Q: I think historical fiction is one of the most difficult genres to write because of the research needed. What sort of research did you do for your Fair Cyprians of London series?
Writing historical fiction comes naturally to me. As a child, I was fascinated by the Victorian Era and remember, at the age of 13, doing a school presentation on the 'London Season in the 1850s and 50s'. I think my classmates thought was a very strange topic to stand up and talk to them about.
As a teenager, I then devoured the English classics, reading them by choice and as part of English literature in high school and university.
So, when researching the Fair Cyprians of London series, I simply wove the fictional story onto the canvas of knowledge that's ingrained in me.
Q: Faith sounds like a fascinating character. Is she entirely a product of your imagination?
I loved writing Faith's story. She's an amalgamation of the 'fallen women' interviewed by nineteenth century journalist Henry Mayhew for his study on vice in his ground-breaking book London's Underworld, first published in 1862. Mayhew was an early social researcher and his book is filled with first-hand interviews with petty thieves, swindlers, and prostitutes.
What's striking about these interviews is that so many of these ruined women were quite pragmatic in their acceptance that that they were destined for hell because they'd been ruined. I never read of an intsance where a girl chose to become a prostitute.
So,
that's what prompted me to write this series. There were so many
terribly sad stories where innocent, credulous young women were
preyed upon and tricked or forced into this line of work. For
example, seemingly trustworthy elderly women offering them a room to
rent or introducing them to a potential employer as a maid before the
girl was forced into prostitution. Today, it would be called slavery
but back then there was very little sympathy from the sanctimious
higher classes who believed these girls were entirely responsible for
their downfall.
Q: Using revenge as a plot device can be tricky. You need to make the desire for revenge believable without making your character seem evil or unlikeable. How do you balance these factors in Keeping Faith?
That was at the crux of the story and a delicate balancing act, yes. But as I mentioned in my previous answer, I was really moved by reading of so many young women who'd been tricked or seduced by the son of a large household then thrown into the street without a 'character'. And with no character reference back then, a woman without family or other backing, no recourse to any kind of social welfare safety net, and with limited education, would be reduced to selling herself on a street corner.
Of course, I write romance with happy ever afters, not gritty historical fiction. And,without making a big deal of it so it would sound like a history lesson, I wanted Keeping Faith - and the other stories in the series - to be a reminder of how every woman back then was born with no independent legal or financial resources (except in unusual instances, usually amongst the upper classes). Until the 1870s, even the money they earned belonged to their husbands, as did their children.
Social attitudes have changed vastly as have the opportunities for women, but writing historical romance needs to be true to the times in which it's set, and it can be a balancing act to provide a story that satisfies a romance reader, emotionally, as well as factually.
So, what resources did Faith have in order to forge a life of freedom after she's been indentured by her 'procuress' or benefactress, Mrs Gedge? Only her own wits that she could ally with her beauty.
I didn't want to make Faith a prostitute so I gave her an unusual backstory where she was being used as a pawn by her benefactress in Mrs Gedge's game of revenge, and kept in a brothel where she'd learn - from a technical point of view - how to entice a man.
I came up with the tag line: "Revenge is sweet...until it breaks your heart. Penniless Faith takes London by storm as the muse of a sensitive artist with a secret" and I wrote the story around that. Faith falls in love with the man she's been commissioned to destroy in order to gain her freedom...so how does she gain her freedom, after all, if she refuses to destroy him?
I wanted the young painter, Crispin, who is a kind, sensitive man, to appeal to Faith's long-hidden soft side as she realises, first, that he doesn't deserve what Mrs Gedge plans for him, and second, that he is exactly the kind of man she needs in her life.
But Faith is in too deep to just be able to run away with him and, after they fall in love, the plot thickens.
So, Faith comes out of it with integrity and as a strong character while Crispin - who initially is under his father's thumb - becomes a true hero.
I hope you like the concept, and the story.
And thank you so much for having me here today.
Q: Using revenge as a plot device can be tricky. You need to make the desire for revenge believable without making your character seem evil or unlikeable. How do you balance these factors in Keeping Faith?
That was at the crux of the story and a delicate balancing act, yes. But as I mentioned in my previous answer, I was really moved by reading of so many young women who'd been tricked or seduced by the son of a large household then thrown into the street without a 'character'. And with no character reference back then, a woman without family or other backing, no recourse to any kind of social welfare safety net, and with limited education, would be reduced to selling herself on a street corner.
