Sarah Hoyt, the author of No Will But His: A Novel of Kathryn Howard, is here today at Passages to the Past to talk about writing historical fiction. Welcome Sarah!
I believe it was L. P. Hartley who said “the past is another country, they do things differently there.”
No one is more aware of this than an historical-fiction writer. It’s actually worse than that. Not only is the past another country in which they do things differently, but we have to speak of them to the present, who will judge them by the values of today and often be horrified.
I think the first time I understood the magnitude of the task I was undertaking was while working on my first set of novels (Ill Met By Moonlight, All Night Awake, Any Man So Daring, now long out of print.) I was immersed in Elizabethan mores when my Father in Law asked my husband’s help in verifying his genealogy research. And my husband, while doing a search on line, came across a fact he just couldn’t accept. He came and told me and I said, “yeah, normal at that time.” He looked at me in utter disbelief.
You see, he’d found out one of his ancestors had married five sisters, in turn, as each of them died in childbirth. I believe this type of marriage was forbidden in England, but this was the early colonial period and things must have been more relaxed in the colonies. At any rate, when this man was forty he married the youngest sister, who was eleven at the time. This eleven year old (not at that age but not many years later) became my husband’s ancestor.
I’m trying to explain to him how it was believed an aunt would be kinder to the child and, anyway, since these were people of relative substance, there might have been lands and money tied up in the marriage, and this was easiest. And my husband is looking at me in horror and going “My ancestor was a pedophile.”
This made it starkly clear to me – and in good time – how different modern perceptions are from the past. Which catches historical writers between two pits. One of them is to be completely inaccurate, to prettify the past, to make it just like the present, acceptable. In other words, to lie to people. The other pit is to make the past grittily and achingly alive in all its unloveliness.
I’ve seen authors do both. The first revolts me on principle. To lie to people about the past is to lie to them about the present. If you don’t understand how brutish, how... blunt life could be in Tudor England, all you’ll see is the clothes and the pageantry and you’ll wonder why we changed. On the other hand, the other side risks repelling the reader. Making the reader uncomfortable is a good way of losing reader.
So I try to tread the path between two precipices. Part of what helps me is my reading a lot of mystery and writing some, even. You learn which events to highlight and which others to still have in but not highlight, so the reader knows about them but doesn’t fully realize she does.
The other part of what helps me is that before I was a writer I was a multilingual translator. You learn to fudge and slur the meaning and yet be true to the spirit of the sentence. A literal translation is as much a violation of intent as a complete fabrication.
And in that way, when faced with the need in No Will But His, of telling the story of poor Kathryn Howard, who probably was no more than fifteen when she married Henry, I have to highlight that people did mature earlier then – not physically but in every other way. And that she was probably more mature than current day college students. I try to give an impression of how young she was and how vulnerable, but I make her a woman aware of her own fate and making her own path.
And hopefully translate enough of that strange and wonderful country so that modern day readers can get their visa franked for a few hours there, and can come back enriched but not scarred by the experience.
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GIVEAWAY INFO
Thanks to Penguin Publishing I have 2 copies of No Will But His up for grabs! Open to US and International entries. Only one entry per person. Giveaway ends on April 29th.
SYNOPSIS: As the bereft, orphaned cousin to the ill-fated Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard knows better than many the danger of being favored by the King. But she is a Howard, and therefore ambitious, so she assumes the role Henry VIII has assigned her-his untouched child bride, his adored fifth wife. But her innocence is imagined, the first of many lies she will have to tell to gain the throne. And the path that she will tread to do so is one fraught with the same dangers that cost Queen Anne her head.
Good luck to all! Thank you to Sarah Hoyt for stopping by PTTP!
Thanks to Penguin Publishing I have 2 copies of No Will But His up for grabs! Open to US and International entries. Only one entry per person. Giveaway ends on April 29th.
SYNOPSIS: As the bereft, orphaned cousin to the ill-fated Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard knows better than many the danger of being favored by the King. But she is a Howard, and therefore ambitious, so she assumes the role Henry VIII has assigned her-his untouched child bride, his adored fifth wife. But her innocence is imagined, the first of many lies she will have to tell to gain the throne. And the path that she will tread to do so is one fraught with the same dangers that cost Queen Anne her head.
Good luck to all! Thank you to Sarah Hoyt for stopping by PTTP!
Please enter me. Thank you! =)
ReplyDeletesliugarcia@gmail.com
Thank you for hosting (as usual) a wonderful giveaway. Please count me in.
ReplyDeletemystica123athotmaildotcom
I really enjoyed the author's post about mores and customs in the past. I often come across bits about laws drafted many years ago and still on the books and some seem so strange to us these days that we eonder what inspired. The same sort of thing.
