What does Ballykissangel have in common with the dirtiest book of the Victorian era? This coincidence I stumbled upon while researching the counterculture of London’s swinging ’60s – that is, the 1860s. What happens offstage, behind the action, in the Victorian novels we know so well? I sought specifics: where did Dorian Gray go that […]
Reliable Libel
When using real people in historical fiction, how far must you be true to them? Or, rather, how wildly may you traduce them? William Sutton ponders a common concern for writers. Do you worry about misrepresenting historical figures? “You faithless writer,” cry my characters, as I attribute to them words and attitudes they would renounce. […]
Lawless and the House of Electricity by William Sutton
The new drawing mistress feels inquisitive eyes upon her as she arrives to take up her post at the House of Roxburgh. Despite the cavalcade of respectable guests at the house, quickwitted ex-street urchin Molly begins to suspect that darker secrets lurk in the gardens. Meanwhile, in London’s East End, a body tumbles from a […]
Clean Minds, Dirty Books
What’s the dirtiest book you’ve ever read? Writers’ research can lead to awkward places. “Oh yes?” says my wife, glimpsing a passage of Walter’s My Secret Life on my screen. “You’re ‘researching’ again, are you?” Private Case, Public Scandal by Peter Fryer was the peculiar tome that pointed me to the explosion in the Victorian […]