouets produced provide a fascinating "who's who" of nearly a century's worth of French nobility.

In addition to presenting the Clouets and the individuals they painted, the exposition at Azay-le-Rideau explores the workings of a Renaissance portrait studio and the diplomatic, dynastic, and historical uses of portraits during the era. "Le retour des portraits de la Renaissance" is an exhibit not to miss if you're in the area before mid-September. Armchair travelers like me can enjoy scribeaccroupi's informative video, narrated by Mathieu Deldicque, curator of the Musée Condé:

I can only imagine how awed contemporaries were at the Clouets' ability to capture their subjects so vividly on paper and canvas long before the advent of photography.

Cover Reveal: THE COLLECTOR'S DAUGHTER by Gill Paul

2021-03-17T00:00:00.003-07:00

I'm excited to share with you today the cover of Gill Paul's new novel, THE COLLECTOR'S DAUGHTER: A Novel of the Discovery of Tutankhamun's Tomb. Gill is a masterful storyteller, and this novel promises to be a gripping read:

Bestselling author Gill Paul returns with a brilliant novel about Lady Evelyn Herbert, who grew up in Highclere Castle—the real Downton Abbey—and became the first person in modern times to enter the tomb of Ancient Egyptian king Tutankhamun.

She is the daughter of the Earl of Carnarvon, brought up to make her society debut and follow it with a prestigious marriage. But popular and pretty Lady Evelyn Herbert has other ideas. First she falls for a man her mother doesn’t approve of, then she accompanies her father to Egypt, leaving behind the world of etiquette and chaperones to work alongside archeologist Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings.

In November 1922 the extraordinary happens when they discover the burial place of Tutankhamun, packed full of gold and inconceivable riches. Eve is the first to crawl inside, the first person to see the treasures in three thousand years. She calls it the “greatest moment” of her life—but soon afterwards a string of tragedies leaves her world a darker, sadder place.

Newspapers claim it is “the curse of Tutankhamun.” Howard Carter says no rational person would entertain such nonsense. Fifty years later, an Egyptian academic comes asking questions about what really happened in the tomb in 1922. And that visit unleashes a new chain of events threatening Eve’s happy life, and making her wonder if there could be some truth behind the stories of an ancient curse.

Downton Abbey? Egypt? A female archeologist? King Tut? What more could a reader ask for?

THE COLLECTOR'S DAUGHTER will be published on September 7th in the US and Canada and September 30 in the UK. You can preorder the book here in the US and here in the UK. In the meantime, sign up for Gill Paul's newsletter.

Happy Birthday, Rosso!

2021-03-08T12:36:00.002-08:00

Today is the 527th anniversary of the birth of the artist Giovanni Battista da Jacopo, known as Il Rosso Fiorentino (the Red-headed Florentine). Born on March 8, 1494, and trained in Florence, Rosso is considered a leading proponent of the Mannerist movement. Having made a name for himself in Rome, he was invited to France by François I in 1530 and spent the next decade as the French king's Director of Artistic Work. Rosso created numerous masterpieces for the king, as well as designing and staging the elaborate pageants and festivals François so loved. Rosso's artistic vision guided the expansion and decoration of the Château of Fontainebleau, François's favorite palace, culminating in the creation of the grande galerie, now known as the galerie François I. Rosso's best known extant work, the gallery boasts an ornate interplay of fresco, stucco statues and garlands, and carved wood paneling. The allegorical and mythological iconography of the frescoes, thought to extol the virtues of the king, still defies definitive interpretation even to this day. What is never questioned, however, is the fecund beauty of the gallery's exuberant abundance.

Well-read and richly rewarded by King François, Rosso lived as a wealthy gentleman at Fontainebleau until his mysterious death, assumed to be a suicide, in 1540 at the age of 46. Together, Rosso and his chief rival, fellow Italian Francesco Primaticcio, transformed a once-decrepit hunting lodge into the showplace of France, a dwelling not only fit for kings but worthy of comparison with the most sumptuous Italian palazzos.

Daphne du Maurier's THE GLASSBLOWERS: A Novel of the French Revolution

2021-02-26T10:34:00.000-08:00

Did you know that Daphne du Maurier, of REBECCA fame, wrote a novel set during the French Revolution? My discovery of THE GLASSBLOWERS was a lovely surprise. The novel, published in 1963, recounts the story of a family of glass makers in the Sarthe region, about 100 miles southwest of Paris, during the years 1749-1844. Written as the memoir of Sophie Duval, one of five siblings, the novel recounts the family's struggles during the Revolution, as societal upheaval changed not only the economy, but the very fabric of society. The five siblings embrace the new ideas to varying degrees and participate in the Revolution in various ways. Robert, the eldest, throws his lot with the Duc d'Orléans and winds up emigrating to England; Pierre, a devoted adherent of Rousseau, serves as a notary for the poor; Michel wholeheartedly--and cold-heartedly--embraces the revolution, becoming regional leader of the National Guard; sister Edmé, like Michel, sustains the fight for radical causes even after Napoléon assumes power. Sophie, the narrator, remains fluid, vacillating at various times to either extreme, mirroring, in many ways, the emotional swings of the nation as a whole. Through her eyes, the reader witnesses both the promise and the atrocities of the country's attempt to ensure equal rights for all citizens; her conflicts capture the struggles individuals faced in reconciling personal morality with the demands of imposing a supposedly superior political system. The novel's provincial setting offers an interesting perspective on the Revolution, revealing how, far from the central events taking place in Paris, the populaces of small towns had little but rumor and old news to guide their actions as they fended off counter-revolutionary forces sweeping into central France from the western provinces. If you can find a copy, THE GLASSBLOWERS is well worth a read and provides a perspective that both counters and completes better-known Revolution novels like A TALE OF TWO CITIES and THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL.

Q & A with Patricia Bracewell, Author of THE STEEL BENEATH THE SILK

2021-02-23T00:00:00.001-08:00

The final volume of Patricia Bracewell's trilogy on Emma of Normandy, Queen of England, publishes on March 2, 2021 from Bellastoria Press. Yesterday, I reviewed this marvelous book; today, Patricia answers a few questions about her novel.

1. Why Emma? How is the saga of an 11th century queen of Anglo-Saxon England relevant to today’s readers? What aspects of her actions and personality do you think speak most strongly to modern women?

I think that women of today will find Emma inspirational. In our time women are breaking glass ceilings; in Emma’s time that ceiling was made of marble. The Anglo-Saxons were wary of the very concept of queenship, and Emma was only the second queen of all England. She was burdened by her youth and by the fact that she was a foreigner. She had to learn about England’s history, language and cultural norms, probably as an adolescent, and then figure out how to use them to her advantage. That took courage, but Emma has another kind of courage, as well. She is willing to speak truth to power, and although she is rarely thanked for it, that doesn’t stop her. So I think that courage and tenacity are two qualities that speak to women today, as well as Emma’s willingness to recognize the limits of her power and reach out to those who can help her get whatever she is after.

2. While writing, did you ever fear that Emma might teeter on the brink of "the perfect queen" stereotype? How did you try to humanize her? What faults define her and how does she suffer for them?

I am not a fan of novels in which the heroine is adored by everybody else in the book. So I’ve given Emma plenty of enemies who despise her, or don’t trust her, or who misinterpret her actions. Æthelred, Edmund, Edyth, Elgiva, even Emma’s own son are definitely not fans of the queen. Their opinions of her, right or wrong, throw some shade on her character. Emma herself, as clever as she is, does not have all the answers to the problems that she faces. She has to turn to others for help. Sometimes she makes bad decisions. On one occasion she acquires important information but doesn’t do anything with it, and that leads to catastrophe. On another occasion she makes a decision that leads to anguish when she realizes that she’s put her children at risk. Emma is courageous, yes, but that means, too, that she’s a risk-taker. She weighs the risks and makes a choice, but sometimes it turns out to be the wrong choice and she is not the only one who pays the price.

