Review of "The De La Poles of Hull", by Rosemary Horrox

 

I’ve been fascinated by the de la Poles’ history for a long time now. This booklet covers the family’s elevation from obscurity to the wealthiest merchants in England, setting the paving stones for the next generation’s rise to the nobility.

Of the three brothers who started it all, the middle one – William – is the prime mover and main focus of this account. He, like his older brother Richard, was unscrupulous, but they did what they did for their families as much as for themselves.

It’s unfortunate that more info hasn’t survived through the years, but what we do have makes for an interesting read.

It would’ve been a shorter read if the author used the active voice, though like most historians she writes in the passive voice, which is my only criticism.

I’ve also lived in Hull since 2008 – and East Yorkshire all my life – so this added to my interest in the early de la Poles.

Review of "A Rose for Virtue", by Norah Lofts

I liked the opening line not for its content but for the way it makes me feel like I’ve just stepped into a room at the end of someone’s conversation. Starting in the middle of some action – in this case a conversation – is always a good way to hook the reader.

While I like Hortense’s first-person narrative, at times I had to re-read certain sentences to grasp their meaning. It’s a good style overall, but it features an element of confusion. Or maybe that’s just me.

I liked how the story tracks Napoleon’s fall and rise from Hortense’s viewpoint, though this does have drawbacks, namely that many exciting or dramatic events are “told”, not “shown”.

The most dramatic event that Hortense witnesses first-hand is not handled as well as is could’ve been. Without giving anything away, the scene involves two women and a waterfall. It starts of tense and frightening, but ultimately the scene lacks all sense of threat and drama. The consequences are not convincingly portrayed, either. I didn’t feel like I was there. It felt like reading a news report.

This is essentially a story of relationships, be they sexual, platonic, or otherwise. This aspect is what the author is best at. I felt sorry for Hortense being married to such a man as Louis Bonaparte. He’s a paranoid nutcase.

Just as I appreciate the novel’s first line, I equally appreciate the last line. Again, not because of its content, but from a creative writing point of view.

Review of "King Richard's Friend", by Jayne Viney

The brief opening chapter is narrated by Sir Francis Lovell in 1487, two years after King Richard’s death at Bosworth, when Lovell is in hiding after a last attempt to wrest the crown from Henry VII and reclaim the throne for the Yorkist heir, John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln. The remainder of the book is narrated in third person, focusing on events as seen from Francis’s perspective.

In interesting slant to the tale is Francis having serious feelings for Anne Neville, who becomes Queen  after marring Richard III, yet friendship and loyalty prevents Francis from declaring his love.

Whilst in his teens Francis is forced into a marriage with a beautiful yet despicable woman called Anna, though in medieval times this wasn’t too big a deal, as it was common for married couples to have affairs with people more to their tastes.

The author is pro-Richard and endeavours to show him in a good light. She does a good job of this; however, *her* Richard refusing to show his nephews to the populace to prove he hasn’t murdered them “because he was too stubborn” strikes me as very lame. The actual fate of the princes is pretty much brushed aside, being altogether unconvincing, which is a poor effort in an otherwise strong storyline.

Apart from the above, plus the odd minor error – such as Edward V being described as a thirteen-year-old when Richard escorted him to the Tower after Edward IV’s death, when in fact he was twelve – this is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in this period of English history.

Background & Research of "The Marquise of Darkness: A Novel of Madame de Brinvilliers"

I first learned of Marie-Madeleine d’Aubray, Marquise de Brinvilliers, and her story in 2014 when I read Frantz Funck-Brentano’s Princes and Poisoners: Studies of the Court of Louis XIV. I subsequently read other books about her, fiction and non-fiction, and became fascinated by this devious yet charismatic aristocrat.

Come 2019, I felt I knew enough about the marquise to start writing a novel about her. During my research, biographies about her proved contradictory, while many online sources get several facts wrong, or omit important details.

Whilst modern books bring certain taboo facts to light, which were unsuitable for publication centuries ago, the best and most thorough resource I found was a 1912 publication called Madame de Brinvilliers and Her Times, 1630–1676, by Hugh Stokes.

Although Stokes’s biography is old, his work reproduces detailed accounts and official records that helped me structure parts of my novel. The most reliable source, which he quotes extensively from, is a memoir written by someone who met the marquise near the end of her life, namely Abbé Edmé Pirot. Pirot clears up much of the misinformation given in certain modern biographies and on websites.

