In A Treacherous Court by Michelle Diener
I am delighted to welcome Michelle Diener, author of In a Treacherous Court back to On the Tudor Trail and excited to share, not only Michelle’s fascinating guest post but also details of a double book giveaway made possible by this author’s generosity!
You can read my interview with Michelle here.
All you need to do to be in the running to win either a copy of In a Treacherous Court or an advance reading copy of the uncorrected page proofs of KEEPER OF THE KING’S SECRETS, Michelle’s upcoming novel, is leave a comment after Michelle’s guest post before December 1, 2011.
Once all entries are in, Michelle will select two lucky winners! It’s as easy as that.
Now, enjoy the post and don’t forget to leave a comment!
THE FACTS IN FICTION
Thank you so much to Natalie for asking me back to On the Tudor Trail for a guest post. I thought it would fun to talk about some of the small details I included in In a Treacherous Court that are true. At the end of the book, I have an Author’s Note, where I talk about the larger historical issues which I include, and a few of the minor details, but not all of them. The note would have been way too long.
Firstly, I’ll start with my main character, Parker. He has to identify himself right at the start of the book, and he calls himself the Keeper of Paradise, Purgatory and Hell. I couldn’t resist that line because he really is. As Keeper of the Palace of Westminster, Parker would also have been Keeper of three of the houses on the palace grounds: Paradise, Purgatory and Hell. They were available as accommodation for nobles and visiting guests, and while I don’t know who named them, or why they were given these particular names, I was very grateful, as a writer, that they were.
As an aside, and also in keeping with talking about facts that I wove into the book, much later in the book, Parker encounters a character called Anthony Denny. He is much younger, a new arrival at court, and he helps Parker with various things. How they really met, I don’t know, but Anthony Denny and John Parker were good friends. Denny was named as the executor of Parker’s will, and Parker obviously recommended to Henry VIII that Denny be given his offices on his death, and Henry took that recommendation. Denny became Keeper of the Palace of Westminster, and ended up being one of Henry’s closest friends, and an executor of the King’s will. Towards the end of Henry’s life, he signed many bills and writs on the King’s behalf. Like Parker, Denny was not a nobleman, but one of the hated ‘new men’ of Henry’s court, who did well for themselves by being efficient, useful and loyal to the king.
Another detail I worked into In a Treacherous Court was the style of illumination which my heroine, Susanna, practices. She was trained in the Ghent style of illumination in her father’s atelier, and I researched that style very carefully to make sure I got the details right. The Ghent school loved accuracy, and their illustrations and paintings depict flowers, animals and people as accurately as they can. But within that, they believed in playfulness. They didn’t take themselves too seriously, and would include sly jokes, or fantastical elements in their work. So Susanna, while sketching the antechamber of the King’s privy chamber as she waits for her turn to see the King, draws the wallpaper, which has birds in the design, and lets one of those wallpaper birds break free and fly off. She draws a mouse hiding behind the guard’s shoe, and a cat gathering itself under a chair, ready to pounce. She’s about to draw just a hint of devil’s horns on the head of a priest waiting with her, before she is interrupted.
In the next scene she has made it into the Privy Chamber, but she has to wait for Henry to finish his lunch before she can see him, and again to pass the time she draws a sketch of the king, surrounded by his courtiers, eating his lunch. I took a real sketch of Henry eating his lunch in his privy chamber as the inspiration for the scene. Art historians don’t know who made the sketch, so it was even more fun for me to include this, as I wasn’t taking a sketch by a known artist. Who knows, maybe Susanna did sketch it?
The place where Parker and Susanna live, and the community around them, are integral to the story. I know Parker had property in Fulham, but it made sense he would also have a place closer to the King, so I gave him a house in Crooked Lane, in Cheapside. This street did exist in 1525, although it was destroyed to make way for the new London Bridge hundreds of years later. Not only is Crooked Lane real, St. Michael’s Church was at the end of the lane, and the priests of St. Michael’s did meet at the inn down the road with the Worshipful Company of Plumbers, whose guild church St. Michael’s was, instead of in the church vestry, just as I describe in the book.