3. Æthelred, Athelstan, Cnut, Elgiva, Thorkell, Edmund, Edward, Edyth, Richard of Normandy—Emma has personal and political relationships with so many characters over the course of the trilogy, and these relationships all had to be tied up in this final volume. Which relationship was the hardest to get “right”? Is there any relationship you wished you could have spent more time wrapping up? Which relationship did you most enjoy exploring?

The relationship between Emma and Cnut was the most difficult to get “right” especially because I wanted anyone who had not read the earlier books to be able to understand it; and that is the relationship I most enjoyed exploring. They had a few scenes together in Shadow on the Crown when we saw Cnut through Emma’s eyes, and of course as I wrote that first book I was already thinking about what would happen in this one. But when I began writing The Steel Beneath the Silk I had to figure out a way for each of them to recall that first meeting which had happened ten years earlier. When I finally brought them together again towards the end of the book, I had to design some scenes that would allow them to interact and would reveal in a very short time how their relationship was evolving on both sides. It meant a lot of revisions. I think I was successful. I hope so. I wish I could have found a way to wrap up the relationship between Emma and Thorkell—have some sort of dialogue between them. But I had to focus on Emma and Cnut. Thorkell would have gotten in the way!

Winchester's Norman Great Hall, which is evocative of Anglo-Saxon great halls

4. How did you manage to keep the setting fresh over the course of three novels? Which location in the book did you most enjoy visiting in real life during your extensive research?

The first novel opens in Normandy, but almost all of it is set in Wessex, mostly Winchester, with side trips to Exeter and to the Rollright Stones in Oxfordshire. The second novel is split between various royal estates in southern England and manors located in the northeast. All of these estates and manors were based on places I found mentioned in the Domesday Book, but I actually visited those areas if not the sites themselves. This third book goes much further afield, to Jorvik (York), Denmark, and Normandy as well as to numerous sites all over England. Of course, the scenes themselves are set in the great hall, or a church, or a bed-chamber or an abbey. There are several that are set on ships and one in the tower of one of the gates of London. I tried very hard to vary the setting as much as possible. I suppose the place I enjoyed visiting the most was Winchester. It was the Anglo-Saxon royal city; it was where Emma had a manor named Godbegot, the site of which you can still see today; and it is where Emma and Cnut are buried. It was, for me, the most evocative of that Anglo-Saxon world, and I’m longing to go back.

Godbegot House in Winchester, which dates back to the 11th c

5. Emma has occupied your thoughts and hours for so many years now—how will your own life change now that you have completed your task and made her known to new readers? What did you learn about yourself as you researched and imagined her life and captured it in the pages of three books?

Well, I expect that I will have more time to pursue other activities like gardening and, unfortunately, dealing with piles of books and papers that need sorting, closets and drawers that need cleaning out, and a garage that resembles an industrial waste site. But I already have a list of books that I want to read or study, and I might find myself pondering ideas for a new novel—although not a trilogy! What I’ve learned about myself is that I love research; that I’m not interested in travel unless there is an element of education involved; and that I have more determination than I ever realized. Also, now, when I run up against some difficulty or hardship, I tend to ask myself “What would Emma do?”

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Many thanks to Patricia for offering this behind-the scenes look at her novel.

THE STEEL BENEATH THE SILK can be purchased from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Indiebound.

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Patricia Bracewell's love of reading led to college degrees in Literature, a career as a high school English teacher, and an unquenchable desire to write. Shadow on the Crown, the first book in her trilogy about the 11th century queen Emma of Normandy, was published in 2013 in the U.S. and England, and has been translated into Italian, German, Portuguese and Russian. Her second novel, The Price of Blood, published in 2015, continues the gripping tale of a queen whose marriage to an English king set in motion a series of events that would culminate in the Norman Conquest of 1066. In 2014 Patricia was honored to serve as Writer-in-Residence at Gladstone's Library in Wales where she conducted research for The Steel Beneath the Silk, the third book in her trilogy about Queen Emma. Patricia and her husband live in Oakland, California. Visit her at her website.

Review: THE STEEL BENEATH THE SILK by Patricia Bracewell

2021-02-22T00:00:00.001-08:00

The wait was definitely worth it.

THE STEEL BENEATH THE SILK (Bellastoria Press, March 2) caps off Patricia Bracewell's trilogy on eleventh-century Emma of Normandy, Queen of England, with all the drama, emotion, and skill that fans of the series have come to expect. With consummate ease, Bracewell plunges her readers back into a perilous, war-torn England ravaged by marauding Danish raiders from without and crumbling from treachery within. As King Swein of Denmark and his ambitious son Cnut penetrate ever farther into England, suborning English lords and capturing city after city, Emma's raddled husband, King Æthelred, alienates allies and squanders the loyalty of his people. Calling upon her wits, her faith, and the counsel of a trusted few, Emma must discern rumor from fact, friend from foe, solid hope from fleeting fancy as she strives to hold the besieged country together and make her dream of a united, peaceful England an enduring reality.

The story moves at a rapid and entertaining clip, thanks to Bracewell's strong command of the historical material and her intimate familiarity with her characters. Readers, even ones new to the series, will never lose their bearings. Customized maps of England and London detail the physical setting; chapter headings provide locations and dates to set the scene. The author takes care, especially in the opening chapters, to weave in accounts of past events that bear on the present action, keeping these flashbacks fresh by recounting them from a new perspective or shading them with recent insight. Both to control the pacing and to introduce important historical events tangential to Emma's narrative arc, Bracewell inserts snippets from the contemporary Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. This historical scaffolding plays an additional role: the contrast between these brief, factual passages and Bracewell's emotionally rich, internalized narration demonstrates the power of historical fiction to transform the dry bones of history into a compelling reflection on the human spirit, wholly relevant to modern readers.

Readers of the previous installments will recognize and welcome the reappearance of favorite characters who continue to evolve. Although the main story arc focuses on Emma and her efforts to foster a united England, the journeys of these other characters deservedly vie for attention. The narrative point-of-view shifts when circumstance requires; Bracewell hands these shifts of perspective with finesse and a keen sense of what another viewpoint can contribute to a given situation. Æthelred, Athelstan, Edmund, Elgiva, and Cnut all take turns as viewpoint characters, experiencing events beyond Emma's purview and fueling the conflicts and passions that motivate the central action.

The strongest aspect of THE STEEL BENEATH THE SILK is precisely the psychological richness of its characters. Even if the reader knows the historical trajectory of Emma's life, this imagined, emotionally nuanced account of her struggle to reconcile her personal desires with the strategic needs of her kingdom will nonetheless appeal and intrigue. As Bracewell admits in her Author Note, although the events that she portrays are factual, "Emma's role in them is my own invention. Although we know that she was there and must have played some part in all that occurred, we simply cannot be certain about what that was." Having thought long and hard about Emma's participation in these critical events in England's history, Bracewell fashions a main character with whom the reader can identify as well as admire. The trilogy as a whole presents Emma as a poignantly complex, achingly real woman whose actions not only define her individuality, but serve as the point of departure for broader contemplation of the very notion of queenship.

"Long live the queen"--Bracewell closes her monumental endeavor with this resounding and devoted cheer. It is precisely thanks to Bracewell's meticulous research, keen insight into human nature, and first-rate narrative skills that Emma of Normandy, Queen of England, will live long and vividly in the minds and hearts of the trilogy's readers. THE STEEL BENEATH THE SILK, along with its companion volumes, merits a prominent place in the canon of exemplary historical fiction.