Below is a quote from Stokes citing Pirot regarding the latter’s impressions of the marquise:

‘She was very clever in finding a way out of a difficulty, and she made up her mind with rapidity. On the other hand, she was frivolous, and had no power of application. She did not like to talk too much about the same subject. She refused to be bored. But she had a complete command over herself, and seldom lost her self-composure. If her features were naturally sweet, when sudden anger seized her, a frightful grimace masked her face.’

Because ‘Marie-Madeleine’ is a bit of a mouthful, I call the marquise ‘Madeleine’ in the novel, which I feel suits her better than just ‘Marie’.

Madeleine and her lover the Chevalier Godin de Sainte-Croix, poison maker, committed numerous atrocities for financial gain, or to settle scores. Of Sainte-Croix's mercenary servants, the most formidable was La Chaussée. Combined, La Chaussée, Sainte-Croix, and Madeleine were a triumvirate of evil.

Sainte-Croix was, according to Stokes, ‘a handsome young officer with a fascinating manner’ who was mixed up in more deadly affairs than those dramatized in The Marquise of Darkness, most of which are vague and would’ve over-complicated my plot.

Regarding La Chaussée, he was, to quote Stokes:

‘a bold, impudent wretch, who swaggered through the streets, fearing no man. He had an amount of clever cunning. Sainte-Croix and the Marquise de Brinvilliers could not possibly have found a more zealous and devoted assistant in their crimes.’

Most characters in The Marquise of Darkness were real people, including many secondary and incidental characters. I elaborate further on this, and more on what’s truth or fiction, in my author’s note.

I’ve used my imagination to fill in certain gaps in Madeleine’s history. All scenes that feature her five children are either invented or based on brief dry facts as little is known about them. With a killer for a mother, and a weak-minded father, their lives must’ve been unstable.

I've used the marquise's portrait for my front cover. Pirot described her as having blue eyes and thick chestnut hair. In the portrait, the marquise's hair is powdered, while her eyes appear too dark to be blue. Why this is the case, I don't know, but I trust Pirot's first-hand account over a 400-year-old portrait.

Regarding a scene where I describe an autopsy, a couple of readers asked me if ‘a malignant humour’ was a mistake; did I mean ‘tumour’, not ‘humour’.

Well, for 2,000 years, starting with Hippocrates, doctors believed the human body consisted of four fluids known as humours: blood, phlegm, yellow bile (aka choler), and black bile (aka melancholy).

So, if someone felt unwell, they were considered ‘out of humour’, meaning the sick person had more of one of the four fluids than the other three. That’s why doctors were always bleeding people. To remove excess blood would, they believed, restore the four humours to an equal level.

Researching and writing this novel was challenging, yet I'm happy with the result. If you don't mind reading a story where the three main characters are villains, and heroes are hard to find, why not give this a try?

The Marquise of Darkness: A Novel of Madame de Brinvilliers was published in June 2021.  

Banish the Blank Page: Dealing with Writer's Block

Writer’s block is essentially a mixture of procrastination and distraction, which leads to lack of new ideas.

The way I get back in the grove is to mull ideas around in my head for a while, otherwise I just sit gaping at a blank page, which is no good for the soul.

Once an idea is in place, I get on and write. Focus is the main thing. To keep going with the smallest of an idea can blossom into something unexpected.

For example, in 2017 I needed to come up with two new short stories for one of my MA creative writing assignments. I was stuck for ideas for a few days until remembering a scene I had in mind for a novel that I ended up not writing.

I thought this would be flash fiction, maybe 300 words max, but the germ of an idea grew, with the two featured characters “taking over”, improving the story. When I needed to stop for the day it had topped 800 words and it still wasn’t finished.

In short, when experiencing writer’s block, I leave the blank page alone, think long and hard, and when the slightest of an idea presents itself, I get on and write and see where it takes me.

The Inspirations Behind, and the Process of, Writing an Alternate History Novel

I’ve been an avid reader of historical fiction for years but felt too daunted to write it myself. I’ve also read a great deal of history books, and have liked to watch history documentaries since childhood, with my foremost interests being in the histories of England and of France.