I even spent about half a day trying to find the exact name of the inn where they met. In the end, I called it the Boar’s Head, because I found mention of an inn by that name in that area. I couldn’t get any further with the time and access to information available to me, so if the Boar’s Head was not the actual inn, it was at least an inn very close by. I find there is always a fine line to be walked with research. Yes, it’s wonderful to get every tiny detail right, but sometimes it isn’t worth it. As in this case, I had to be content with the fact that it was possible I was right, and leave it at that.
Paul's Walk
I’ve also written a short story featuring Susanna Horenbout and John Parker that bridges the first and second books, entitled DANGEROUS SANCTUARY. It is mostly set inside the old St. Paul’s Cathedral, and will come out as an ebook only. In it, I refer to Paul’s Walk, which is what the long nave of old St. Paul’s Cathedral was called, because Londoners would walk up and down the nave, collecting and exchanging gossip. At one end of the walk was a beautiful round stained-glass window. In later times, this type of window was called a rose window (and there are various arguments as to how it got this name), but in 1525, when my story is set, it wasn’t called a rose window. And I could not discover what it WAS called. Very frustrating, especially as most people today would know it as a rose window, but I couldn’t use that in the story. So I ended up calling it a circular window.
DANGEROUS SANCTUARY is set during a mass Henry VIII attended at old St. Paul’s Cathedral, and I was able to discover that Wolsey used the Sarum Rite in the mass, and the choir sang the Te Deum. A fun thing I was able to do with the story, because it was an ebook, was find a link to monks actually singing the Te Deum, and embed the link in the story, so readers can click on it, and listen to the song, as it would have been sung in 1525.
And finally, a sneak peek at one fact from the second book in the series, KEEPER OF THE KING’S SECRETS, due out in April next year. In the book, I describe how London Bridge acted as a kind of dam wall to the Thames. As the river encountered the bridge, it slowed down and backed up, because it had to force itself through very narrow arches. Because the Thames is tidal, this meant that the river was sometimes much lower on the sea side of the bridge at low tide than it was on the source side of the bridge. That difference was sometimes as much as six feet, and usually no one attempted to navigate through the arches at that time. But some did. It was called ‘shooting the bridge’ and it was a kind of extreme sport of the Tudor times. How could I have a book set during this time, and not make someone shoot the bridge? 🙂
Does anyone remember a fact from a book that they’ve never forgotten? I’d love to hear what it is!
I’ll give away an advance reading copy of the uncorrected page proofs of KEEPER OF THE KING’S SECRETS, which I found waiting outside my front door when I got back from holiday yesterday, to one commenter.
Michelle
I cannot wait to see if i won!!!! I just cannot seem to get enough of reading about Tudor times and i love a new and fresh perspective!!!!
Thank you, Julie :). Best of luck to you, and it is so great to see your enthusiasm for the Tudor period!
Wow I love when authors put real life details and facts into books. I have loved reading historical fiction for most of my life. I think that History is interesting. We can do research but may never know all that happened in years past.
Sandra, I have been an avid historical fiction reader my whole life, as well. And so much of my general historical knowledge, and even some really detailed facts, I’ve learned from books, even though I read history at university. A factually accurate historical novel is a great way to learn history 🙂 .
Michelle, I have to say I absolutely adored your book! I read it in two main sittings, and was sad when it finished, I just wanted to keep reading! Very excited to hear the next installment isn’t far away!!! (and an ebook! Love the idea of listening to the music at the same time, how fun! I’m sure that will bring it to life even moreso!)
I loved how fast paced the book was, it was terribly difficult to put down 🙂
Thanks for the great fact post!
Gemma, thank you so much! I am thrilled you adored IATC!! I always love hearing feedback from readers, so thank you.
I wrote the ebook as a sort of bridge between IATC and Keeper of the King’s Secrets, it fits between them, chronologically. I hope you enjoy the Te Deum link. Here it is in advance, if you’re interested: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipHYPERLINK “http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Te.Deum.ogg”eHYPERLINK “http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Te.Deum.ogg”dia/commons/d/db/Te.Deum.ogg
Another wonderful interview with another author 🙂 Well done, keep them coming, and the givaways!!! Hope this one is available in the UK. If not, books are going on my wish list….here’s wishing I win! Thanks for sharing x
Thank you, Lois. Good luck with the contest, but if you don’t win, the books are definitely available through Book Depository and Amazon.co.uk in the UK, if not bookshops.
