(Post first published on The History Girls blogspot.) Last month, my post looked at various aspects of food and eating in the 14th century, the period of my current fiction series, using a few descriptions from my novels as a shortcut to the evidence I have gleaned over my relatively brief time as an historical novelist. …
Medieval food, feast and famine
In my novels of 14th century England, I try to include a good deal of description of medieval daily life. Clothing, housing, furniture and furnishings, artefacts and tools, working practices, medical practices and, of course, food, can all help to place characters in context, differentiate the life styles of people of diverse stations, and bring …
Inspirational homes (3)
The “inspirational homes” I discussed in my previous two posts represented the sort of mediaeval houses that might have been lived in by the poorer members of society and those of the “middling sort”. We saw how the way of life afforded by the homes of the wealthier members of society included more space, a …
Inspirational homes (2)
“Inspirational homes” might suggest a strapline blazoned across the front of a glossy décor magazine. But the sort of inspiration I’m talking about here is where real-life ancient buildings “inspire” me in my descriptions of the homes of the characters in my novels, which are set in 14th century southern England. Last month, I discussed …
Inspirational homes (1)
“Inspirational homes” might put you in mind of a strapline blazoned across the front of a glossy interior décor magazine, but that’s not the sort of inspiration I’m going to talk about. In this post, and my next two, I thought I’d reveal a little about the real-life buildings that “inspire” me as I write …
The problem with historical fiction…
[This post was originally written for The History Girls blog site.] WHAT “problem”, you might well ask… When I first embarked on writing historical fiction several years ago, I edged my way nervously into a genre that I felt instinctively I loved but was also terrified of making a complete hash of. In 2015, a …
Circling lazily in a clear blue sky…
Those of you who know me well might recall that we always spend a few weeks every summer in southern France, specifically in Drôme, in the south-east of the country. We have been coming to this part of France for the past thirty years, initially with the children, but these days of course à deux. …
