Hello readers! Hope you are enjoying a lovely week! Today I’m very excited to welcome back author Rose Fairbanks, who is at the moment celebrating her newest release – No Cause to Repine! Today Rose gives a little insight about the history of her Lady Catherine. I hope you find it as fascinating as I did!
Lady Catherine: Fiction vs. History
No Cause to Repine was written from November 2013 to April 2014 and then I was a bit terrified to touch it until January when I sent it to an editor. Redundancies got cut, a few slow spots removed and one sub plot from the first few chapters that I never developed. My poor editor had her work cut out for her with grammar and punctuation, especially in 
certain chapters before I had a proof reader while I was posting on the forums. One scene was added for clarification later on. All in all, the amount of editing felt minimal compared to doubling the length of my first two books. However, there was one painful thing that had to be done. I decided to cut my end notes.
End notes don’t usually appear in JAFF or Regency era Romances. In fact, while on the fence about deciding I read an article about a New York Times editor calling to cut bibliographies from mainstream historical fiction reads. I grew up reading historical fiction with notes and bibliographies! But I can understand it may not have the right place in historical fiction. When I thought about my notes, they were mostly justifying their inclusion as not just mere drama or a ridiculous plot point—but they were, in fact, fictionalized.
I have an undergraduate degree in history and am slowly finishing my master’s degree in it as well. To transition from academic historical writing to fiction, I think including historical plausibilities was key for me early in my fiction writing. Cutting them from the final manuscript was a bit like ripping out my heart, but I do agree necessary. So, since I have a captive (I hope?) audience, I thought I would explain a few inspirations for the history in No Cause to Repine.
It all starts with Lady Catherine. Why was she so insistent that Darcy marry her daughter? Why not her brother’s sons? Most earls held a courtesy title of Viscount for their heir, the real life Fitzwilliam family did. Would not even Colonel Fitzwilliam be of superior consequence than Darcy?
I chose to work within the 1811-1812 proposed calendar of events, and the opening scene occurs during Darcy’s solo call on the Hunsford parsonage on March 30, 1812. I had wondered if the War of 1812 would need to impact my plans for the story. Constructing a bit of a timeline of life events for Darcy and looking through the 1807 calendar on Wikipedia, I realized Darcy’s father died the same year the US passed the Embargo Act. The 1812 chronology also puts Georgina’s birth, and a likely time of Lady Anne Darcy’s death, in 1796. The same year as a bank panic in the US and the corresponding Banking Restriction Act in the UK. I won’t bore you with the details (but feel free to look them up) but pieced together, this put my Lady Catherine’s actions in a real historical context.
Then, one day in December 2013 I was reading about the real Fitzwilliam family in Collins’s Peerage of England, published in 1813, and found an odd entry about the 3rd Earl.
Immediately I looked up other entries about this earl. This is from his Wikipedia article:
This cited the same marriage date but only two of the six children listed in Collins’s.
The Wikipedia article gave references to Genealogics.org, Peerage.com and The History of Parliament.com. I checked them all:
It seems that although most sites only record his son, the future earl, and his daughter Charlotte, (who is the only daughter I found recorded marrying; a baron, of course), he did have two sons and six daughters.
Ok, so anticipating your vows and having to marry is one thing, but why would they wait until after the baby was born? Lady Anne Wentworth came from a very wealthy and prominent family, her father, already an earl, became a Marquess soon after her marriage. Her brother became Prime Minister! At last, I settled for it simply being a typo. In fact, I found one on the next page in the same source that could have had crazy ramifications.
Still, if Anne Fitzwilliam was born March 24th, 1745 that would indicate the possibility that Anne Wentworth was in the very early stages of pregnancy at the time of the wedding. Doctors date pregnancies at 40 weeks, and early births in this era typically resulted in stillbirth or living only a few days. Such births were generally not recorded versus recording children who had lived many months or years before their deaths.
Further research on the Fitzwilliam family added more fuel to my overactive imagination. This 3rd Earl died when he was only 37 and his son inherited an estate massively in debt. The 2nd Earl died at the age of 43, only ten years after inheriting, but having been born the third son and his eldest brother died unexpectedly at 21.
Here is where my mind took off, and fiction was born of history. What if the 2nd Earl contributed to the later poor condition of the estate? What if his son’s early death was due to a dissipated lifestyle? What would it mean to my fictional Lady Catherine if she had been the one born too close to her parents’ wedding date? How would she feel if her father’s estate neared ruin and she married in an attempt to save it?
There are other historical snippets I used to inspire characters in No Cause to Repine<, from Lady Catherine’s husband to a special agent working for Darcy to the assassination of Spencer Perceval, but finding a historical basis for both my Lady Catherine’s actions and back story thrilled me. I found a basis to inspire a character who may turn manipulative and deceitful; a character who might go to great lengths because she desired stability and respectability.