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THE STEEL BENEATH THE SILK can be purchased from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Indiebound.

Jacques du Fouilloux's Treatise on Hunting

2021-01-31T11:44:00.001-08:00

While researching hunting dogs in sixteenth century France, I discovered Jacques du Fouilloux's treatise, LA VÉNERIE, online at Gallica. This work, first published in 1561, served as the preeminent reference work on hunting for almost two centuries. Du Fouilloux discusses not only methods and techniques for hunting deer, boar, wolf, and other game, but provides astute observations on the habits of forest animals that have since been corroborated by naturalists. Written in clear and engaging sixteenth-century prose, the work offers a fascinating insight into the hunting culture of the time. Amply illustrated with contemporary woodcuts, LA VÉNERIE is a joy to peruse.

Ten Favorite Reads of 2020

2021-01-03T23:13:00.002-08:00

Despite the trauma of the pandemic (or maybe because of it), 2020 turned out to be an amazing year of reading for me. I managed to finish 44 books by the end of December, a personal record since I began keeping track in 2012 (you can see my yearly lists in the sidebar). I've been an avid reader my entire life, and I can hardly remember a year during which book after book not only entertained but impressed me. As a reader, it was exhilarating to read so many great novels; as a writer, it was both inspiring and somewhat daunting to encounter such craft. Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullogh, a powerful novel in verse about the seventeenth century artist Artemisia Gentileschi, was far and away my favorite of the year, but nine other books stood out as particular gems:

Parrot & Olivier in America (2010) by Peter Carey

Hamnet (2020) by Maggie O'Farrell

Call Upon the Water (2019) by Stella Tillyard

Beheld (2020) by TaraShea Nesbit

Sugar Money (2018) by Jane Harris

Light Changes Everything (2020) by Nancy E. Turner

The Blood of Flowers (2007) by Anita Amirrezvani

Varina (2018) by Charles Frazier

How Much of These Hills Is Gold (2020) by C Pam Zhang

Several other books wanted to sneak onto this list, but what good is a list if it includes everything? Among the contenders were books written by writers I know personally: Revelations (coming in 2021) and The Vanishing Point (2006) by Mary Sharratt, A Trace of Deceit (2019) and A Dangerous Duet (2018) by Karen Odden, Drowning with Others (2019) by Linda Keir, The Giant (2020) by Laura Morelli, and Dreamland (2020) by Nancy Bilyeau. Since I could never choose among the babies of my friends, I make it a rule not to include their books on my yearly list of favorites. All of their books, however, are excellent reads that I highly recommend.

Over the holidays, I rearranged furniture in my house, which entailed reorganizing my bookshelves and rediscovering the many books I've bought but never yet read. I'm looking forward to tackling some of them this year, along with books yet to be published. I've already almost finished Diane Setterfield's intriguing The Thirteenth Tale (2006) as I aim to hit my goal of 50 books for 2021. Having resolved to spend less time on the internet and more time with my nose in a book, I'm excited to see what the new year brings.

What was your favorite novel of 2020? Did you set and reach a reading goal?

In any case, I wish you many happy reading adventures during the coming year!

Why Read Historical Fiction Set in Sixteenth Century France? Reason #10

2020-11-11T15:22:00.002-08:00

Over the past few weeks, we've examined ESCAPE, RELEVANCE, DRAMA, EMOTION, GLITZ, HISTORY, FRANCE, CHATEAUX and LITERARY LINEAGE as reasons to read historical fiction set in sixteenth century France. All of these contribute, in their own way, to our culminating reason...

Reason #10--DIFFERENCE

Trends arise in historical fiction, as they do with most cultural phenomena. A particular book will capture the attention of a significant number of readers, who, having enjoyed what they just read, want more. They start looking for other books that share a similar setting or topic or structure. Writers (who, of course, are readers, too) participate in the trend by creating what the public wants; agents and editors (whose job is to sell books) actively seek out manuscripts that meet those criteria. Within a couple of years (remember, it takes 18+ months from the sale of a manuscript to the appearance of the published book on the shelves), a trend has been established. A significant number of newly published works will feed the craze, even to the point of rehashing characters and plotlines. Eventually, however, readers do tire of the trend and authors run out of material to sustain it. At that point, a new book or topic garners attention and the cycle recommences. Trends are not necessarily sequential; they overlap, differ in length, and vary in detail and emphasis depending on audience and genre. One truth holds, however: it is quite difficult, if not impossible, to predict what the public will desire next, once they've had their fill.

Since I began writing historical fiction, I've witnessed several trends in the genre. Back in the early 2000's, Tudor fiction was all the rage. Inspired by Philippa Gregory's THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL, published in 2001 and filmed in 2008, this trend focused on marital machinations at Henry VIII's court.

Anne Boleyn was by far the favorite protagonist, but the trend produced countless novels about all of Henry's wives. It expanded to include the Elizabethan court

as well as peripheral characters like Thomas Cromwell.

Eventually, however, writers exhausted the historical material and satiated their readers. Although Tudor-era fiction continues to draw a devoted subset of readers, its widespread appeal dampened and new trends came to the fore.

Overlapping the Tudor trend was that of "marquee characters." This was essentially the writing of fictionalized biographies of historical personages immediately recognizable to the reading public. This trend included novels about Marie Antoinette,

Thomas Jefferson,

and Nefertiti, to name only a few.

For many years, few editors would consider novels featuring fictional characters in a historical setting. They felt that readers wanted both the thrill of recognizing the portrait/name on the cover and the satisfaction of learning more about these famous men and women. Novels that relied on fictional characters as protagonists, no matter how accurate the depiction of historical events in the novel or the historical backdrop against which fictional events played out, were considered less appealing to readers. Biographical fiction can be challenging to write, as the sequence of events in a person's life does not always follow a particularly engaging dramatic arc. Many authors addressed this problem by narrating the famous subject's story from the perspective of a fictional servant or friend. Although biographical fiction will always enjoy a prominent place in the range of historical fiction, readers and publishers have in recent years given warmer reception to fictional protagonists inserted into well-research historical settings.

The most current trend in historical fiction is that of fiction set during World War II. This trend began in the mid-2000's with the publication novels like Marcus Zusak's THE BOOK THIEF.

The trend has since exploded with such titles as:

Goodreads registers over 1100 titles on a list of books set during World War II; another list features 132 World War II novels published in 2020 alone. Several factors contribute to the popularity of this trend: the events occured during the lifetime of many readers; women played an active role in the war, both on the home front and in battle; the worldwide nature of the conflict allows for a multiplicity of settings and narratives. World War II fiction still sells well, although some readers are beginning to complain at the glut of titles. Editors at a historical fiction conference last year admitted it is becoming increasingly difficult for a WWII title to stand out in the crowded field. Perhaps the rumblings and grumblings of readers and editors indicate it might be time for a new trend to emerge?

Historical fiction set in sixteenth century France might just fill the bill. It offers plenty of marquee characters whose lives have not been exhaustively mined--François I, Marguerite de Navarre, Catherine de Medici, Louise Labé, the Duchesse d'Étampes, Gabrielle d'Éstrées, Nostredamus. It features an era during which women were breaking free and coming into their own, making names for themselves as writers and artists, printers and political players. Most importantly, fiction set in sixteenth century France will appeal to readers who enjoyed Tudor fiction, offering them a familiar era spiced with enough of a twist to render stories new and appealing. No one can predict with certainty what the next trend in historical fiction will be, but as this series of posts has attempted to prove, Renaissance France has the drama, depth, and DIFFERENCE to stand as a viable candidate!