Of course, I write romance with happy ever afters, not gritty historical fiction. And,without making a big deal of it so it would sound like a history lesson, I wanted Keeping Faith - and the other stories in the series - to be a reminder of how every woman back then was born with no independent legal or financial resources (except in unusual instances, usually amongst the upper classes). Until the 1870s, even the money they earned belonged to their husbands, as did their children.
Social attitudes have changed vastly as have the opportunities for women, but writing historical romance needs to be true to the times in which it's set, and it can be a balancing act to provide a story that satisfies a romance reader, emotionally, as well as factually.
So, what resources did Faith have in order to forge a life of freedom after she's been indentured by her 'procuress' or benefactress, Mrs Gedge? Only her own wits that she could ally with her beauty.
I didn't want to make Faith a prostitute so I gave her an unusual backstory where she was being used as a pawn by her benefactress in Mrs Gedge's game of revenge, and kept in a brothel where she'd learn - from a technical point of view - how to entice a man.
I came up with the tag line: "Revenge is sweet...until it breaks your heart. Penniless Faith takes London by storm as the muse of a sensitive artist with a secret" and I wrote the story around that. Faith falls in love with the man she's been commissioned to destroy in order to gain her freedom...so how does she gain her freedom, after all, if she refuses to destroy him?
I wanted the young painter, Crispin, who is a kind, sensitive man, to appeal to Faith's long-hidden soft side as she realises, first, that he doesn't deserve what Mrs Gedge plans for him, and second, that he is exactly the kind of man she needs in her life.
But Faith is in too deep to just be able to run away with him and, after they fall in love, the plot thickens.
So, Faith comes out of it with integrity and as a strong character while Crispin - who initially is under his father's thumb - becomes a true hero.
I hope you like the concept, and the story.
And thank you so much for having me here today.
Keeping Faith
Fair
Cyprians of London Series (Book 3)
By
Beverley Oakley
Beverley
has a print copy of Her
Gilded Prison
to giveaway during the tour. Please use the Rafflecopter below to
enter. Remember you may enter every day for your chance to win a
print copy of Her
Gilded Prison.
You may find the tour locations here.
About
Keeping Faith
"My
beautiful Revenge."
Four
years ago, Faith’s mysterious benefactress falsely accused her of
stealing and deposited her in Madame Chambon’s exclusive brothel.
There,
Faith was to learn how to entrance London’s noble gentlemen with
her learning in philosophy, politics and art.
Her
body was to be saved for the greatest enticement of all: revenge.
Faith
doesn’t care what she has to do. She lives only to fulfil a bargain
that will set her free.
But
when Faith is recruited as the muse of a talented, sensitive painter
whose victory in a prestigious art competition turns them both into
celebrities overnight, she discovers the reasons behind her mission
are very different from what she'd been led to believe.
Now
she is complicit in something dark and dangerous while riches,
adulation and freedom are hers for the taking.
But
what value are these if her heart has become a slave to the man she
is required to destroy?
Keeping
Faith Buy Links:
Amazon
US: https://amzn.to/2Dg70UP
Excerpt
Chapter
One
“What
did you learn last night?”
“A
gentleman must always believe he knows best.”
Confident
that her answer was pleasing, Faith reached across the table to help
herself to a macaroon but a sharp slap across the back of the hand
stopped her progress by the silver teapot.
Her
smile of feigned contrition was rewarded with a raised eyebrow from
Madame Chambon. Not an invitation to partake of a macaroon,
unfortunately. The table laden with eclairs and petit fours in
Madame’s private sitting room was merely for show.
“Greedy
girl, Faith! You can eat at the Dorchester tomorrow and I daresay you
won’t even spare a thought for the other girls who are justified in
being somewhat jealous of your cossetted life.” Madame sniffed as
she patted one of the grizzled, orange curls of her elaborate
coiffure. Faith suspected a squirrel’s pelt had made its
contribution. “I’m sure they wonder every day why you never have
to stir yourself – or anyone else, for that matter – to get your
fine clothes or a roof over your head.” Madame Chambon piled three
macaroons onto her already laden plate before making a sweeping
gesture that encompassed the furnishings of her surprisingly decorous
private sitting room with its gold tasseled green velvet curtains and
flock wallpaper. “What have you told them, Faith? About why you are
here, I mean?”
