Taking the title of this post as guideline, how far can fiction tread on history and not impede or alter historical fact, and yet render history intriguing and thought provoking?
I’m one of those authors who have it
in mind historical detail (fact and rumour) is just as important for authors of Historical Romance as is it for hard-nosed authors of general Historical Fiction. If no authentic backdrop is apparent then how are readers to enjoy sense of time and place past? That's not to say huge sections of a book need be given to historical detail, that's the job of the characters who can reveal what they see, what they hear, and their knowledge of events as they unfold in their world. I also love it when author's provide family lineage, not as merely a family tree map, when again the characters themselves can afford greater
depth aside from the main story. After all, what goes around can come around,
and the past can reveal much about individual personalities and the outlook of
elders and their respective influence on younger generations. Sometimes aspects
of the past are shrouded until a key is found which will unlock elements that
no one cared to talk about, or it was deemed no one would talk about after a
particular event. The incident, whatever, may have been of little or greater consequence
at the time, and over the years the telling can become distorted because a
secret is never a secret if more than one person knows of that secret. And a
dark secret is the underlying threat to the Dempsey family, because one man
covets something the Duke of Leominster owns. Thus the crux at issue is what
does a French marquis covet, the why of it, and why did he have an English duke
assassinated (?) in book 1.
In the novel “To Risk All for Love – The Dempsey Fortune” is where the demise of
Louis Dempsey, Duke of Leominster heralds the beginning of a vendetta with
roots as far back as three generations to King Louis XIV and the Grand Dauphin.
Although the story revolves around the new young duke and his sister, and his
sister is the leading light in the novel alongside her unusual hero, her brother unwittingly invites
guests into their home who consist of French gamblers, and people masquerading
as other than selves. The year is 1790 the era of the French revolution, and as
events unfold mystery escalates, murders occur, and threat of death reaches a
climax when all had thought the danger was at end and peace reigned once more until a letter dictates otherwise.
Book 2 “To Tempt a Duke – The Dempsey Ring” the young duke is finally made
aware of the Marquis de Chartre’s desired object which the French aristocrat believes
will beget a greater object of desire. In the meanwhile the duke desires
something that belongs to the marquis by absolute legal right, but there is no
way they can strike a bargain and both gain their ultimate heart’s desire. Thus
both plan counter moves to thwart the other’s ambitions, and whilst murders
abound, and French spies are assisting the marquis in his endeavours, flames of
romance burn hot, but who will concede defeat and win the day? There you have the
baseline of the plot, but there’s so much more to the lineage of both men, and
history itself came into its own as the tapestry of a tragic tale three
generations past as the backdrop to the two books.
Grand Dauphin
In brief, the Grand Dauphin entered into a Morganatic
marriage with Marie Émilie Thérèse de Joly, 'Mademoiselle de Choin' (2 August
1670 – 1732).
She was a French lady-in-waiting to King Louis XIV's
morganatic wife, Madame de Maintenon. No children were, purportedly, born
within the marriage of le Grand Dauphin and Marie Émilie, and yet there is
evidence (Saint Simon chronicler) that Marie Émilie did give birth to one
child, the rumour being the infant died shortly after birth, which was not unusual in the
circumstance of (illegitimate royal infants) born to the French royal household
by commoner wives.
There is no absolute proof a girl or
boy was born and died, and no proof there were other infants born and removed. Much of
the Dauphin and Marie Émilie's life together has been veiled and remains
relatively vague whilst much speculation abounds. Despite rumour, all children
born at Versailles to his once favoured mistresses, and the king's legitimate
offspring were taken away and reared elsewhere. Many of the illegitimate
children were farmed out to other households to cause no future embarrassment
to the royal house of Bourbon, barring those of his most favoured mistress
Madame de Montespan. On that basis of farming out infants I took poetic licence and created a link to
the Dempsey family and the marquis based on rumours that became rife in the
years of Louis XIV's court and the Grand Dauphin.
Louis XIV
And so I rest my case for fiction
being fiction and letting fiction play with historical rumour, in that there
was indeed a child or children begotten from the Dauphin and Marie’s Morganatic
marriage, but King Louis being Louis probably removed any possible threat to less
than pure royal blood standing in line for succession to the throne. The Grand
Dauphin did on several occasions rebel in wilful manner but his father of a devious
nature did thwart the younger except in the instance of the morganatic marriage. After all, Louis XIV had entered into same with Madame de Maintenon.
And then there are the aside factors in which houses to use as the fictional residences alongside known royal residences etc. The name les Muids equates to Hogs Head. Hogs head is a weight measure for wine = 300L (66 imp gal. 79 US gal). I therefore named the Dempsey's French residence as Château les Muids, and the inspiration for their château was a beautiful abandoned one. Unloved but beautiful inside and out.
This is my fictional Dempsey residence in France
In real terms there is a Château les Muids by that name and it is a hotel now, not merely a family residence and it was only built in 1790. Which really reflects the later architectural influence of the late 1700s instead of 17th century architecture (1600s).
You can visit this hotel
What of ship parts etc in novels? The taff rail surrounding the poop deck.
Who would have thought how important research is even for
Historical Romance novels?
But it all comes down to author pride and the constant learning curve, hence history is infinitely fascinating!