Why Read Historical Fiction Set in Sixteenth Century France? Reason #9

2020-10-23T15:18:00.001-07:00

Two reasons left! As a literature professor as well as a writer, I hold this one close to my heart.

Reason #9--LITERARY LINEAGE

Current historical fiction set in sixteenth century France participates in a rich tradition stretching back to the seventeenth century. In fact, the novel most scholars consider to be the very first historical novel written in French was set during the sixteenth century--La Princesse de Montpensier by Madame de La Fayette.

Penned in 1662, La Princesse de Montpensier is set a hundred years earlier, during the Wars of Religion. With great psychological depth, it tells the story of Renée d'Anjou-Mézières, a young noblewoman trapped in a loveless marriage, who falls victim to her passion for the Duc de Guise. Guise's friend, the Duc d'Anjou (who will take the throne as Henri III), himself becomes enamored of Renée, with disastrous results. La Fayette's novel is the first to take actual historical personnages as characters and set them in circumstances in which historical tensions and events (the 1572 St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre) are intrinsic to the plot. The novel was made into a successful film by noted director Bernard Tavernier in 2010

and in 2017 became the first book by a female author included on the baccaularéat littéraire, the exam that grants French youth a secondary school diploma. Madame de La Fayette's better-known novel, La Princesse de Clèves (1678), also exploits a sixteenth century setting. A psychological drama that takes place at the court of Henri II, it too explores the theme of love versus duty.

The literary roots of historical fiction set in sixteenth century France push even deeper. The era was a favorite of the prolific French author Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870). Best known for Le Comte de Monte-Cristo (1844-46) and Les Trois Mousequetaires (1844), Dumas wrote a series of seven "Valois romances." La Reine Margot (1845) tells the story of the politically-motivated marriage between Catholic Marguerite de Valois (daughter of Henri II and Catherine de Médici) and Protestant Henry of Navarre and the bloody St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre that followed it. This novel has been made into film several times, most recently in 1994.

Dumas's Valois romances also include Ascanio (1843), a novel about François I and Benevuto Cellini that became the basis of an opera, as well as novels about Henri II, Catherine de Médici, François II, and Henri III.

The twentieth century saw an explosion of interest in sixteenth century France as a setting for historical fiction. In 1935 and 1938, the German author Heinrich Mann wrote two novels about Henri of Navarre, who ruled as Henri IV.

Eleanor Hibbert, under the pseudonym Jean Plaidy, wrote three novels about Catherine de Medici, Madame Serpent (1951), The Italian Woman (1952), and Queen Jezebel (1953), recently reissued by Atria. Plaidy's books were the ones that sparked my love for historical fiction as a teenager.

Dorothy Dunnett set two volumes of her excellent and intricate Lymond Chronicles in Renaissance France, Queen's Play (1964) and Checkmate (1975).

Robert Merle, a French author, wrote the Fortune de France series from 1977-2003. These thirteen novels view the second half of the sixteenth century through the eyes and adventures of a Huguenot doctor-turned-spy. Merle's novels have sold over five million copies in France, where he has been called "the modern Dumas." The novels are slowly being translated into English by Pushkin Press; the first four are presently available.

Kate Mosse is currently writing a series set in during the religious conflicts. The Burning Chambers came out in 2018; The City of Tears is set to published this coming January. I believe a third volume is in the works.

Among the writers who have published stand-alone novels set in sixteenth century France are Judith Merkle Riley, The Master of All Desires (1999);

Diane Hager, Courtesan (2006);

Jenny Diski, Apology for the Woman Writing (2009);

Christopher Gortner, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici (2011);

and Sophie Perinot, Médicis Daughter (2015).

Historical fiction set in sixteenth century France has a long history and vibrant future. Many angles, personalities, and events remain to be explored and transformed into compelling, thought-provoking, and entertaining novels readers will be eager to read.

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Be sure to read Reasons #1-8 (ESCAPE, RELEVANCE, DRAMA, EMOTION, GLITZ, HISTORY, FRANCE, and CHATEAUX) before I unveil the final reason next week!

Why Read Historical Fiction Set in Sixteenth Century France? Reason #8

2020-10-20T15:43:00.000-07:00

The next reason I'll propose for reading historical fiction set in sixteenth century France is a corollary of Reason #7--FRANCE, but one that merits its own mention...

Reason #8--CHATEAUX

France's scenic countryside is dotted with thousands of castles. They range from ruined medieval fortresses

Château Galliard

to elaborate nineteenth century wine estates

Photo credit

to Renaissance royal palaces.

It has always been impossible for me to see these buildings and not immediately start imagining the intrigue and drama that took place within their walls--precisely what historical fiction set during the sixteenth century aims to do! So many important historical events and struggles took place at these locations, they readily lend themselves as fantastic settings for novels. Let's travel to some of the most important Renaissance châteaux and examine what happened there.

Château de BLOIS

Photo credit: Zairon

In 1515, François I and his wife Claude ascended to the throne. At Claude's urging, François began to refurbish the château de Blois, which had been used by French kings since the 13th century. He built a new wing with a spiral staircase at its center and consolidated his prodigious collection of books in the library. However, after Claude, mother of his seven children, died at the age of 24, François neglected Blois in favor of other palaces. He moved his library to Fontainebleau and seldom returned to Blois. Perhaps memories of his years there with Claude, of whom he had been fond, made François uncomfortable? Later in the century, Henri III resided at Blois with his mother, Catherine de Medici, during the chaos of the Wars of Religion. In December 1588, Henri summoned to Blois the Duc de Guise, a powerful and charismatic Catholic leader who nurtured ambitions for the throne. Once arrived, the Duc was assassinated by the king's body guard as the king looked on. How is that for an inciting incident, or a novel's climax?

Château d'AMBOISE

François I was raised at Amboise, the first French château to be "Italianized." Renovations had begun in the late 1490's under Charles VIII; François, crowned king in 1515, further embellished the buildings. At his invitation, Leonardo Da Vinci took up residence in nearby Clos Lucé from 1516-1519 and contributed to the transformation of Amboise. It was on the door of François's chamber at Amboise that Antoine Marcaut posted a list of the abuses of the "Papal Mass" during the Affair of the Placards in October 1534, outraging the king and disrupting his process of moderate ecclesiastic reform. In 1560, a Huguenot plot dubbed "The Amboise Conspiracy" attempted to kidnap the young king, François II, to remove him from the influence of the powerful Catholic uncles of his wife, Mary Queen of Scots. When the plot failed, the conspirators were arrested and hung from the château's balconies as an example. Lots of material for historical novels in the annals of this château!

Château de CHAMBORD

Chambord is truly a Renaissance château--it was built from scratch on order of François I, beginning in 1519. Chambord, with its 440 rooms, 282 fireplaces, and 84 staircases, was never intended to serve as a primary residence, but as a symbol of François's power and aesthetic achievements. The king only slept there a total fifty days, but used Chambord to entertain his favorites and dazzle his rivals. Leonardo da Vinci was intimately involved in its design and construction; his artistry produced the château's famous double helix staircase, the center-plan design of its keep, and its double-pit evacuation system. The only historical event of note that occurred at Chambord during the sixteenth century was the visit of Charles V of Spain in December 1539, a stop on his elaborate state visit to France. I've always thought Chambord would be an excellent setting for some sort of time-slip or historical mystery novel.