ReplyDeleteMakes one wonder how people will view our customs in say 100 years time !
I would love to see how the author has handled this in her book which sounds like a fascinating read, so please enter me in the giveaway.
Thanks very much for making it worldwide.
Carol T ( South Africa)
buddytho {at} gmail DOT com
I'd like to enter!
ReplyDeletestarmetaloak@gmail.com
“My ancestor was a pedophile.”
ReplyDeleteThis made me smile a little bit, because I often hate the same thing Sarah talks bout here. The past is the past, and no matter how hard you try to prettify it, there's still wars, famine, illnesses and violence. And yes some women did wear pretty dresses! :)
Please count me in for this book. This author made my day! Thank you for making the contest international.
rebelprince89@live.com
I'd love to be entered in the drawing!
ReplyDeleteLIS859@gmail.com
Great post--really interesting. It certainly did make me want to read this book. Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteOh yeah! Another book on my TBR list!
ReplyDeletePlease enter me in the giveaway!
tiger_fan_1997@yahoo.com
I would like to enter.
ReplyDeletesteven.kirby@gmail.com
Thank you for the guest post and the give away! Please enter me - mclean416(at)gmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteInteresting post - please enter me!
ReplyDeletecmdaphne(at)tds(dot)net
Please count me in too. ori simple tech com .
ReplyDeleteI see a lot of this in Halacha (= Jewish religious law). Many of the laws make no sense in a modern society.
I really enjoyed what Ms Hoyt had to say about the past and how it plays into the way we think about the books we read. Catherine Howard is undoubtedly misunderstood and I'd love to read this novel. thanks for the giveaway.
ReplyDeletelcbrower40(at)gmail(dot)com
I just finished reading Brandy Purdy's The Boleyn Wife & would love a chance at this. Please accept my entry. Thanks!
ReplyDeletegevin13{at}gmail{dot}com
Very interesting guest post. It was very interesting to hear of the discovery that her husband made while doing his research, but like Sarah mentions, it was probably very normal for the time.
ReplyDeleteI would love a chance to win a copy of this book, so please enter me in your giveaway!
zibilee(at)figearo(dot)net
Please count me in :o) Kristen
ReplyDeletek_springthorpe@yahoo.com
Thanks for hosting this giveaway-I'd love to win!
ReplyDeletestephaniefleischer889 AT gmail DOT com
Great guest post Amy, any I'm still thinking about the comment on girls maturing, emotionally back then, more quickly than they have to do now. That is, not sure if I agree...especially when it comes to sex. All teenagers quickly learn the power of sexual attraction at an early age and I think it's just how God made us for the sole purpose of procreation. Now-a-days it's the same...just not as discreet and tasteful I'd have to say with the technology and internet especially. I think little Miss Howard was a victim of her own immaturity with her sexual powers...just like Anne Boelyn who soon lost the King's favor once she gave in and slept with him and then continued to loose his interests when she failed to produce a male heir. Somethings never change :D
ReplyDeleteGreat giveaway and sounds like a great book...count m in please!
Fondly, Roberta
rlphilbr13@aol.com
Great and interesting interview! Please count me in for the giveaway. Thanks.
ReplyDelete~bella
Nunezbella at hotmail dotcom
This was such an interesting period of history. Please include me.
ReplyDeleteseknobloch(at)gmail(dot)com
I'd love to read this!
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you for making it international!
crimson_haze(at)hotmail(dot)com
I'd love to be entered to win this! It sounds really good! Thank you!
ReplyDeletemittens0831 at aol.com
would love to read this book...thanks for the chance :)
ReplyDeletekarenk
kmkuka at yahoo dot com
Count me in please. This one looks good.
ReplyDeleteI follow on gfc
mlawson17 at hotmail dot com
Thank you.
ReplyDeletePlease enter me.
kaiminani at gmail dot com
It's interesting to think of what was common place many years ago may seem horrific to us now. And I wonder what we do now that will seem horrible to future generations. Please enter me in this great contest.
ReplyDeletejasmyn9[at]hotmail[dot]com
Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteRachelhwallen@gmail.com
Wonderful post. I am one who wants history the way it really was. It is one of the reasons I read historical fiction. I want the feel of the peoples' lives and the events that transpired. I don't want the Disneyland version of what is was like hundreds of years ago.
ReplyDeleteLife is far from perfect today and not acknowledging that doesn't help anyone either.