I hope it didn’t bore you!
Thank you, Rose! You have my interest piqued! I wonder what the story is here for the Fitzwilliam family! Looking forward to reading about your Lady Catherine!
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GIVEAWAY TIME!!!
Rose kindly brings with her 1 LOVELY ebook and 1 paperback copy of No Cause to Repine for me to randomly give away to TWO lucky readers. Woot Woot!!!
To enter this giveaway, leave a comment, a question, or some love for Rose!!
- This giveaway is open worldwide (for the ebook) and to US residents (for the paperback). Thank you, Rose!
- This giveaway ends May 27th!
I was so very interested in reading the thread of research that I actually forgot it was an introduction to a new book! I sensed Rose’s excitement as her imagination began to take over. It has such an interesting premise and hope to win either an ebook or paperback. Thank you for the giveaway!
Thanks! I’m glad I was able to interest you so much! Good luck in the giveaway!
That is not boring at all – it is absolutely fascinating, thank you so much for taking the time to do all the research and explain it to us all. If I could turn back time I would enrol to do a degree in history. The books sounds fascinating. Thank you so much for the giveaway but please do not include me as I am from the UK and I do not have an ebook.
One of the reasons I included the notes when i posted online was because I feared people would think I was taking too much license to make a dramatic situation with Lady Catherine. I want to be clear- it’s sheer conjecture on my part and in my book I change the name of the title so I’m not besmirching the true Fitzwilliam name- but I think it’s realistic. I hope you get to read it and enjoy it! Thanks for leaving a comment!
I have already read the book, so please do not add my name to the giveaway.
That was fascinating! To have found all of that information at all, and then to have found a reason for Lady Catherine’s behavior is wonderful! I loved that part of the book as well. It helped me understand her more than if nothing had been said. It turns out, she is not just a crotchety old spoiled woman! She has had to try to make up for the actions of those that came before her! It may have been a typo, but what if it wasn’t! That is the intriguing part for me! LOL
Thank you for sharing that!!
My history training has it beaten in my head to go back to primary sources as often as you can. That’s where you can find interesting nuggets! I might do a bit more research. I’m fairly certain the laws of the time were “once illegitimate always illegitimate,” so the idea that they married after the child was born is really unlikely. There is something that absolutely must be a typo on the very next page. It involves a birth date for a child that was many years after the death of both parents. But being born only 6-7 months after the wedding happened often enough and I think would have tongues wagging some. As with most childhood experiences it’s always a bigger deal to the person who experiences it than it is to others. In Lady Catherine’s case none of her family were particularly troubled by the gossips, by the time the younger generation came about it wasn’t even talked of and they had no knowledge of it. But that’s pretty true too. When we hurt we can keep it from the very people who are most likely to support us and sometimes they truly may have no idea.
I found that absolutely fascinating! I also appreciate your diligent research. The history of this family has my own imagination whirling with possible scenarios. I am greatly looking forward to reading your book!
Thanks! I admit, I can come up with other scenarios just off this information too!
Not boring at all! I always enjoy learning new things.
I’m glad to hear it! Good luck in the giveaway!
I too find the research fascinating. One of the reasons I love historical fiction is the background story. Just the other day my husband and I were discussing Gigi since I had just finished the novella. The story of a family training a 15 year old to be a kept woman is not so shocking given the societal norms of the time.
Thanks for the research you shared. I would love to read your book and get some insight into Lady Catherine!
You know, I’ve never read the book or seen the movie but I’ve read the synopsis. Weren’t Gigi’s other female relatives also courtesans? I think it makes some sense. They didn’t typically have career options and becoming a mistress to a wealthy and kind man could put a woman in a happier and healthier relationship and likely with more money as well than some marriages, let alone them being left with no resources and ending up at brothel. The courtesans who were kind of “free agents” and could make their own terms etc. were truly in much better positions than other forms of the “trade.” If you’re going to end up having to sell your sexual favors, I suppose it makes sense to become the best and know how to make it to the top! Good luck in the giveaway!
I love history and family lineage. It’s fun. So this was absolutely fabulous. I wish the end notes were at the end of the book. But I must be content with what you already have posted. I am looking forward to reading the book. It is on my very long eBook TBR. Thank you for the historical perspective Rose and for rhw generous give away.
I think I’ll post them on my blog. My next book had end notes in the first draft as well. There are conversations that reference literature of the era, so I may keep those if I can’t work in the explanations within the story.