Château de CHENONCEAUX

Photo credit: Tim Sackton

The Château de Chenonceaux, with its arched gallery that stretches across the Cher river (see the third photo above), is one of the most readily recognized châteaux in France. It was also the location of intense passions--love, envy, and revenge. Between 1515-1521, nobleman Thomas Bohier razed the medieval fortress on the site and built a graceful new residence, where he entertained the king on several occasions. In 1535, François I seized the property in payment for outstanding debts. After he died, his son Henri II gifted the palace to his mistress, Diane de Poitiers, who built an arched bridge to the far bank and added extensive gardens. Henri's wife, Catherine de Médici, long envied the property; as soon as Henri died in 1559, she forced Diane to exchange Chenonceaux for the Château de Chaumont.

Chaumont. Photo credit: Tim Tim

Chenonceaux became Catherine's favorite residence, the one from which she administered the kingdom as Regent during her young son's reign. She built the enclosed gallery atop the bridge in 1577 and hosted elaborate parties and spectacles at the property. When Catherine died in 1589, she left the château to her daughter-in-law, wife of Henri III, who lived there in mourning for eleven years after Henri was assassinated months after his mother's death. From the love trysts of Henri II and Diane, to the showdown between Diane and the widowed Catherine, to Catherine's machinations behind the throne, to the haunted widowhood of Louise de Lorraine, the stones of Chenonceaux have witnessed their fair share of riveting intrigue.

Château de FONTAINEBLEAU

Finally, we come to the Château de Fontainebleau, my personal favorite. Fontainebleau played a central role in history during the sixteenth century and beyond. François always considered Fontainebleau his true home. It was this château that he transformed into the showplace of the French Renaissance, building and embellishing the structure with the help of Italian artists he invited to live and work there. François housed his art collection at Fontainebleau, along with the massive library (the backbone of the Bibliothèque Nationale) he transferred from Blois. Fontainebleau seethed with competition, as artists vied for commissions, courtiers for preference, and lovers for favor. François hosted his longtime enemy Charles V of Spain at Fontainebleau in December 1539 in an attempt to shore up their tottering truce. Against a lavish backdrop of banquets and balls, pageants and hunts, the two monarchs grappled for ascendancy. The perfect setting for a historical novel, one that pits François's beloved ideal of honor against the grittier realities of gaining, and keeping, power.

Add to these amazing châteaux teeming cities like Paris and Lyon and one can claim without doubt that the sixteenth century offers an exciting array of settings for gripping historical fiction.

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Be sure to circle back and read Reasons #1-#7 for reading historical fiction set in sixteenth century France: ESCAPE, RELEVANCE, DRAMA, EMOTION, GLITZ, HISTORY, and FRANCE.

Why Read Historical Fiction Set in Sixteenth Century France? Reason #7

2020-10-16T17:05:00.000-07:00

Today's reason almost goes without saying...

Reason #7--FRANCE

France is the most popular travel destination in the world, visited by 89 million foreign tourists in 2018 alone. The country's vineyards

beaches

mountains

and vibrant cities

tug at the hearts and pursestrings of enthusiastic travelers and compilers of bucket lists the world over. Paris tops New York on lists of "Most Visited Cities" and flaunts its undisputed title as the "Most Romantic." Its cultural attractions, like the Musée du Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, and Arc de Triomphe, as well as its luxury boutiques, fine restaurants, and outdoor cafés, are a perennial draw. For well-seasoned travelers and armchair dreamers alike, France holds a distinctive and dynamic appeal.

This fascination with France carries over into literature. A quick search on Amazon turns up 50,000 entries for "France--Fiction and Literature" and 30,000 for "Paris--Fiction and Literature."

Goodreads lists hundreds of books set in France and Paris. Recent bestsellers such as Kristin Hannah's THE NIGHTINGALE, Anthony Doerr's ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE, Paula McClain's THE PARIS WIFE, and Nina George's THE LITTLE PARIS BOOKSHOP witness to the immense popularity of a French setting. During these locked-down, travel-verboten pandemic days, readers are hungry to read about places they cannot explore.

What is it about France that captures the interest and seals the loyalty of its admirers? It might be the country's varied geography and scenic beauty. It might be its rich history, which encompasses the glory of a medieval kingdom, the quest for liberty and equality during the Revolution, and the Resistance's struggles against the evils of Nazism. It could be France's artistic and literary culture, which has contributed countless masterpieces to the world's canon and produced luminaries like Proust and Hugo and Matisse and Monet. It might very well be the joie-de-vivre that animates daily life and compliments the strong vein of scepticism that characterizes the French spirit. Perhaps, in the end, it is nothing more than bread and cheese and pastries. Elements of all these things create the timeless allure that is France--an allure that historical fiction acknowledges and indulges and prolongs.

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Did you miss Reasons #1-#6? Read them here: ESCAPE, RELEVANCE, DRAMA, EMOTION, GLITZ, HISTORY.

Why Read Historical Fiction Set in Sixteenth Century France? Reason #6

2020-10-12T11:57:00.000-07:00

ESCAPE, RELEVANCE, DRAMA, EMOTION, GLITZ are the factors we've examined so far. Now it's time for one that, though obvious, nevertheless deserves attention...

Reason #6--HISTORY

In today's educational landscape, the study of history hardly occupies a prominent position. With so many other subjects clamoring for attention, history often gets shunted aside. Yet the study of history is essential to the healthy functioning of a modern republic. An old aphorism holds that "Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it." A thorough understanding of history prepares a country to move confidently into the future, equipped to identify challenges and hazards and able to address them without making costly, avoidable mistakes. Familiarity with the past also helps individuals define and select the ideals and aspirations they wish to live by and strive for.

photo credit

Reading historical fiction is an effective way to supplement the formal study of history. Some might object that it would be more valuable to read nonfiction about historical topics instead of novels, but fiction offers some distinct advantages in a non-academic setting. First of all, it is more readily accessible to a wider range of readers. Readers who seek entertainment are more likely to pick up a novel than a history tome that might uncomfortably remind them of schoolwork. As they engage with characters and follow the twists and turns of the plot, however, they absorb the factual information that infuses the story--a real-life example of a spoonful of sugar helping medicine go down! Their encounter with historical events and characters in the novel might pique their curiosity and send them to nonfiction sources to learn more. In any case, the reader has been introduced to historical material they might never have chanced upon otherwise. The historical novel serves as a gateway into deeper knowledge of and appreciation for history.

Secondly, reading historical fiction allows readers to discover the eras, events, and individuals that truly interest them. Historical fiction covers a wide range of countries and time periods. Readers can benefit from this plethora of options by sampling different combinations of settings, eras, and narrative techniques. Some readers like biographical fiction, which dramatizes the life of a prominent historical personnage; others prefer to read about fictional characters acting in a historical setting defined by historical events. Battle fiction interests one type of reader; novels told from the perspective of women or the marginalized speak to another. Nonfiction history books are often quite specific and compartmentalized, making it difficult for non-academic readers to locate general interest books about a certain era. Reading historical fiction provides a quicker entry into the historical scene. Readers can enjoy a novel whether or not they they come to it with previous knowledge of the time period, and will most likely leave it knowing more about the era or person than they did before.

Finally, and most importantly, historical fiction offers readers something that non-fiction cannot--access to the thoughts and emotions of historical characters. Whereas history teaches facts--names, dates, ideologies, and events, historical fiction allows readers to explore people's relationship to those facts. It gives a human face to history by imagining how people caught up in historical events might have reacted to them. How did a galley slave preserve his sanity during endless days of forced rowing? What might cause one neighbor to denounce another who embraced the reformed religion? How might a skilled female artist or poet in the Renaissance flourish, despite the disdain of male practicioners? Historians are discouraged from postulating the thoughts and emotions of the subjects they write about; the novelist, on the other hand, builds a story out of the very things the historian is forced to omit. In a novel, the historical context provides a challenge, a set of boundaries and conditions, which characters must confront and overcome in historically appropriate ways. The historical element that lovers of historical fiction prize is not an end in itself, but serves to highlight the resilience and breadth of the human spirit. In a historical novel, the history is not the story; how the characters both shape and are shaped by that history is.