I think your idea of including the fact and details but not highlighting them is very good. A serious reader will pick up on them and those who don't want the romance of the period disturbed will most likely not really notice them. We have to learn not to judge people in a different historical or cultural context by the same rules and expectations we have in our own society. It doesn't mean that what was done was necessarily right or totally acceptable, but it was the way things were done.
Tell your husband to relax (I'm sure you have) and not stress over his ancestor. The man is not alive today and should not be judged by our standards.
I think I forgot to put my email address in with my comments.
ReplyDeleteIt is:
librarypat AT comcast DOT net
This book sounds so fascinating. I have read a couple books about Katherine, but I aways find my self wanting more - because her relationship with Henry was similar to Anne's, I think that is what draws me in. I loved this post - it is so true, especially for newer readers to the genre. Those who have been around for awhile understand that history is different than the present and expect different things from it. Thanks for this great guest post.
ReplyDeletePlease enter me in the giveaway Amy! dolleygurl[at]hotmail[dot]com
Thanks for a great giveaway.I'd really love to read this book. Count me in.
ReplyDeleteeva.s.black[@]gmail[.]com
The past is another country -- as is the future, I suppose. Childhood, age, gender, and all those others -- wow, we're surrounded by foreigners! Time to learn diplomacy, I suppose...
ReplyDeleteI'd love to be in the giveaway, and enjoyed the interview, too. Thanks!
this sounds so good. Its been intersting reading about her writing process.
ReplyDeleteplease enter me!
thank you
naidascrochet@yahoo.com
http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/
What an interesting interview. I'd love to read the book.
ReplyDeletewolfcarol451(at)gmail(dot)com
Great guest post! That sounds like my kind of book! Katherine Howard is an interesting character for authors as the records don't give a clear picture of her character, and she can therefore be presented so differently, from the innocent pawn to family ambition, to the floozy of loose morals and lacking in intellect.
ReplyDeletePlease enter me in the draw, and thanks for making this an international affair!
nellista @ gmail dot com
Wow very interesting post! I've been a huge Tudor fan for years Anne Boleyn being my fav. but I have just started reading about Katherine Howard.
ReplyDeletePlease enter me in the giveaway
ali4hocking@yahoo.com
Great guest post! What an interesting story about her husband's ancestors.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the giveaway!
miller4plusmore(at)bellsouth(dot)net
Would love to enter this giveaway please
ReplyDeleterubs.escalona [at] gmail.com
This book sounds so wonderful! Please count me in!
ReplyDeleteamberr610[at]gmail[dot]com
This sounds like an excellent book and I'd love to be entered. :D
ReplyDelete~Briana
thebookpixie[at]yahoo[dot]com
If it wasn't for Henry VIII my life would be dull. Who doesn't like a good scandal? Enter me too!
ReplyDeletechellebcool at hotmail dot com
Would love a chance to read this book :) Please include me in the drawing
ReplyDeleterubs.escalona [at] gmail.com
Sounds interesting!
ReplyDeletehewella1@gmail.com
This seems like a book I'd really enjoy. Please enter me. :)
ReplyDeleteMarie
utah91960[at]yahoo[dot]com
I would absolutely love to be entered. Thanks~ :)
ReplyDeletemisusedinnocence@aol.com
PLEASE ENTER ME. I love all things Katherine Howard. She fascinatea me and probably the only wife of Henry the 8th I can relate to. Seriously, barely 15 and married to an old fat man. Shame she died so young.
ReplyDeleteFeversmirrors@gmail.com
Poor Katherine Howard she really did have no will but his. Forced to marry, and forced (allegedly to have an affair all to please a king so sad. Please enter me in this giveaway I'm always in for a refreshing new view on KH story.
ReplyDeleteHot87Tamale@aol.com
THanks for a wonderful giveaway!
ReplyDeleteshhhimreading at hotmail dot com
Love this giveaway!
ReplyDeletekzupancic[at]yahoo[dot]com
How in the world did I miss this post??? Please enter me in the giveaway!
ReplyDeleterobinbird_79 AT hotmail DOT com
Thanks for the giveaway - please count me in.
ReplyDeleteI would like to be entered for this book.. Please and thank you!!! Thanks for letting the history 'geek's know what is forthcoming in the historical world of fiction...
ReplyDeletemomkelly2003(at)yahoo(dot)com
Hi. Historical fiction I relish. It's always wonderful to learn a little bit about history while enjoying a good read.
ReplyDeletepolo-puppy-fluffy[at]hotmail[dot]com
Please enter me in this giveaway!
ReplyDeletefamilyhistree at yahoo dot com
Sarah E
(I'm entering in the Pacific Standard Time zone and am unsure which time zone you're in so as to make the midnight deadline.)