You have to be careful with all these genealogy sites. Sometimes there is conflicting data, especially once you get back before the Tudors. Often times they don’t have exact birth dates or death dates. Oh, I once spent hours trying to figure out how an eldest son did not gain the title. Then I realized the site I was using (Peerage.com) listed offspring with uncertain birth dates above ones with a certain date instead of in actual birth order.
In this case, you’ll see each one has the same wedding date and usually the location is given as well. I think we can say without a doubt they married on June 22, 1744 at St. George’s.
I’m a bit of a research and history junkie so this post was very fascinating. I get sucked down the rabbit hole when I start on one of these research paths. I can be lost for hours. LOL I have loved your past books so I’m looking forward to reading this one as well!
This is the kind of history I love doing! It’s like a treasure hunt! Good luck!
Historical research, I love it. Love to win a copy of the ebook
Thanks, good luck!
Get my geek on? Rose, you are a great writer and I enjoy your work. This is on my list to read, near the top.
Thanks! I hope you enjoy it!
I love it when history is incorporated into fiction. Can’t wait to read your book, Rose! I’d love to win a copy.
Thanks for the giveaway!
Thanks! I’m not much of a social historian. I avoid writing dinner parties like the plague. I was relieved to cut a ball scene. Pride and Prejudice is so timeless, but I enjoyed placing it firmly in a date too. Writing about daily customs doesn’t appeal to me and so many do it much better than I do but I do try to add something about the larger world. Good luck!
I wish my history lessons at school had been as interesting as this. I might have enjoyed the subject a lot more. Thanks for taking the time to do the research and for the chance to win.
Aw, thanks! I once was an education major but decided I liked the history more than the kids and it wouldn’t be fair to them. Then I thought I’d teach at the university level and now I think I’ll just write historical fiction instead. Glad to know I wasn’t too boring. It helps that I was excited about my topic. Good luck!
I absolutely love it when authors of historical fiction add end notes, or something similar, that set their novels in their proper historical context. Bernard Cornwell did it with his Sharpe series (mostly Regency again, of course) and I found it really interesting to find out what was fact and where he’d used his artistic licence. So, I would have no complaints with Rose, or any JAFF author, putting/leaving that sort of thing in his/her books.
Thanks for such an interesting insight into your research, Rose, and for the giveaway, too.
Good to know! I might keep them in the next one. And then there’s the one about the Blue Stockings…whenever I get around to finishing that one. Good luck!
Rose, thank you for sharing that bit of information regarding the bases of your back story! Such a fascinating concept. Looking forward to reading your novel. Thank you for the giveaways!
Thanks! I’ll be sharing more in other posts over the next few weeks too. I didn’t want to make this one too long. Good luck!
Looking at the depth of research you did and enjoying it but realizing that I would make a poor author. I like reading what others have researched and pulled together but would not have the endurance to go through tome after tome looking for specific facts. My hat is, figuratively, off to you. I don’t think many of us realize how much work a book is for all of you authors. Thank you for your dedication. I know I love the results.
Thank you! I really appreciate that you see the hours it takes behind the scenes. It’s something I never thought about until I began. I think there’s a bit of a Murphy’s Law about the more amount of time it takes for you to research the less amount of time you’ll actually end up needing to talk about it in the book. Plausibility is generally key, but my curious mind always needs to know more! Good luck!
As I follow your tour, I was thinking I would be coming across another intriguing excerpt here. Instead, a history lesson. I must say I am not disappointed. Very interesting post. Thank you for sharing. And thank you for the giveaway.
Thanks! I do have a few more excerpts coming up too but I’m glad you enjoyed this post as well. Good luck!
Research is really interesting, not at all boring. I love to imagine
a back story, when one is not given, for all of the characters in
a novel!
That is why I love Jane Austen so much! Within her novels I don’t feel as though she didn’t give enough information, but since variations do exist, I love that there’s so much freedom to change things around. A little tweak here, a little tweak there and it casts this character or that line in a whole new light. I love it! Good luck!
This is a great book. I couldn’t put it down. I am amazed by all of the research and am also thankful. I look forward to reading your future works.
Sorry I missed this before! Thanks for your support. I’m glad you enjoyed it so much!
Interesting! I don’t know that I would have the fortitude to do a lot of research, but I appreciate authors who do, and who can find fun links between actual personages and fictional ones. It’s a shame that the end notes weren’t published. I know I like reading them.
Thanks, Rose!
I don’t know if I’d have the interest to keep going on something more biographical. Honestly, even as a reader I don’t typically read historical fiction about iconic figures. I prefer the setting to be historic and the characters to be original, I suppose. Give me two made up people trying to journey across the Atlantic during the Napoleonic wars over a fictionalized novel of Napoleon, any day! Good luck!
You all have given me much to think about in regards to end notes in the future!