Enjoyed the post, would love to win!!
Thank you, Lori, good luck 🙂
I love the detail about the wallpaper & how Susanna sketches some of these while waiting to see the King & does so in such a playful manner! I picture it in my mind!
Thank you, Judy. I loved that scene. For me, it really was a great way to show how Susanna thought and how she saw the world. I didn’t get to explore that side of her personality enough in In a Treacherous Court, there was too much else going on, but I was glad to be able to include more about her work in the second book, Keeper of the King’s Secrets.
I haven’t read the first book yet but I definitely will be purchasing now. These books sound right up my street. Thank you for this post!
Thank you, Victoria. I hope you enjoy them!
Fascinating to learn that ‘…three of the houses on the palace grounds: Paradise, Purgatory and Hell…’
Isn’t it very intriguing, Kitty? I loved learning that, and had to make it a part of In a Treacherous Court. I wish naming buildings was more common today. Think of the wonderful names people would come up with, rather than, or in addition to, a street number and name!
The first fact that sprang to my mind and had my mind boggling for sometime (and needless to say still does) was a little snippet from a book set in the middle ages, and just in passing mentioning that people would wipe their bums with leaves and sticks. Sticks!
And another, that Louis XIV (IRC) actually had to decree that buckets of poo would be removed from the halls of Versailles once a week!
Obviously, my mind has some penchant for the nitty gritty details of everyday life if the first two facts I think of are two such as these!
LOL, Amanda, I don’t think you’re alone! One of the facts I had to mention to my husband when I was researching In a Treacherous Court was a notice that went out prohibiting men of the court from urinating on the King’s furniture, walls and wall hangings. Which means they were doing that, and were being told to stop. I think most historians and archaeologists probably get the cold shivers just thinking about all those noblemen ruining the (now) priceless art and furniture.
Yes…and all toilet related trivia must of course be relayed to the husband. He is not really interested in history…..but toilets and toilet behaviour…..well, I think we are all a bit interested in that!
What a great post! Your books sound absolutely wonderful, with how you’ve put in such real life details. Very rarely do you get that in historical fiction, the only one I can really think of that even kind of does it is Ken Follet’s Pillars of the Earth – although set in a made up village he did his research on cathedral building so so well and in fact Kingsbridge Cathedral is based on the cathedrals of Salisbury and Wells!
I’ll have to keep an eye out for your books 😀
Thank you, Sam. And Ken Follet is wonderful, isn’t he?
I love it when authors use proper historical facts in their novels. It shows a large amount of dedication and respect for the subject they are writing about. I love the Tudor period and can never seem to read enough about them, both fictional and non-fictional. An interesting sounding novel which I look forward to reading (hopefully because I’ve won it!)
Thank you, Holly. Good luck with the drawing!
I think facts in historical fiction are important but the way authors elaborate on the facts are what make the books so enjoyable to read. I mean, who doesn’t remember the fact that Henry VIII was married six times, but it is the way the author spins that tale that makes me keep reading about the Tudors. Yout books sound wonderful!
Thank you, Colleen. The beauty of historical fiction is exactly that, you can put yourself there, hearing what was said, seeing the world through the characters’ eyes. It’s like time travel, only safer and much more comfortable 🙂 .
I’m going to download the ebook asap! Can’t wait to read it:)
Thank you, Michele (great name, btw 🙂 ) I hope you enjoy!
I enjoy books that take a minor character to illuminated a story. You are able to clear your mind of all the facts you have in your head pertaining to the larger than life characters. I think theses books take quite a bit more diligence and research. Thank you for your effort!
Thank you, Ralphine. There is definitely a pro and con to using a much less well-known character. The big pro is that no one has any preconceived ideas about them, and you can really get a fresh take on the more famous personalities through their eyes, but the con is it is really much harder to research them, and often there is very little available. But I wouldn’t have done it any other way. Susanna Horenbout was the reason I wrote In a Treacherous Court, there wouldn’t BE a story if I hadn’t become fascinated by her.