Why Read Historical Fiction Set in Sixteenth Century France? Reason #5

2020-10-04T15:58:00.000-07:00

Time for some fun. In our examination of historical fiction, we've discussed weighty matters like RELEVANCE, DRAMA, and EMOTION. Today we're going to circle back to ESCAPE and explore...

Reason #5--GLITZ

Okay, I'll admit it. I originally fell for the sixteenth century as a teenager, and for two reasons--the clothes and the castles. What better way to escape the humdrum of Midwestern suburbia than to dream of being a princess in a magnificent château? Over the years, my appreciation for the sixteenth century deepened, but I can't deny that the beauty and elegance of the Renaissance still tickles my fancy. Clothes, jewels, tableware--even everyday items added to the glamour of an era filled with pagentry.

With modern life rarely ever presenting an opportunity for fancy dress, who can help but be enchanted by the elaborate fashions and luxurious fabrics of the Renaissance?

François (1497-1547) insisted on a fashionably dressed court and often ordered--and paid for--gowns and accessories for his favorite ladies. He prized the fine silks and velvets produced in Italy and imported into France at the quarterly fairs in Lyon. In 1540, he granted Lyon a monopoly on raw silk imports, fueling the court's appetite for luxury fabric and ensuring that some of these gorgeous fabrics could be produced at home (view extant Italian samples here).

I'm not sure how comfortable any of these clothes were, but they definitely delighted the eyes!

Of course, fine clothes must be paired with exquisite jewels. Gold- and silversmiths created stunning pieces from gemstones and pearls imported from the Far East and Africa. Every courtier winked and glittered. Jewels could be sewn directly to the fabric of gowns and doublets

or set into fanciful gold and silver pendants.

Men and women alike wore concentric circles of gold chains that dangled to their waists, rigid collar-like necklaces called carcanets, and jewelled collars that stretched from shoulder to shoulder.

Brooches, jeweled ribbons, and rings dazzled; hats and even hair were adorned with bling.

Being all dressed up with nowhere to go was never a problem for the Renaissance courtier; these courts knew how to party. Kings kept their courtiers busy hunting, dancing, feasting, and processing. Gowns and jewels could be shown off at balls,

royal entries,

and an endless stream of fêtes and festivals, held both indoors and out.

François, for example, hosted the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V on a multi-stage state journey through France in 1539, featuring days-long celebrations at Fontainebleau and Paris. Catherine de Medici arranged festivities and tournaments in Bayonne in 1565 during Charles IX's royal progress and threw a ball for the Polish ambassador at the Tuileries in 1573. There was never a shortage of activities, and the courtiers in attendance were expected to reflect the monarchs' glory in their own elaborate dress.

At feasts, servants poured wine from Venetian glass pitchers

and served food from enameled and majolica platters, works of art in their own right.

Courtiers ate delicacies like stuffed peacock, marzipan, seasonal fruits, and roasted game with silver Italian forks as they conversed and flirted and competed for favor.

Material culture during thte sixteenth century had an opulence and abundance quite different from today's more spare and streamlined tastes. The challenge for the novelist is to make this profusion of color, pattern, scent and texture real for the reader without overwhelming. Done well, the evocation of the Renaissance court can provide a reader of historical fiction a complete and fascinating escape from everyday twenty-first century life, one where she can experience unfamiliar beauty in a new and exciting way.

Why Read Historical Fiction Set in Sixteenth Century France? Reason #4

2020-10-02T00:14:00.000-07:00

ESCAPE, RELEVANCE, and DRAMA--these are the reasons I've examined so far to promote historical fiction set in what scholars call the "Early Modern" era. Today, we'll talk about...

Reason #4: EMOTION

Although manners and mores have changed over the centuries, basic human emotions have not, and emotion is what drives fiction. Love, rage, guilt, spite--such emotions define the human experience. Whether a character wears spandex yoga pants or an embroidered bodice, tees off on the fairway or parries a sword blow matters much less to readers than the emotions the character experiences.

Current scientific research indicates that reading literary fiction increases empathy in readers--by placing themselves in the minds of characters and viewing a fictional world from an unfamiliar perspective, readers become more adept at putting themselves in other people's shoes in real life. The most powerful way readers connect with characters is through shared emotion. Reading a character's emotional experience on the page stirs readers' own emotional memories. This thrill of recognition forms a bond between reader and character, one that encourages the reader to follow that character into an exploration of other emotions that might not be as familiar. As they identify with characters through shared emotional experience, readers come to reconsider their own past experience in more nuanced ways. They not only increase their ability to connect with other people, but they broaden the spectrum of their own remotional response.

By reading novels set in the distant past, readers can experience certain emotions in a more intense way than modern life usually affords. In the sixteenth century, the world was a dangerous and often brutal place, both physically and socially. Emotions like terror, humiliation, and shame, which are seldom experienced today, were common responses to unsettling and unexpected events. Hiding as enemy soldiers ransacked your town and ravished your neighbors' daughters must have inspired a fear quite unlike that of watching the value of your 401k slide. Saying goodbye to a navigator husband boarding a leaky galleon for a voyage to the New World was infintely more traumatic that dropping your spouse off at the airport for a business trip. Being ostracized as an adulterer or tortured for your religious beliefs hardly compares to wagging tongues and cancel culture. Reading historical fiction set in the sixteenth century provides us an opportunity to experience strong sentiments we might never feel in our real lives, thereby allowing us to expand our emotional literacy and our ability to empathize.

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Even as historical fiction allows us to experience the intensity of these emotions, however, it protects us from their real-life consequences. We can cringe in horror as a heretic burns at the stake without entangling ourselves in debate over whether such punishment is justified. We can experience the joy of a child's sudden recovery from illness without having to evaluate and choose among treatments. We can indulge in the thrill of an illicit love without worrying about the destiny of our souls. Sheltered from the repercussions of the emotions depicted, we can indulge in them with abandon, strengthening our capacity to understand what others think and feel. Ultimately, by observing how actions trigger emotions and emotions inspire actions in the novel, we learn how to control our own emotions, the better to direct the course of our lives. The fiction serves as a heady and gratifying but ultimately cautionary tale--one that delights and entertains, even as it teaches.

The perilous and precarious world of sixteenth century historical fiction will take readers from the heights of ecstasy and glory to the depths of cruelty and despair, acquainting them with envy, lust, indignation, hatred, fear, joy, courage, and love along the way. It leaves but a single emotion untried, the one readers are most eager to avoid: boredom.

Guest Post by Karen Odden: The “Mysnomer” in the Label “Historical Mystery”

2020-09-30T00:00:00.001-07:00

I asked Karen Odden, author of the Victorian mysteries A DANGEROUS DUET (2018) and A TRACE OF DECEIT (2019) about the differences between historical mystery and straight historical fiction. Here's what she had to say!

The “Mysnomer” in the Label “Historical Mystery”

by Karen Odden

Years ago, one of the earliest readers of my first book, A Lady in the Smoke, wrote me this email: “I loved your book! My only issue was the cover. It says A Victorian Mystery, and it wasn’t really a mystery. It was all about characters and railway history—and I loved the romance!”

I stared at that message for a long time, truly perplexed. Yes, the book shows Lady Elizabeth Fraser’s difficult relationship with her mother, her dead father’s adultery, her budding relationship with the railway surgeon Paul Wilcox … but the railway crash happened because of flagrant corruption committed years before, and there’s another crime of enormous fraud about to be committed! Elizabeth and Paul must work together to uncover it before it happens. How is this not a mystery?