That was fascinating, Rose! I love how your background research on Lady C led to her story.
Thanks! Good luck in the giveaway!
I *love* end-notes! Besides, if the author has done a lot of research, I want to know about it so I can learn.
Those dates are very interesting, and I like the way your imagination flows. If Lady Catherine was born less than 40 weeks after her parents’ wedding, I can definitely see her wanting to marry off her daughter respectably. Hmm, perhaps Anne wasn’t “good enough” to marry the Viscount or the Colonel?
LOL! You’ve stumbled on one of my other thoughts. I usually interpret Colonel Fitzwilliam’s immediate family as kind. I like the idea that some of Darcy’s concerns about his family’s reactions are unfounded as Elizabeth also worried about her family’s. But, this thought has crossed my mind as well. Good luck!
I love that Jane’s characters are so real, back stories can be imagined!
There are times I have to remind myself they don’t actually exist!
A special agent working for Darcy? That little nugget itself intrigues me!
Ah caught that did you? It’s not as exciting as it may sound, although one day I’d love to see a P&P Regency spy story. I don’t know that I could write it, but I’d love to read it!
So interesting. Thanks for sharing a portiin of hour research.
Thanks! Good luck!
I’m in the U.S. so I’d prefer the paperback if I win (Kindle edition okay as second choice). I just looked at the excerpt on Amazon. I wanted to laugh at the part where Darcy fell on Elizabeth’s lap! Looks like a good book.
I wish I could sustain the humor like that all the way through! I do think the emotion in the book is good though, even when it’s not always funny. Good luck!
Thank you so much for sharing about your research on Meredith’s blog. I love the historical notes an author shares at the end of their books. And I have ‘googled’ many a subject from a a historical fiction I’ve read, but the notes an author adds seem more personal. Based on the replies here, I believe you have your votes to present to your publisher for the next book. I do not understand the New York Times writer stating that endnotes should be eliminated from future historical fiction works. Sounds suspiciously like a money problem. Or if I really became suspicious I might believe it was based on disrespect for the genre.
I’ve enjoyed reading another of your books and really look forward to reading ‘No Cause to Repine.’ I will look to your website too, for further info. The very best of luck, Ms Fairbanks.
Well, it’s a fairly easy choice since I self-publish. I only have to convince myself! On my side of it I can understand. I’m not really giving a lot of contextual history like “I consulted these 5 conduct books and that’s why the characters do A-Z.” Instead, I’m saying “here’s something that inspired my imagination based on real people!” So, it’s not really “research.” I mean, some people could imagine that all on their own, I’m sure. My other notes did explain the historical contexts of the Embargo Act, the War of 1812 and the Banking Restriction Act etc. But they don’t play a critical role. My next one does make references to literature that may be necessary to keep the notes. I’ll think about it in the next few weeks. Thanks for your comments and good luck in the giveaway!
That is some very interesting history. I love seeing a character better explained by things that have happened to them. Even the bad guy or lady in this instance has a reason she is the way she is. I like seeing their motivation. Look forward to reading this one.
Thanks! I like knowing back stories too. I don’t know what inspired Jane Austen’s Lady Catherine, but this was fun inspiration for mine. Good luck!
This is very interesting. I really admire all the effort and time you put in these books. I only wish I had a bigger budget to buy them all. Good luck with it!
Thanks! Good luck with the giveaway!
Those historical discoveries are fascinating! Thanks for sharing, and for the giveaway!
Aw, you guys have given me a lot of warm fuzzies for JAFF all over again. The first one I read was full of historical information, less event contexts and more daily life, but I loved it. Not everyone does that, which is totally fine, but I did worry that no one would be interested in my tid bits. I’m glad I was wrong! Good luck, Laura.
Please don’t enter me, I’ve got the book. I just wanted to pop by to say I loved your post! Isn’t it wonderful to be drawn into research and find real-life people that are so close to our favourite characters it’s actually goose-pimple material? Good luck with this release and looking forward to the Sense of Obligation. (I had a peek, an advance notice popped up in my inbox and i LOVE the cover!!!! Superb!)
Thanks, Joana! I’ve always found history fun. I’m glad now I get to share it with yours! This weekend is full with A Sense of Obligation edits!
Oh…the absolutely no sleep last night thing appears to have taken hold! I mean I’m glad now I get to share it with others!
Such an interesting post! I love history and it’s always fascinating to know something more about a time period or person that intrigues me. So thank you, Rose, for sharing your research with us! 🙂 Also thanks for the giveaway. I’m international.
Thanks! Good luck!
I was sure I had commented on this post but I can’t find it so I must not have! Commenting again 🙂
Haha, I know what that’s like! I do all kinds of things in my brain! Good luck!