Research for A GENTLEWOMAN SCHOLAR Part 1

Research. That word frequently incites groaning from the twelve year-old to the college students in our house, while I have a completely opposite reaction. For writers of fiction, research means diving headlong into something we want to learn about. It feels a bit like a treasure hunt and has even been known to incite feelings of giddiness. We never know exactly what we will find, what tidbit of information will speak to us and spark imagination that leads to a scene, a character, or even an entire story. In short, research can be thrilling.

Doing the research for A Gentlewoman Scholar was no exception. I began at the most logical place to plant my brain firmly in the Victorian Era—binge watching all three seasons of VICTORIA. Sometimes being a writer is hard work (utterly delightful) when one must do difficult things like spending days watching an excellent show, reading extraordinary works, or even wandering the halls of the Fashion Museum in Bath. Little wonder so many authors enjoy writing Regency romance. Who doesn’t want to study Jane Austen and watch Collin Firth proclaiming his love? In all seriousness, I do find it very important to jump start my brain into the right time period and location. Before I began writing the HOLIDAY HARBOR series I watched SWEET HOME ALABAMA and read Fannie Flagg novels. When it was time to write this novella, making the switch from the Deep South to Victorian England really did require the three season binge.

The tricky thing about doing research, particularly when reading other authors’ works about similar time periods and locales, is to be certain not to accidentally take anything from their creations (doing this on purpose would be even worse, but all of the authors I know would never want to do anything close to that—we respect each other and the craft too much). My goal when doing research, in addition to grounding myself in the time period and location, is to come away with an overall understanding of the culture, language, and fashions, along with a few special events, places, items etc. that have meaning to my characters and plot and will play an important role in the story.

From my binge of Victoria, I came away with the idea of using the Crystal Palace from the Great Exhibition of 1851 as an important symbol of hope for the heroine Esther. I knew I wanted to write a story about change—the changing world, particularly as it pertained to opportunities for women, the change from poverty to economic stability and uneducated to educated, and the change from distrust and fear to trust and love. The Crystal Palace tied all of that together. The building itself was a marvel of its time, and the things it held within represented the advancements and progress of mankind from all over the world. It was Esther’s last link to her mother, her motivation to keep reading and improve herself, and the dream (of seeing it) that gave her hope.

That the scene where Esther and John’s real breakthrough in their relationship occurs is at the site where the palace once stood was not coincidental either. John was transparent with her. She could see into his heart as clearly as she might have seen through those glass walls, and this was key for her to make the leap from an absolute aversion and distrust of all men to believing there might be a few good ones, and that John might be the best of the best.

Those are the kinds of things research does for you. It’s the beginning of the magical process of writing stories. Tomorrow I’ll share more on the specific research I did for A GENTLEWOMAN SCHOLAR and the delightful journey into the past it was. Until then… Happy reading!