This question has nagged at me ever since, even as I wrote my next two books, giving rise to other questions: Where is the crossover between historical fiction and historical mysteries? And why do people who love historical fiction shy away from books labelled historical mysteries?

One clue came to me last year when I was at a mystery-writers’ conference, where two famous thriller writers agreed that they didn’t spend much time developing their secondary characters. One said, “There’s really only five types, right? A friend/ally, the villain, a thorn (bothersome but not the villain), the expert (who tells the detective something important), and the red shirt (the dead person).” Another explained that he jots down a secondary character’s age, hair color, eye color, maybe whether he smokes or drinks, a few habits—and that’s enough to start with.

I found myself staring, disconcerted. This wasn’t how I worked. At all. I have stacks of backstory written for characters. I have a list, with every character, of physical traits, psychological aspects, bad habits, worst memories, who they love, what they want, and their deepest fears, along with pictures of objects in their homes and buildings they see on their daily walks.

Of course, thrillers are a particular sub-genre of mystery. They rely more heavily on plot than historicals or cozies tend to. And these writers are enormously successful, New York Times bestselling authors who have sold millions of books to avid fans. They’re crafting suspenseful, heart-pounding, fast-paced thriller mysteries.

But when it comes to historical mysteries, I’ve found readers have a different set of expectations.

Most readers of historicals (whether fiction or mysteries) frown when a book is poorly researched or contains anachronisms (like a Starbucks in 1970s New York). They roll their eyes at villains who have absolutely no redeeming traits and at overused tropes and conventional stereotypes, as in, “All Victorian women were prudes.” In general, readers are smart and savvy; they discuss works in book clubs; they read blogs and reviews; they want a book that entertains, provides an emotional journey, and even educates (without being a lecture). I know these readers—because I’m one of them!

So when Julianne asked me to write about where historical novels and historical mysteries intersect, I did what I often do: I started researching by combing through my bookshelves. Like most avid readers, I own a mishmash of fiction, mystery, memoir, classics, how-to, some poetry, books from grad school and college, and some old childhood favorites I can’t part with. (Anne of Green Gables is up there, as are A Wrinkle in Time and The Witch of Blackbird Pond.) I also have (on low shelves, easily reachable) my non-fiction reference books on Victorian England railway systems, clothing, crime, country house architecture, and so on.

I pulled down forty historical works to review, and this is what I found: the historical novels I truly love have some element of mystery, some dark secret from the past that must be discovered and resolved. And the historical mysteries that I love—many of which have received literary awards, including Canada’s coveted Costa Book of the Year and the Hammett prize for Best Novel of the Year—have complex, detailed world-building, fully developed characters, and fresh, descriptive language.

That led me to an insight. The label “mystery” is, in a way, a misnomer because it points to only one aspect of the book—the plot. This implies that the plot is paramount, as if detailed worldbuilding and complex characters and fresh, descriptive writing won’t be present, or at least not as present, as in a historical novel.

But in reducing a book to a single element—the plot—the label “mystery” is like a cheesy trailer for what might be a great movie. It might steer some readers away from a finely wrought book that has many of the elements they love in historical novels! (Perish the thought of missing out on a good read!)

What are these elements? I’d say there are three main ones, common to historical novels and mysteries, that make a book a favorite for me:

First, all good historicals—whether novels or mysteries—rely heavily on worldbuilding. This usually means an author does enormous amounts of research. I have a map of 1870 London on my wall

with a piece of string kept handy to map distances, so I can estimate, for example, how long it will take my main character to walk from one place to another. Solid worldbuilding means knowing how the streets are paved, who’s traveling on them at different times of day, and how they’re lit (if they’re lit). It means knowing the proper names for things: in 1870s London, a street vendor is called a “costermonger” and a sidewalk is called a “pavement.” I know what people ate in 1870s London, what sorts of books and objects were on tables in a woman’s parlor versus a man’s study, what the weather was like at different times of year, and what people wore, depending on their class.

An author of historicals also must know the specifics of historical events. For example, I set A Trace of Deceit very purposefully in 1875 because it needed to be after the Slade School of Art was founded in 1871, so my heroine Annabel could attend it, and also after the devastating Pantechnicon fire in Mayfair in 1874, so a priceless French oil painting that was supposed to have gone up in ashes can mysteriously reappear in Annabel’s brother’s studio. It’s important to get these small historical details and dates—easily fact-checked—correct.

But more than that, it’s important to recognize the political, social, legal, and economic aspects that will govern or influence a character’s behavior. For example, in 1860s London, under the legal doctrine of “coverture,” a married woman could not keep her wages, divorce a violent husband, or claim her children as her own. But as of 1870, when the Married Women’s Property Act was passed, she could at last own property. That could be an important plot point, couldn’t it? My point is, it is important to stay true to the times. Victorian women had very real constraints put on their autonomy and behavior, and no amount of “feistiness” in a heroine can overcome that.

Here are some of my other favorite historical mysteries for worldbuilding: David Liss’s A Conspiracy of Paper (an Edgar Award winner), set in eighteenth-century London, amidst coffee houses, drawing rooms, and bordellos. Another is The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye, set in 1845 New York, with its kerosene lamps, butcher paper, worn tombstones, New England rum, charcoal drawings, and bootprints (within the first two pages). Other favorites are A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee, set in 1919 Calcutta; Anne Perry’s William Monk series, set in Victorian London; Baroness Orczy’s classic The Scarlet Pimpernel about the French Revolution; and Lou Berney’s November Road, set in 1963 New Orleans and beyond.

Second, both historical fiction and historical mysteries have narrative arcs that move both forward and backward. The critic Tzvetan Todorov wrote that a mystery novel “contains not one but two stories: the story of the crime and the story of the investigation.” That is, if there is a dead body on page 5, the remainder of the book is discovering how it got there in the first place (the “backstory”). But even in historical novels, there is almost always an ugly secret from the past, a sordid event, or something that led to the situation in chapter 1. If a book is to succeed, the characters have backstories—big, emotional backstories that have shaped their psychology and the way they look at the world. It’s inevitable there will be some skeletons back there.

For example, in Kate Quinn’s historical novel The Huntress, in post-WWII Boston, the former Russian night bomber and war criminal Nina Markova is masquerading as a soft-spoken German widow. The plot is propelled forward by Ian Graham, a Nazi hunter, and young would-be photographer Jordan McBride, whose questions about The Huntress take them straight back to the crimes of the war.

Third, they have life-like, psychologically complex characters. Precisely because we are asking readers to journey to another time and place, we have to have our characters deeply believable. They need to breath and live and love and hate before they get to the page, or they come off as mere vehicles for the plot. One of my favorite historicals for this is Stef Penney’s The Tenderness of Wolves. Set in 1867, in the Northern Territory, the main character Mrs. Ross stumbles upon a murder and sees the tracks leading from the dead man’s cabin north toward the tundra. Focalized through half a dozen characters, the story unfolds in a way that reflects the individuals’ old family hurts, systemic racism, long-standing fears and prejudices. I go back and reread this novel every few years for its a psychologically complex cast of characters.

So I would say that historical mysteries and historical novels are really branches on the same tree. To me, the trunk of that tree is the true mystery (of books, of life)—namely, people’s psychology, motivations, fears, assumptions, behaviors, and beliefs. Where did they come from? What past experiences formed them? What misconceptions does my heroine have? And how must she grow and change in order to resolve whatever problem lies before her? This is the true mystery, after all, because all of us can only know each other in part.

For more about the books I love, visit my book review blog. (Note: I do not review books I’d rate only one star or don’t finish.)

I’d love to hear about your favorite historicals, of whatever kind. Reach me at my website, on twitter: @karen_odden, or IG: @karen_m_odden.

