When I’m asked by anyone why I’ve abandoned modern fiction to
write only historical, I usually say that (i) I’ve run out of “modern” ideas: most of the things that can happen to a fifteen year old girl have already happened in one of my books,
(ii) to write a modern book, one has to keep up-to-date on technology so I’d
have to know much more than I do about i-pods, texting, twitter,
(ii) to write a modern book, one has to keep up-to-date on technology so I’d
have to know much more than I do about i-pods, texting, twitter,
smart phones
and so on and (iii) all those tedious things I found out about in (ii) will be
out of date in six months’ time.
and so on and (iii) all those tedious things I found out about in (ii) will be
out of date in six months’ time.
And that’s more or less true. But the other reason I am writing historicals is that I came across a Bill of Mortality. For anyone who hasn’t heard of these wonderful documents: within the City of London in the 17th Century, you could go into a stationer’s shop and for two pence buy a Bill (published weekly) principally to check whether plague deaths in your local parish were increasing or decreasing. If the numbers were increasing, then you would stay indoors as much as possible; if decreasing, then maybe you would think it was safe enough to go to the corner shop and buy a loaf of bread.
I was hooked the moment I saw the front page of the Bills for 1665 which is wonderfully, spookily Gothic with its heading “London’s Dreadful Visitation” and its symbols of death (skull, grave-diggers tools, winding sheet, skeleton). Inside, the actual causes of death make the most macabre and fascinating reading. For example, In 1665 there are five cases of death from being Distracted. In 1648 there was a single death from Itch while in 1660 nine people died from being Frighted.
Grief makes an appearance several times a year and there are several cases of Rising of the Lights
(some sort of lung disease?) and also the gruesome-sounding Teeth and Worms and Headmould. Two others I find particularly fascinating in a ghastly sort of way are, Lethargy and The Purples.
Grief makes an appearance several times a year and there are several cases of Rising of the Lights
(some sort of lung disease?) and also the gruesome-sounding Teeth and Worms and Headmould. Two others I find particularly fascinating in a ghastly sort of way are, Lethargy and The Purples.
Is it any wonder that, on reading these, I was immediately seized with a wish to find out
more about these people who died such tragic - yet intriguing - deaths? I wanted to locate these people behind the statistics and find out about their lives, and I also wanted to write a book where those gruesome Bills of Mortality formed an important part of the narrative. That was ten years ago and I’m not ready to go back to “modern” yet.
more about these people who died such tragic - yet intriguing - deaths? I wanted to locate these people behind the statistics and find out about their lives, and I also wanted to write a book where those gruesome Bills of Mortality formed an important part of the narrative. That was ten years ago and I’m not ready to go back to “modern” yet.