What first inspired me to attempt writing a historical novel was a ten-part TV series called The White Queen, screened in 2013, which is set during England’s Wars of the Roses. These wars were a succession of battles between the Royal Houses of Lancaster and York that occurred in stages from 1455–87. 

After watching The White Queen, I spent a year visiting websites and reading biographies relating to the Wars of the Roses, along with reading historical novels for inspiration. In 2014, I completed an online course via the University of Leicester entitled “England in the Time of Richard III”. The course featured texts, audio recordings, and videos about the lives of royalty and peasantry alike.

I learned of the course through The Ricard III Society’s website, which is a great resource for people interested in the Wars of the Roses.

The more I read about the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, the more I pondered on how differently events could’ve turned out. In reality, Yorkist King Richard III lost the battle to Lancastrian Henry Tudor, later crowned Henry VII; however, if Richard had listened to several warnings, he might’ve kept his crown, or at least lived to fight another day. For instance, on Richard’s final morning, it was reported that a Spanish mercenary warned him he’d no chance of winning the battle because those he trusted would betray him. 

Richard answered: ‘God forbid that I yield one foot. This day I will perish as king or have the victory.’ 

I wondered what might’ve happened if Richard had acted on this and other warnings. Suppose he changed his mind at the last minute and withdrew – what then? He might’ve still lost but perhaps he could’ve fled and regrouped to fight again. These speculations inspired me to write an alternate history. Although it wouldn’t be history as we know it, it still had to be authentic, which meant lots of research.

Historical novels are also imperative. A writer new to historical fiction needs to know how others in this genre operate. It’s important, however, to learn who’s the most reliable.

The author I most trust is Alison Weir. Her first book, Britain's Royal Families (1989), took twenty-two years to research and write before publication. She mainly writes historical biographies, of which I’ve read several, but she’s also a successful novelist. One of her novels proved to be a major influence for my alternate history.

Weir’s A Dangerous Inheritance (2012) features a twin narrative set in two periods, one being in the 1480s, in which the main character is Richard III’s illegitimate daughter Katherine Plantagenet, who became the Countess of Huntingdon. Also featured are Katherine’s brother Sir John of Gloucester, her husband Sir William Herbert, Earl of Huntingdon, and her cousin Sir John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, who was also Richard III’s named heir. 

After finishing A Dangerous Inheritance in March 2014, I was intrigued by these fictionalised real people and wanted to make them lead characters in my own novel. I checked The Richard III Society’s info on Gloucester and Katherine. Little is known about them, but there’s enough material to create foundations for their characters. With many novels already written from Richard’s perspective, I wanted to focus on his illegitimate children and some of his ardent supporters who – in most novels that I’ve read – are rarely featured, if it all.

In my alternate history White Rose Blossoms, the primary focus is on Gloucester and Katherine, followed by the Earl of Huntingdon. Next are four men who were loyal to Richard III, namely William Catesby, Sir Richard Ratcliffe, Sir Francis Lovell, and Sir Robert Brackenbury. In reality, Ratcliffe and Brackenbury died on Bosworth Field, while Catesby was hanged a few days later. This being an alternate history, of course, means their destinies change with Richard’s.

In 2014, after a year’s worth of reading, I wrote down my initial ideas and beat them into a synopsis, which I subsequently expanded to create a novel outline. I aimed for an adventure story; fast paced but leaving episodes for suspense and contemplation, along with some mild humour where appropriate. Having revised the outline several times I started the novel in November 2014. After writing 22,000 words by March 2015, I broke off to read more biographies and historical fiction.

I didn’t return to this project until October 2016, when I revised the first 500 words several times over to take to a university seminar. This was at the start of my MA in English, which was predominantly made up of creative writing modules. The reaction from my creative writing professor and nine students wasn’t as positive as I’d hoped. The main criticism was of the dialogue, which was considered too archaic. For example, I used expressions like, “I will sally forth.”

One of my fellow students aptly summed up the problem with the dialogue: “Yes, you’re trying to evoke something historical, but using archaic speech is best avoided. It can create a disconnect with modern readers.”

When I later revised the dialogue, it flowed much better in its modernised form. At the time of this class, though, the amount of criticism deterred me, and I didn’t go back to my novel’s opening until our last seminar in December. This time, the response was much more encouraging. Everyone liked the modernised dialogue and the action scenes. The main criticism was that it felt too rushed. For example, our tutor said that in one particular sentence I’d summed up what should’ve been a lengthy paragraph. 