Faith’s
stomach rumbled as she gazed from the prints of the famous artists
that lined the walls to the fine fare in front of her, ordered from
Fortnum and Mason. These monthly sessions in table manners were
supposed to give Faith the practice she needed to deport herself like
a lady when eating in public. However, under Madame’s guardianship,
Faith never actually got to try the specialties.
“Answer
me, Faith. In all the three years that you’ve been here, you’ve
had to do precisely nothing to justify your existence. Surely the
girls have questioned you? I have my own version of the truth for
them, as you know, but I’d be interested to hear what you have to
say.”
Faith
didn’t answer. She already knew how lucky she was, but Madame was
not ready to drop the subject, despite having just crammed an entire
chocolate éclair into her mouth. Faith just managed to make out the
muffled words, “Every night you lie peacefully in your bed while
the other girls have to earn their livings.”
Lying
peacefully in her bed was not how Faith would describe the
restfulness of her slumber. She was kept awake every night by the
grunts and cries of ecstasy that penetrated the thin walls of her
attic chamber.
Still,
she’d finally learned when it was wise to respond meekly, so she
bowed her head and stared at her neat kid gloves while dreaming of
the delicacies Mrs. Gedge would order for them when Faith really was
dining with her at the Dorchester Hotel the following afternoon. The
Sacher Torte Mrs. Gedge had ummed and aahed over before finally
choosing the baked Alaska from the sweets trolley last month still
haunted her. However, since part of Faith’s tutoring included how
to win over reluctant gentleman ‘and make them wild with wanting’
which is how Madame phrased it, then surely Faith could persuade her
American benefactress to order the Austrian chocolate specialty?
She
was so busy rehearsing her words for tomorrow that she almost missed
Madame’s prophetic and appalling statement.
“Well,
Faith, the time has come for you to start earning your way, now.”
Faith
brought her head up in shock. Was Madame teasing? When it appeared
not, she gripped the table edge as she struggled for composure. For
so long she’d known the reckoning would come. Yes, and with three
years preparing for it, she’d believed she could meet it head-on
with the necessary fortitude.
But
there’d been no warning.
She
began to shake, biting into her bottom lip and clasping her hands in
her lap to try and keep secret the manifestations of her terror from
Madame who’d only be spurred onto gloating and make her suffer even
more.
“Mrs.
Gedge reported last month that she wasn’t entirely happy you were
ready for what she has in store for you when she took you to tea,
Faith.” Madame chewed noisily, unperturbed, it seemed, by the
crumbs that landed on her gaudy vermillion skirts.
Faith
didn’t suggest that Mrs. Gedge’s dissatisfaction was perhaps the
fault of Faith’s tutor – the one sitting in front of her - who
knew nothing about deporting herself as a lady.
With
a dainty gesture using only her forefingers, Madame Chambon raised
her plate and licked at the crumbs that had not been dislodged before
saying, “Fortunately, Lady Vernon is recovered at last from her
long indisposition and has agreed to forget your rudeness to her from
six months ago. In fact, she’ll be here shortly. Yes, she’ll soon
have you passing the scrutiny of the most discerning duchess.”
Madame gobbled down another macaroon with as much finesse as the dogs
Faith’s father used to goad into fighting each other after they’d
fought over the scraps from the scrubbed wooden table at the farm.
Not that there’d been many scraps with ten children to feed.
“Should
we not have waited for Lady Vernon?” Faith suggested, daringly. But
she had to say something to stop herself from launching into a volley
of querulous questions about exactly what form this ‘having to earn
her own way’ might take.
Madame
Chambon pushed aside an untouched plate of bread and butter to reach
for another chocolate éclair and sighed. “There was just so much
food on the table it seemed unnecessary to wait if her ladyship was
going to be late. Ah! And here she is.” Madame’s orange painted
mouth turned up at a knock on the door. “Shoulders back, Faith! And
make sure you don’t talk with your mouth full.”
Since
this was not a danger, Faith supposed there might be some
compensation in having to face her former nemesis who surely must
subscribe to the belief that learning table manners required one
having to eat.