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Karen Odden received her Ph.D. in English literature from New York University and taught at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She has contributed essays and chapters to books and journals, including Studies in the Novel, the Journal of Victorian Culture, and Victorian Crime, Madness, and Sensation; she has written introductions for Barnes and Noble editions of books by Dickens and Trollope; and she edited for the academic journal Victorian Literature and Culture. She freely admits she might be more at home in nineteenth-century London than today, especially when she tries to do anything complicated on her iPhone. Her first novel, A Lady in the Smoke, was a USA Today bestseller and won the New Mexico-Arizona 2016 Book Award for e-Book Fiction. Her second novel, A Dangerous Duet, about a young pianist who stumbles on a notorious crime ring while playing in a Soho music hall in 1870s London, won the New Mexico-Arizona 2019 Book Award for Best Historical Fiction. A Trace of Deceit is her third novel. She resides in Arizona with her family and a ridiculously cute beagle named Rosy.

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Thanks to Amy Bruno of Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for arranging Karen Odden's tour.

Review: A TRACE OF DECEIT by Karen Odden

2020-09-29T00:00:00.001-07:00

I've never been a reader of mysteries, but Karen Odden is turning me into one! I read Karen's first Victorian Mystery, A DANGEROUS DUET (William Morrow, 2018) and fell in love with the novel's feisty protagonist, intriguing plot, and convincing Victorian world. Odden's second Victorian Mystery, loosely connected to the first, is even better: A TRACE OF DECEIT (William Morrow, 2019) delves into the dark world of art forgery and auction house corruption as a young female artist struggles to solve her brother's murder and clear his name.

A Trace of Deceit by Karen Odden

Publication Date: December 17, 2019

William Morrow

Paperback & eBook; 416 pages

Genre: Historical Mystery/Victorian

From the author of A Dangerous Duet comes the next book in her Victorian mystery series, this time following a daring female painter and the Scotland Yard detective who is investigating her brother’s suspicious death. A young painter digs beneath the veneer of Victorian London’s art world to learn the truth behind her brother’s murder... Edwin is dead. That’s what Inspector Matthew Hallam of Scotland Yard tells Annabel Rowe when she discovers him searching her brother’s flat for clues. While the news is shocking, Annabel can’t say it’s wholly unexpected, given Edwin’s past as a dissolute risk-taker and art forger, although he swore he’d reformed. After years spent blaming his reckless behavior for their parents’ deaths, Annabel is now faced with the question of who murdered him—because Edwin’s death was both violent and deliberate. A valuable French painting he’d been restoring for an auction house is missing from his studio: find the painting, find the murderer. But the owner of the artwork claims it was destroyed in a warehouse fire years ago. As a painter at the prestigious Slade School of Art and as Edwin’s closest relative, Annabel makes the case that she is crucial to Matthew’s investigation. But in their search for the painting, Matthew and Annabel trace a path of deceit and viciousness that reaches far beyond the elegant rooms of the auction house, into an underworld of politics, corruption, and secrets someone will kill to keep.

My Review

A TRACE OF DECEIT is a mystery with a heart, a compelling story whose emotional resolution is as important to its success as the solving of the crime. An art student living independently in Victorian London after the death of her parents, Annabel Rowe is shocked to learn that her brother Edwin, an artist so talented he'd once turned to forging paintings to feed his opium habit, has been murdered and the valuable painting he'd been cleaning for an auction house has gone missing. Annabel joins forces with Inspector Matthew Hallam of Scotland Yard to uncover evidence that might pinpoint a motive and a murderer. But for all she is determined to uncover the killer, Annabel's true quest is to understand why Edwin's life veered off into the shadowy underworld in the first place. Was he was truly on a path to redemption when he was murdered? If so, how can she forgive herself for withholding her complete forgiveness for the history of hurt and disappointment they shared? Haunted by the possibility that Edwin died thinking himself unforgiven, Annabel works tirelessly to unearth the dark secrets from deep in his past that contribute in no small measure to the complicated fraud his murder is meant to disguise.

Annabel's emotional journey unfolds against a rich and convincing Victorian backdrop. The author combines her intimate knowledge of the art world, gained through years of employment at Christie's auction house, with her deep familiarity with the culture and physical reality of 1870's London to evoke a world that feels as real, and as broad, as the reader's own. Annabel and Matthew dodge carriages and horse dung in the streets, interview lords and ladies in elegant salons, threaten newspaper editors in shabby offices, tour a tony boys' school, sweat out an art auction, and stalk criminals at a market. The crime that results in Edwin's murder originates in a historical event--the 1874 destruction by fire of the Pantechnicon, the state-of-the-art warehouse where the rich stored their excess furniture and art--and cleverly incorporates political and social details that completely validate its execution. The era-appropriate psychology and behavior of the characters, combined with the vivid, believable setting make A TRACE OF DECEIT a delightful, satisfying read.

Karen Odden is an author to watch. Her skillful writing and profound knowledge of the Victorian era have opened a new world to me, and I'm eager to follow her on her next mystery adventure!

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You can read my interview with Karen Odden here. Be sure to return tomorrow to read Karen's guest post, "The 'Mysnomer' in the Label 'Historical Mystery.'"

Find A TRACE OF DECEIT at:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Books-a-Million | IndieBound

About the Author

Karen Odden received her Ph.D. in English literature from New York University and taught at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She has contributed essays and chapters to books and journals, including Studies in the Novel, the Journal of Victorian Culture, and Victorian Crime, Madness, and Sensation; she has written introductions for Barnes and Noble editions of books by Dickens and Trollope; and she edited for the academic journal Victorian Literature and Culture. She freely admits she might be more at home in nineteenth-century London than today, especially when she tries to do anything complicated on her iPhone. Her first novel, A Lady in the Smoke, was a USA Today bestseller and won the New Mexico-Arizona 2016 Book Award for e-Book Fiction. Her second novel, A Dangerous Duet, about a young pianist who stumbles on a notorious crime ring while playing in a Soho music hall in 1870s London, won the New Mexico-Arizona 2019 Book Award for Best Historical Fiction. A Trace of Deceit is her third novel. She resides in Arizona with her family and a ridiculously cute beagle named Rosy.

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Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, September 7 Review at Books and Backroads Review at WTF Are You Reading? Tuesday, September 8 Feature at I'm All About Books Wednesday, September 9 Review at Hallie Reads Thursday, September 10 Review at Gwendalyn's Books Friday, September 11 Review at Historical Fiction with Spirit Monday, September 14 Review at Pursuing Stacie Tuesday, September 15 Review at Faery Tales Are Real Wednesday, September 16 Review at Into the Hall of Books Thursday, September 17 Review at Novels Alive Friday, September 18 Review at A Darn Good Read Saturday, September 19 Review at Nursebookie Monday, September 21 Review at Books and Zebras Tuesday, September 22 Review at Passages to the Past Thursday, September 24 Guest Post at Novels Alive Friday, September 25 Review at The Lit Bitch Monday, September 28 Review at Amy's Booket List Review at Chicks, Rogues, and Scandals Tuesday, September 29 Review at Impressions In Ink Review at Writing the Renaissance Wednesday, September 30 Review at Probably at the Library Guest Post at Writing the Renaissance Thursday, October 1 Excerpt at Books In Their Natural Habitat Review at History from a Woman’s Perspective Friday, October 2 Review at Jessica Belmont Review at Jorie Loves A Story Review at View from the Birdhouse

Giveaway

During the Blog Tour, we are giving away one paperback copy of A Trace of Deceit! To enter, please use the Gleam form linked below. The giveaway is open to US residents only and ends on October 2nd. You must be 18 or older to enter.