The most positive element of this class was that for the first time in nearly two years I was inspired to continue writing White Rose Blossoms. To begin with, I concentrated on Chapters 1 and 2, which I intended to submit for an assignment called Start of a Novel. These chapters were graded 70%, which gave me confidence to revise three more chapters for my Creative Writing Portfolio, which was my biggest assignment. When this came back graded 75% – which in turn meant I’d passed my MA with a Distinction – I was determined to get on and finish the novel.

Of the two tutors who graded those three chapters, one stated in his comments that: “You brought me into alternative history and made it engaging, and kept my attention through a skillful mixture of threat and setting goals for characters to achieve. The characters were well-individuated, so I could understand and care for them.”

The other tutor at one point stated: “Both action and dialogue are effectively realised in the piece. The pursuit of the fleeing siblings is well-handled, and the numerous fight scenes are very well described, conveying a real sense of drama and detail in the precise and sometimes shocking description, which never becomes repetitive.” 

He finished by stating: “I very much enjoyed reading this piece, and the highest praise I can give for it is that, by the end of Chapter 5*, I was keen and excited to discover more about what will happen to Katherine and John as the narrative develops: I hope that I will have this opportunity in the future.”

*What were Chapters 3, 4, & 5 became 4, 5, & 6, as I subsequently wrote another chapter that was best placed after Chapter 2.

I continued writing in earnest from November 2017. I was lucky enough to have one of my favourite authors offer to read the manuscript the following year, by which time it was on its fifteenth draft. Deborah Swift, author of historical novels set in the 1600s and during World War II, gave me some constructive feedback. Below is an example of what she felt needed improvement:

“When writing crowd scenes or battle scenes always personalise them as much as possible. The reader needs to picture it and ‘another man’ or ‘several of them’ or ‘more soldiers’ or other vague terms don't enable the reader to visualise anything much or make the action fuller. ‘The man with blood in his eyes’ or ‘three huge men in black with their lances pointing straight at him’, although technically fewer people, give the impression of more. So, you could go through your battle/fight scenes and tighten them up a little with more specifics.”

Originally, I felt characters who hardly appear during the novel weren’t worth remarking on. I felt ‘another man’, etc., would suffice; however, I incorporated the above advice into my next draft, adding little details where appropriate. In the subsequent draft to that, I realised how much more effective those small details are.

I was pleased to read these positive comments by Deborah:

“I found it to be extremely well-plotted and an interesting alternative take on the battle for the Tudor throne. I made one or two notes. In the patches where there are no notes, I was too caught up in the action to take them!”

“Katherine's poisoning and how they deal with Huntingdon and her pursuers is exciting and kept me on the edge of my seat.”

“The scene where Katherine's husband visits Nesta is well put together and gripping and I liked her as a character too. In fact, I liked all the female characters and their stories.”

White Rose Blossoms was completed in October 2018 after nineteen drafts. I sent the opening chapters to fifty literary agents between then and May 2019. Frustratingly, nobody wanted to represent it. Some couple made positive remarks, but most stated that it wasn’t “quite right for our list.” In short, I believe the alternate approach was the problem. I see now how this small subgenre must be hard to market. I didn’t realise till after I’d submitted to all those agents that alternate history isn’t a subgenre of historical history, it’s a subgenre of science fiction. Therefore, from an agent’s perspective, it’s hard to know which audience is best to market it for. I noticed when visiting websites that most agents don’t accept science fiction, so that would’ve gone against me without me realising it at the time.

Come late May 2019, I decided to self-publish. It’s disappointing to have to resort to this method, but White Rose Blossoms has been such a labour of love that I’d rather go down this route than leave it buried in a laptop folder.

Below is a bibliography of texts I read or at least referred to during my research. I’ve missed off a few older texts that I found on Project Guttenberg, of which I couldn’t find the publishing details for. 