Madame
threw her arms wide in a welcome as the door opened to admit the new
arrival. “Good evening, Lady Vernon. We’re so glad you’ve
recovered from your chest ailment,” she gushed. “A good rest has
done you the world of good. Why, you look ten years younger. Just as
you do every time I see you, in fact. And we’re indeed humbled that
you’ve consented to return.” Madame simpered at the elderly
woman, dressed all in black who looked, Faith thought, even more
wraith-like than usual as she pinned up the veil of her bonnet and
took the seat at the table proffered by Madame who went on, “I’m
sure you’ll feel even better once you’ve heard Faith’s
heartfelt apology.”
Faith
blushed under the scrutiny of the two pairs of expectant, unforgiving
eyes, and glanced longingly at the remaining macaroon.
Yes,
there were times when it was worth being abject. She mightn’t mean
what she said, but if the last three years under Madame Chambon’s
roof had taught her one thing, it was how to sound heartfelt and
sincere when she felt anything but.
“I’m
sorry for my rude comments about…” Faith hesitated. Perhaps it
was best not to stir up old memories. While it must be perfectly
obvious to anyone who met Lady Vernon as to why an earl’s daughter
could remain a spinster into her sixtieth year, it hadn’t been in
anyone’s interest – Faith’s least of all, it turned out – for
Faith to have gone into quite such specific and extensive detail
regarding her thoughts on the likely reasons. “I behaved like a
child, though it’s such a long time ago, now, I can barely remember
what was going through my head at the time. I was only seventeen and,
in those days, prone to losing my temper but now I’m eighteen and,
thanks to all your efforts in teaching me how to act like a lady,
Lady Vernon, I’m so far from the rude and impulsive young thing I
was before, you’d not recognise me today. Thanks to your thorough
tutelage, I am determined that I will never speak out of turn, to
you, or anyone. Indeed, I have changed! I truly believe that,
confronted by a table of delicacies like this, for example, I would
certainly not embarrass you or Mrs. Gedge or any lovely young man or
his mother who might take me out to tea by any show of greediness or
lack of restraint.”
Lady
Vernon’s eyes remained fixed firmly on Faith for the duration of
this speech with no indication of how forgiving or otherwise she
might prove to be.
After
a long silence, she spoke. “Restraint?” She sniffed. “Restraint
is the most important requirement of any young lady, Faith. I’ve
told you this many times, so I’m glad it’s a lesson you claim to
have finally learned.”
With
her eyes fixed on Faith, she reached towards the remaining macaroon
that sat lonely on its plate just in front of them both, her
long-fingered hand hovering just above. “Please pass that to me,
Faith. I can’t seem to reach it.”
Wordlessly,
Faith complied, schooling her features into impassivity while she
railed inside, I hate you! I hate you! as she watched Lady Vernon
transport the coconut confection to her thin, bloodless lips.
“Delicious,”
Lady Vernon murmured. “In fact, I believe it is the best macaroon I
have ever tasted? You must surely agree, Faith, since the plate is
now empty.”
She
looked pointedly at the two remaining crumbs that clung to the edge
of the fine china, as if to imply that Faith had eaten the rest. Then
she indicated the plate of bread and butter near Madame Chambon.
“Please eat, Faith. Madame Chambon and I have a leisurely afternoon
at our disposal. She and I will partake of the remaining chocolate
eclairs --” Her pointed chin wobbled slightly, whether from the
suppression of mirth or the swallowing of bile, Faith could only
guess, “while you make good work of the bread and butter with all
the ladylike restraint you’re so anxious to prove.”
Other
Books in the Series:
Saving
Grace
- Amazon Buy Link: https://amzn.to/2z7rVGx
About
Beverley Oakley
Debutantes, widows and the occasional courtesan test society’s boundaries in Beverley Oakley’s wicked, passionate historical romances dripping with scandal, intrigue, and suspense.
Her
Fair Cyprians of London series is about a group of determined and
clever courtesans at a high-class Soho brothel who use their wit and
beauty to avenge past betrayals - and who find lasting love along the
way.
How
can there be a happily ever after? is a question many a reviewer has
asked before admitting to being delighted and satisfied by the
unexpected plot twists and surprise endings – just like in
Beverley’s own life. You can read more on her website.
Beverley's
Social Links:
Website:
http://www.beverleyoakley.com/
Pinterest:
https://au.pinterest.com/beverleyeikli/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/BeverleyOakley
2 comments:
Thanks for a wonderful interview, Beverley! And I love your cover!
Hope the tour, and the book, are hugely successful.
Thank you so much for sharing :)
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