As I am no longer running my Guest Blog (I don't have the
time to keep it updated) I thought I would invite interesting people to contribute to my Tuesday Talk slot.
The approaching date, May
3rd, is the birth-date of Cecylee Neville, mother of Edward IV and Richard III, Cynthia Haggard,
author of Thwarted Queen offered to write a bit about this fascinating woman...
by Cynthia Haggard
I live in Washington D.C., a
mile from the White House, but my passion for the past was triggered by the fact that I grew up in England, which
is filled with history. I remember trips
to St. Albans and Bath to see Roman ruins, and I remember struggling up various
spiral stairs in castles. Ruined abbeys are also a part of the landscape. So it
was all around me. I used to stand and look at the beautiful English
countryside and imagine people from the past. It was easy to do.
I
was attracted to the Middle Ages because it is presented as a very romantic
period, full of knights and fair ladies. It seems glamorous and very civilized.
It is also interesting that illustrations for Fairy Tales often use the
costumes from the 15th century, the period of Cecylee Neville’s life. So it has a
lot to it that initially, I found very attractive.
I
was inspired to write about Cecylee by watching a BBC program about the princes
in the Tower. The presenter, Tony Robinson, casually mentioned that historian
Michael K. Jones had discovered some evidence that Edward IV of England was
illegitimate. The evidence was that Cecylee’s husband, Richard Duke of York was
not around in July-August 1441 when Edward would have been conceived. (He was
born April 28, 1442). My immediate question was, what on earth did Cecylee say
to her husband, when he returned from his summer campaign of fighting the
French?
I
have four favorite scenes in THWARTED QUEEN. There is the scene where Richard
discovers that Cecylee has been unfaithful. The scene where Cecylee tells her
son Edward IV that she does not support his marriage to Elisabeth Woodville.
Then there are two crowd scenes, the one where Duke Humphrey dishes about the
new queen of England, and how she brought no dowry to her marriage, and the one
where Warwick the Kingmaker tells everyone that the Queen’s son is
illegitimate. I loved these scenes because there was a lot of scope for
conflict.
Warwick held up his hand and waited for silence.
“The king has not acknowledged the child as his son,”
he said slowly. “And furthermore, he never will.”
There was a sudden intake of breath.
“It’s true!” exclaimed a young woman, holding a twig
basket that held a dried up turnip, a withered carrot, and some wilted sprigs
of rosemary. Her high voice sailed over the noises from the crowd. As people
turned to stare, she went bright pink.
“Holy Mary, Mother of Christ!” she exclaimed, blushing
again as she crossed herself.
“Indeed, madam,” said Warwick, stepping down from the
cross, bowing, and offering her one of his cups of ale. “You put it well.” He
turned to the crowd as he remounted the steps of the cross.
“It is very shocking, is it not, that a crowned Queen
of England, a queen anointed by holy oil, would stop at nothing to gain power?
That such a queen, invested in spiritual power by the Archbishop of Canterbury,
would lie to us? That she would stoop so low as to foist her bastard on us?
What does she think we are, good people? Stupid?”
The crowd roared with laughter.
In
addition to Cecylee (who was, of course, my favorite character) I loved writing
about the maids, Audrey and Jenet, because
they were lower-class people whom the aristocrats of the day would typically
ignore. Yet they were the eyes of ears of the Neville family. By that I mean
that Audrey would have known all of Countess Joan's secrets, and Jenet would
know all of Cecylee's, because they saw their ladies several times a day to
bathe them, dress their hair and array them in their finery.
I
became very fond of Richard of York (Cecylee’s husband) and his son Richard of
Gloucester (who later became Richard III). Elisabeth Woodville was always
enjoyable to write about, because she had such an effect on everyone. And I
enjoyed writing about Richard’s sister Isabel.
As
an historical novelist, I have to be both a writer and a researcher. I find
that one feeds the other. If I’m in the middle of writing something and I need
to do a piece of research, I either mark the place in the text with Xs, or I look
it up right away. I often find that research sparks my imagination, so it’s not
a problem for me.
When
I was writing THWARTED QUEEN, I was most influenced by Michael K. Jones THE
PSYCHOLOGY OF BATTLE, which gives a completely different take on the family
dynamics of the Yorks. And Alison Weir’s books, THE WARS OF THE ROSES and THE
PRINCES IN THE TOWER.
I
was brought up in a musical environment, so I’m very particular
about what I listen to when I’m writing. When I was writing Cecylee, I was
either listening to Hildegard of Bingen, or all those Anonymous 4 recordings of
medieval music, sung a cappella by female voices.
When
I work on my novels, I don’t adhere to one set timetable of work. For me, it
really depends on what’s going on. Generally, I work in starts and spurts.
Initially, I write down whatever’s occupying my mind. By the time I get to the
last draft, I’m usually working to a deadline, so in that case I work every
day, sometimes for 6-9 hours.
I
really have to have my place to write. It’s too disorienting otherwise. I don’t
really like working outside my home, I find cafes too distracting. I’m happiest
when I’m in my spot that I’ve designated as my writing place.
When
working on a novel, I do a certain amount of planning, but I’m not one of those
writers who plans everything out, because I just find it too boring if I know
everything that’s going to happen in advance. The magic of writing for me comes
in the process of discovering what’s going to happen to my characters.
When
I start a new novel, I usually have an idea, which I scribble down. Then I may
wait a long time before I actually start writing. During that time, I’ll do a
lot of reading and develop it. At some point, I feel that I have enough head of
steam to start. In that first draft, I just write down whatever’s on my mind. I
find that first draft really hard work. I’m a writer who really enjoys
re-writing.
As
someone who’s had a career in neuro- and cognitive science, I find myself
applying my knowledge to my novels. Cecylee is about how timing is really the
controlling variable in finding one’s suitor. (Richard of York is on a much
slower clock than Blaybourne, who is as fast as the quicksilver Cecylee). In
another novel I’ve just finished, titled AN UNSUITABLE SUITOR, I talk about how
shopping lists of attributes, such as income, or interests don’t work. That
what really works are the ineffable qualities, all that information that comes
in to you literally under your nose, that most people don’t notice. This is
what people mean, I think, when they talk about following the dictates of your
heart.
Helen: Thank you Cynthia - interesting and enjoyable.
For a little extra, Cynthia appeared as a guest on my Guest Blog
all Cynthia's books are available online