Historical Fiction Set During the 1400s:

Bowen, M. (1971) Dickon. London: Hodder & Stoughton

Doherty, P. (1997) The Rose Demon. London: Headline Book Publishing

Gregory, P. (2013) The Kingmaker’s Daughter. New York: Touchstone

Gregory, P. (2014) The King’s Curse. New York: Touchstone

Gregory, P. (2011) The Lady of the Rivers. New York: Touchstone

Gregory, P. (2010) The Red Queen. New York: Touchstone

Gregory, P. (2013) The White Princess. New York: Touchstone

Gregory, P. (2009) The White Queen. New York: Touchstone

Iggulden, C. (2015) Bloodline. Milton Keys: Penguin    

Iggulden, C. (2016) Ravenspur: Rise of the Tudors. Milton Keys: Penguin    

Iggulden, C. (2013) Stormbird. Milton Keys: Penguin  

Iggulden, C. (2014) Trinity. Milton Keys: Penguin

Plaidy, J. (1978) The Goldsmith’s Wife, 6th edition. London: Pan Books

Plaidy, J. (1990) The Reluctant Queen. London: MacMillan Publishing Company

Smith, A. E. (2006) A Rose for the Crown. New York: Touchstone

Smith, A. E. (2013) Royal Mistress. New York: Touchstone

Viney, J. (1975) King Richard’s Friend. London: Robert Hale Ltd.

Weir, A. (2012) A Dangerous Inheritance. London: Arrow Books

Non-fiction:

Ashdown-Hill, J. (2013) The Last Days of Richard III and the Fate of His DNA: The Book that Inspired the Dig, 3rd edition. Port Stroud: The History Press

Baldwin, D., Jones, M. & Gregory, P. (2013) The Women of the Cousins' War, 2nd edition. New York: Touchstone

Gravette, C. (1999) Bosworth 1485: The Last Charge of the Plantagenets. Oxford: Osprey Publishing 

Gravette, C. (2001) English Medieval Knight 1400–1500. Oxford: Osprey Publishing

Penn, T. (2012) The Winter King: Henry VII and the Dawn of Tudor England, 2nd edition. Milton Keyes: Penguin

Schama, S. (2009) A History of Britain: At the Edge of the World? 3000 BC–AD 1603, 2nd edition. London: The Bodley Head

Seward, D. (2007) A Brief History of the Wars of the Roses, 2nd edition. London: Robinson

Seward, D. (2010) The Last White Rose: Dynasty, Rebellion and Treason. The Secret Wars Against the Tudors. London: Constable

Skidmore, C. (2010) Bosworth: The Birth of the Tudors. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson

Tierney, T. (1998) Medieval Fashions. Ontario: General Publishing Company Ltd.

Weir, A. (2008) Britain’s Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy, 3rd edition. London: Vintage

Weir, A. (2014) Elizabeth of York: A Tudor Queen and Her World. London: Vintage

Weir, A. (2009) Lancaster & York: The Wars of the Roses, 3rd edition. London: Vintage 

Weir, A. (2008) The Princes in the Tower, 2nd edition. London: Vintage 

Weir, A. (2010) Traitors of the Tower. London: Vintage 

Wise, T. (1996) The Wars of the Roses, 14th edition. London: Osprey

Worsley, L. (2011) If Walls Could Talk: An Intimate History of the Home. London: Faber & Faber

Review of Herbert Hayens's “My Sword’s My Fortune”

 

Set in the early 1650s, Herbert Hayens's My Sword’s My Fortune follows the career of young Albert, who arrives in Paris in search of a lord to pledge himself to. This turns out to be none other than Cardinal Mazarin.

This 1904 publication moves at a fast pace, featuring much conflict and intrigue. It has a lot to offer for historical fiction fans, and it’s a shame to see that – according to Goodreads statistics at least – it’s all but forgotten.

I would’ve rated this five stars if not for three factors, the main one being the amount of “telling” as opposed to “showing”. This is most apparent during battle scenes. For example:

“Turenne fought like an ordinary trooper, and as for Raoul, he outshone himself.”

Why not show how Turrenne fought? Why not give an example of how Raoul outshone himself? This sort of thing in novels always grates on me.

Another factor that spoiled the book somewhat for me was the overuse of adjectives. The two examples below use four adjectives each to describe a girl’s eyes:

“a fair girl with large, dreamy, tender blue eyes,” and “Her eyes were large, black, bright and flashing.”

The multiple adjectives result in clunky sentences, which disrupts the narrative flow. Whenever a new character is introduced, the author throws in a ton of adjectives all at once, rather than filtering them in here and there, or omitting them altogether if they’re not really needed.