Great post! It was truly interesting. So nice of the author to give away two
copies. I love reading the author interviews and posts!
Thank you, Jessica. It is lovely for me to interact with readers, so thanks for coming along and reading, and thank you again to Natalie for having me.
What a wonderful idea to put the actual voices singing the original music. Looking forward to reading this book.
Priscilla, I was so happy when I found that recording, and also so happy it was freely available on the internet for anyone to hear. When my research uncovered the rite used and the actual song sung in that special ceremony, I went looking for any other information I could find on them both, and came across the Te Deum recording. While I love the feel of a book in my hands, I also love how ebooks can deliver things like an embedded song into a story.
How fun to get a glimpse into your thoughts while composing these stories! I would love to win one of the books, but if I don’t they will go on my reading list nonetheless.
Thank you, Nancy. So glad you enjoyed it, and good luck in the drawing.
So fun to know all of these facts. It brings it alive more than ever.
Don’t put me in the contest, since I already have a signed copy of In a Treacherous Court, which is one of my favorite books every. And I definitely plan to buy the second book as soon as it’s out.
🙂 Thank you, Edie!
I am not sure that I can give you a “fact” from a book that has been unforgettable to me, but I can give you a scene from a book that can still bring me to tears! It is from The Queen’s Rival: In the Court of Henry VIII by Diane Haeger. It is located at about page 344 when Bess is hardly able to brace herself or even breathe for that matter! After being separated from her beloved son Henry for ten long agonizing years, she finally gets to see him again. Diane really made this scene unforgettable, and it made me sob like a baby. This is one of the moments in the book that made me definately add this book to a list of favorites. I loved it! I read alot of historical fiction, and anything Tudor that I can get my hands on. Michelle I CAN NOT wait to read your books too 🙂 The way that you have described your stories have definately made me anxious to read on!
Thank you for sharing that, Bridgett. It is obviously a powerful scene and makes me want to hunt that book down. I have Henry Fitzroy as a character in the third book featuring Susanna and Parker – quite a major character, actually. I thought at the time how hard it must have been for his mother to let him be taken from her.
I have two children, and couldn’t imagine it. I like reading about him. I hope I win 🙂
I have two children myself, Bridgett. Unfortunately, the 3rd book is some way off of publication, so Henry Fitzroy doesn’t make an appearance for some time.
iam writing an Anne Boleyn novel, and want to ask another author/ fellow Anne enthusiasts : What title intrigues you most? ” The Falcon Queen ” , ” Dark Star “, ” Dark Star of England “, ” The B Necklace “. I will give everyone credit in the Author’s Notes!!! Oh, and I also want to say that I T C really helped me with learning more about Wolsey. I don’t remember if this was in I T C , but Wolsey was actually the first person to popularize strawberries and cream.
The Falcon Queen has sort of been used in a different book title that I can think of, Quest for a Queen: The Falcon by Frances Mary Hendry. I know you weren’t asking me, but I thought I would help. Your’re on the right track though, and I look forward to reading your book 🙂
I don’t have Wolsey eating strawberries and cream in in In a Treacherous Court, Anne, so it must have been another book, but thanks for sharing that!
I remember now, it was the writers guide to everyday life in the English renaissance by kathy lee emerson. When I read it I hadn’t even thought of writing a book!! That was the best book I read in all my period research. Very highly recommended.
I have this book on my list to buy. It would be great to win it. Sounds like a great book.
Thank you so much, Beth! However you get your hands on it, I hope you enjoy it.
LOL I remember from Juliet Grey’s ‘Becoming Marie Antoinette’ that Marie Antoinette never said “Let them eat cake”. It was actually royal person in the past before her.
CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com
Thanks for sharing that, Carol. Apparently, Queen Victoria never said ‘We are not amused’ either. Shock!
My fascination and belief in Anne Boleyn drove me to write to the Queen to ask for a pardon for her. She was so wrongly accused, and was so harshly used as a pawn in a game of chess. Just so others could be elevated.
