Your Favourite Books?

 I was part of a panel at a recent signing event in Stoke. One of the questions posed by our excellent MC, Donna Morfett, was on "What real love story has influenced you and your writing." 

 

Donna Morfett Toya Richardson, Ros Rendle and Me!

We had no advance knowledge of the questions, but this was still an instantly easy one to answer.

The story of Major Harry Smith and the young girl he found and married in the aftermath of one of the bloodiest sieges of the Napoleonic Wars may be known to many readers, particularly fans of Georgette Heyer, Her novel, “The Spanish Bride” details their story in her inimitable prose. Even her name is pretty unforgettable; Juana María de los Dolores de León!

Bajados was the scene of terrible savagery by the British troops after taking the city. In Harry Smith’s own words: “The atrocities committed by our soldiers on the poor innocent and defenceless inhabitants of the city, no words suffice to depict. Too truly did our heretofore noble soldiers disgrace themselves”

IMHO The Spanish Bride is a superb book, combining as it does the story of the Peninsular war from Bajados in 1812 right up to Waterloo. It is full of domestic details of their life with Harry’s regiment.

 

I had this edition. It fell to pieces many years ago!

Juana Smith

Harry, as a General

The storming of the breach at Bajados

One of the reasons the book maintains its attraction for me are the parallels between Harry and my gt-gt-grandfather, Henry Dumaresq, who took part in most of the same battles as Harry (including Bajados). Indeed, they would almost certainly have known each other, if only in passing. Harry was the older of the two by five years. 

It was Harry who had the romantic story, though. Henry did marry, but not for another 5 years, to the daughter of another Irish peer, Sophie Butler-Danvers who was aged 25 rather than 14!!

 

Henry Dumaresq's Military Record!

A clerk's handwriting was pretty unreadable even then. Luckily, we now have Wikipedia!

Henry Dumaresq

 

After the Napoleonic Wars Harry and Juana spent much of their time on various overseas posting, especially in South Africa where the town of Ladysmith was renamed in honour of his wife.

Henry ended up as ADC to General John Byng at Waterloo, and played a large part in the defence of Hougemont – a key part of the battle. He was wounded delivering a dispatch from General Byng to Wellington. He had taken a ball in the lungs, and “fell from his horse, a dying man”. Thanks to the attention of Wellington’s surgeon, he survived, but they couldn’t remove the ball. It eventually caused his death twenty years later.

The famous Duchess of Richmond's Ball. Henry Dumaresq was there. 

Closing the gates at Hougemont. 

 

 

Also on the panel at the signing was friend, fellow-author and RNA member, Ros Rendle. It turns out that she and her husband, Scott, live in the town that Harry was from, Whittlesey near Ely in Cambridgeshire. Scott taught at the Sir Harry Smith Community College!

Since coming back from the Tales on Trent signing, I’ve been reading The Spanish Bride again. Well worth it!! That’s probably 12 times I have read it (so far)! I celebrated finishing it again, with a glass of one of my favourite beers, Waterloo! The Beer of Victory! 

So what’s YOUR favourite book? How many times have you read it? How many copies have you gone through? 

THE END OF THE STUPID HEROINE? by Gill Stewart

I hope, I really hope, that we will soon, finally, see the end of the stupid heroine. You know the one I mean, the one who is Too Stupid To Live (TSTL) and needs rescuing at every turn. Usually she is rescued by the hero, occasionally by a good friend or relative. And the hero is attractive and capable, but if it’s a female friend/relative then she’s not nearly as attractive as the heroine because apparently being TSTL makes you sexy and desirable. Personally I think it makes her Too Stupid To Be Loved and I find it difficult to understand why the hero is attracted to her.

TSTL heroines were especially prominent in times past. Although Georgette Heyer has some excellent feisty heroines (the eponymous Venetia and Sophy) she also has some quite foolish ones (Horatia in The Convenient Marriage, Nell in April Lady). And I haven’t read any Barbara Cartland for decades, but as far as I can remember all her heroines were TSTL. In fact, some of them were too stupid to speak in complete sentences, but that’s a topic for another day. Almost all Mills and Boon heroines I read in my teens were TSTL – in fact the first time I came across a book with a female doctor as a heroine my teenage mind couldn’t compute it: if she was a doctor she must be bright, so how could she be the heroine??

I would like to think we have moved on from this mindset and that we don’t ever meet TSTL heroines these days. However, there is evidence to the contrary. Bella in the Twilight series is often TSTL and yet she is adored by the vampire hero, and by thousands of teenage readers. Why? Really? I haven’t managed to read any of E L James’ books to the end, but Anastasia strikes me as another TSTL heroine. Just by way of example, in the first chapter of Fifty Shades Of Grey she: is pushed into doing an interview she doesn’t want to do, dresses inappropriately, doesn’t know what Christian Grey looks like or his age despite him being a famous local, falls over her own feet, can’t work the recording device and just generally hasn’t done even the most basic preparation for the task at hand. So TSTLs are clearly (and unfortunately) not yet dead and gone.