Lastly, foreign phrases tend to crop up too often for my liking. “Peste!” is the most frequent one. I guess in means “Damn!” but not being gifted at French, I can't be sure. Other words/phrases like "Per Baccho!" and “Corbleu!” pop up, neither of which make sense to me.

Using foreign language in an English text is a pet hate of mine. It’s arrogant on the author’s part, as they take for granted that because they know what it means, so should the reader. If a reader like me is left in the dark, then I’m locked out of the story, which is the last thing any author should want to be responsible for. Always put the reader first, otherwise why bother?

The only exceptions are, of course, names of characters and of places, plus titles like “Monsieur” or “comtesse”, and phrases that don’t translate well, like “lettre de cachet”.

Apart from the above criticisms, though, I did enjoy this lively tale of musketeers, aristocrats, imposters, and intrigue.

Review of Alison Weir's "The Six Wives of Henry VIII"

 

This exhaustive effort by the author does not prove an exhausting experience for the reader. Not for this one, anyway. Rather, this heavy tome is engaging and informative, filled with details of the lives and deaths of Henry VIII's six queen consorts.

It may seem to many that Catherine Parr, the sixth wife, was the most fortunate of these queens; however, after reading this book it becomes clear that wife number four, Anne of Cleves, had the best life of them all.

It's also interesting to trace how the legendary Tudor monarch developed from a much-beloved sovereign to one of the most feared tyrants in English history.

In short, this is a brilliantly researched book written by a great author.

Review of "Secret Memoirs of Madame la Marquise de Montespan"

 

Madame de Montespan: "What would be the use of memoirs from which sincerity were absent? Whom could they inspire with a desire of reading them?"

This is an episodic account by the marquise. As she points out about a third of the way through, she recalls events as they occur to her, rather than setting matters down in chronological order. Many chapters focus on her contemporaries whilst Madame remains in the background. In some cases she doesn't appear at all. She writes several engaging anecdotes that I didn't know about. The chapters where Madame is more involved are my favourites.

Certain sections are too focused on political events for my tastes, while I found other passages a bit confusing, owing to me not being familiar with what Madame is recollecting.

Everything else, though, ranges from mildly interesting to highly entertaining. I only knew a little about Madame de Montespan, and the image I had of her was deceptive, ruthless, etc. To some extent she does come across that way, but she strikes me as a much better woman than I originally believed her to be. Beforehand, I didn't expect to feel sympathy for her when Louis XIV "tired" of her, but I did.

I like that she didn’t worry about offending anyone, such as the time she gave Madame de Richelieu her opinion of the Princess of Bavaria:

“She is an aggressive personage, whom her hideous face makes one associate naturally with mastiffs; she is surly, like them, and, like them, she exposes herself to the blows of a stick. It makes very little difference to me if she hears from you the portrait I have just made of her; you can tell her, and I shall certainly not give you the lie.”

According to Madame, Louis XIV made this prophetic statement about 100 years before the French Revolution:

“Before men we are seemingly extraordinary beings, greater, more refined, more perfect. The day that people, abandoning this respect and veneration which is the support and mainstay of monarchies—the day that they regard us as their equals—all the prestige of our position will be destroyed.”

In all, these memoirs proved to be a very good read.

Below are three more of Madame de Montespan's quotes that stood out to me: 

“I admire great souls as much as I loathe ingratitude and villainy.”

“The false scruples of hypocrites and libertines will never receive from me aught but disdain and contempt.”

“I really cannot see why the King should have taken such a fancy to this old monk, who was minded to murder a couple of generals in his convent because, forsooth, Judith once slew Holofernes! Judith might have been tempted to do that sort of thing; she was a Jewess. But a Christian monk! I cannot get over it!”

Introduction

This blog is for lovers of history and historical fiction set in England and France. 

Expect book reviews, profiles on historic personages and past events, info and background on my historical novels and future projects, plus the occasional writing tip.

Being an Englishman is probably why I’ve been fascinated by England’s history since my boyhood. My interest in France’s history has steadily grown throughout my life. The more I read of both countries, the more I discovered how they are often linked together, most notably since the Norman Conquest in 1066. 

For England, my main fascination is with the medieval period, so this will be my main focus, though on a wider scope, expect anything from post-Roman to pre-World War One.

For France, I’m more drawn to people and events of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, so don’t be surprised to find posts on the likes of Louis XIV and Madame de Pompadour.