Lynn, there is no question the charges against her were completely trumped up. And I’m most interested in Alison Weir’s assertion that she was pregnant when she was executed, as well. It’s all so fascinating, isn’t it?
Definitely on my list of books to read. I just devour anything to do with the Tudors or Elizabethan era.
Thanks, Mandie!
It amazes me that with everything written about the Tudor period, researchers are still finding new information. As a re-enactor I love the Tudor period and all its details. I’m always looking at new authors and books to read that cover the period, especially when they give details of the lives, relationships and costumes. Thank you for the taster of your new book, it sounds very intruiging.
Good luck with this and your future endevours.
Thank you, Claire. What fun to be involved in Tudor re-enactments!
This book sounds great. I would be sooo excited to read it. The Tudor Era books are probably my favourite to read!!!!
Thank you, Jessica.
I can’t wait to read this; I love History and the Tudors are my favourite period. (Elizabeth I is one of my role models. Not because she’s a queen, but because she wasn’t afraid to hold her own, and she stood by herself and ruled without a man. She kept her political power so she had as much control as a man. If she’d married, she’d have given that up and he would’ve had more power than her despite it being her bloodline. Go girl power!)
I also love writing and am an editor/proofreader just starting out (I’m 21), so the chance of a copy before proofing is a great bit of practice for me!
Best of luck with the release!
MJ x
MJ, I started out life as a proofreader / editor, first for a college that offered distance education courses, and then for an academic publisher, where I became a publisher of law and tax textbooks – not nearly as interesting as fiction, but still fun!
yeah, most people i’ve surveyed like Dark Star of England. I have to agree. This is my debut, so I’m really nervous!!!
Good luck with your debut, Anne!
This sounds wonderful–I’m impressed with your research! Isn’t it amazing how one little fact can get you searching for days! Looking forward to reading your book!
Thank you, Anne. I love research, so it’s no hardship for me 🙂
I always find it perfectly intriguing when I embark on a journey of discovering information on one topic and find wonderful surprises along the way. I wanted to create a blog entry about the intimacy and perhaps risque nature of the dances performed during the realms of King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I. As I went from page to page, video to video, I found this blog. Your book sounds absolutely wonderful. Perhaps with this comment I may win a copy. One can only hope. Thank you for this intriguing post and for the pleasant segue into yet another perspective of Tudor life.
Further, I am an aspiring writer and am comforted by what you have said about research. I am a perfectionist and find myself laboring over the small details. I too will now ask the question, is it really worth it in the end? Thank you.
Wishing you the very best,
Benny
Benny, thank you. And I’m a perfectionist, too. It took me a long time to realize there was a time / benefit ratio to the more tiny details of research that doesn’t always pay off. Sometimes, you just have to let it go.
And sometimes, the answer is so easy to find if you come at it another way. Don’t restrict yourself in the search terms you use.
In the third book in this series, I wrote about an encounter in a muddy field just outside of London. I’ve lived in London for months at a time, and I pictured the field with red mud. But then I couldn’t remember why I thought it was red, and I ended up searching the internet for soil types in the area where my field lay. I was right! The mud was red. To me, there is a satisfaction in knowing that things are correct, down to the colour of the mud. But sometimes, getting that last little polish on accuracy takes too long. So now I have developed a feel for when it’s time to walk away.
Just found the contest and got in under the wire!
Thanks for the contest (and hope I win!)
Thank you all for participating! Michelle was delighted with the response. She has randomly selected our winners…congratulations to Nancy Tomasheski
and Bridgett (comment 43)!! Please email me at natalie@onthetudortrail.com with your postage details. Enjoy the weekend 🙂
My book arrived today! I am so looking forward to reading it … I think it might bump a few volumes from my To Read pile.
Many thanks to Michelle and Natalie for running the contest.
That was fast! Enjoy Nancy 🙂
Thanks Michelle! I received my book today. I know what I’ll be reading tonight 🙂 Have a nice Christmas everyone.
Excited for something new to read as always i think i need to stop reading them so fast that way there will be something new before i am done with it but then again when they are so good i cant put them down i just cant help it