But there is hope! Mills and Boon heroines these days occasionally do something silly, or make mistakes, but they are not unbelievably stupid. The heroines of all the women’s fiction books I have read in the last ten years have been either reasonably or exceptionally capable. As well as appearing in much crime fiction as the corpse (where she obviously was TSTL, but was not the heroine), women also often feature as the detective or sleuth. Erotica also often features a strong heroine, so E L James is not typical of the genre.

I don’t read much literary fiction, but I think in general there have been fewer TSTL heroines here, although there are often unattractive ones (and I don’t mean in appearance).

I would like to say to my fellow female writers: if you are a writer, you are probably not stupid. So please don’t portray women in your books as stupid. And to male writers: a stupid heroine is not a realistic heroine, so don’t go down that route. I’m pleased to say that having scanned the list of current best-selling romances (the genre that interests me most) I can’t see a stupid heroine among them. From Jill Mansell to Katie Fforde, from Trisha Ashley to Veronica Henry – the heroines may be wacky, they may be quirky, but they are not stupid! Progress has indeed been made. Compare this to the 1970s when books by Judith Krantz and Jacqueline Susann dominated the best-seller lists.

I’d be fascinated to know if anyone has adored a book with a stupid heroine – and, if so, why?

What Can We Learn From Georgette Heyer? by Gill Stewart

A blue pla

A blue plaque was unveiled this week to mark the house in Wimbledon where Georgette Heyer was born. I hardly need an excuse to write about GH, my all-time favourite writer, but I’m taking this as a little nudge to share my appreciation with the world.

I won’t spend time going over the history of GH, which is probably known to many of you and if not can be picked up from some of the lovely articles that have been written recently such as this one in the Guardian. What I want to ponder on is why so many of us love GH so much, and what we can learn from her and apply to our own writing.

What are the reasons for GH's abiding popularity? Many people have praised the historical accuracy of her books, and how well they are plotted. Both of these are true, but I have to say that for me there are two essentials that keep me returning time after time: the characters and the dialogue. Together these create the charm of the books which brings readers back again and again.

GH’s characters are an abiding delight, brought to life with the lightest of touches through their thoughts, actions and words. A description of Martin, the hero’s half-brother in ‘The Quiet Gentleman’ brings him completely to life in just a few lines:

Every change of mood was reflected in his eyes, so dark a brown as to appear almost black, and in the sensitive curves of his full mouth. Six years younger than his cousin, he had not altogether thrown off the boy; and, from having been the idol of his mother and the pet of his father, he was a good deal spoiled, impatient of restraint, thrown into the sulks by trifling causes, and into wild rages by obstacles to his plans.

GH is best known for her Regency and historical romances, but I also have an affection for her detective novels. Through the use of dialogue she creates characters that seem so real you feel you know them. This little snippet from ‘Death In The Stocks’ makes me smile every time:

‘Kenneth, whatever you felt about poor Mr Vereker when he was alive, I do think you might at least pretend to be sorry now he’s dead.’

‘It’s no use,’ said Antonia, spearing olives out of a tall bottle. ‘You had better take us as you find us Violet. You’ll never teach Kenneth not to say exactly what he happens to think.’

‘Well, I don’t think it’s a good plan,’ said Violet rather coldly.

‘That’s only because he said that green hat of yours looked like a hen in a fit. Besides, it isn’t a plan, it’s a disease.’

Overall, the characters and their dialogue create the tone of the books which is so entrancing. The understated humour, the knowledge that the writer and reader share the same slightly sardonic, gently satirical view of the world.

I said I would try to draw advice for modern-day writers from GH, but it’s hard to do so. You can’t just advise people to ‘write charmingly’ or ‘include witty dialogue’. Knowing it is desirable is so much easier than actually doing it. So all I can say is – read as much GH as you can. Read the mistress of the genre. And hope, as I do, that just a little of that wonderful talent rubs off on you. If there is anyone out there who hasn’t read GH, or not recently, I would recomment my own personal favourites: ‘An Unknown Ajax’, ‘The Grand Sophie’ or ‘A Civil Contract’. Go on, give them a try!

You can read more detail about the Blue Plaque event on Jenny Haddon’s blog (Jenny was instrumental in arranging the event) or in the lovely account of the day, with pictures, from Elizabeth Hawksley on the Historical and Regency Romance UK blog.