One of the problems – or, perhaps, the best things – about Gothic Horror is that it does tend to be sad. Usually, there are at least one or two characters who don’t deserve whatever is happening to them, or who have done something which is being punished in a way which does not in any way fit the crime. M.R. James’s writing is perhaps a constant reiteration of the old proverb, “curiosity killed the cat”, but curiosity in itself isn’t a bad thing; while Jonathan Harker in Bram Stoker’s Dracula finds himself in the initial dangerous situation through no fault of his own. Perhaps the saddest story in this anthology is The Lady Who Dances in the Ashes , which was first published by Sley House in Tales of Sley House 2022 . Here is the story of a man who is facing professional and financial ruin as a result of suggesting that mental health patients can be treated in the community rather than institutionalised. He is one of the most sympathetic narrators you will find in the book, but he bad...
It's #HistFicThursdays again, and this week I'm thrilled to be sharing a Q&A post from award winning author, N.L. Holmes, as part of her Coffee Pot Book Club tour. Find out what research drew her into the world of Ancient Egypt, and the enduring appeal this time has for her...
Blurb
When Hani, an Egyptian diplomat under Akhenaten, is sent to investigate the murder of a useful bandit leader in Syria, he encounters corruption, tangled relationships, and yet more murder. His investigation is complicated by the new king’s religious reforms, which have struck Hani’s own family to the core. Hani’s mission is to amass enough evidence for his superiors to prosecute the wrongdoers despite the king’s protection—but not just every superior can be trusted. And maybe not even the king!
Winner of the 2020 Geoffrey Chaucer Award for historical fiction before 1750.
Bird in a Snare is available from Amazon UK - Amazon US - Amazon CA - Amazon AU - Barnes and Noble - Kobo - iBooks - Audio
Did you have a favourite resource for your research?
If so: what was it, and why?
I used so many research materials, I couldn’t point to one favorite. Perhaps you could say that Ancient Egyptian Literature, vol. II, translated by Miriam Lichtheim, was one of my most useful sources, because the titles of all the books are quotes from some piece of ancient literature—the Book of the Dead, a hymn, an aphorism. In the case of Bird in a Snare, the title comes from the Amarna Letters, an archive of diplomatic correspondences. The fictional Hani is a writer of aphorisms, and they’re all real—written by a guy named Ani, so I’ve conflated the two men. I had the advantage of a fair amount of general professional knowledge about this time and place because I had taught a course on Ancient Egypt for years, but there was a lot of refining of specifics, for example, details about a particular profession, that I needed to do. I think the real reason I moved from teaching to writing historical fiction is so I could continue to do research when I retired!
What is it about this time period which inspired you to set you book then?
I knew from my teaching experience that ancient Egypt has a lot of fans, and the period during and after the reign of Akhenaten is a particularly fascinating one. Many people know at least the names of the “heretic pharaoh” and his beautiful wife Nefertiti. The religious, economic and social changes introduced by this king are almost unimaginably disruptive, and I wanted to capture some of that impact on people’s everyday lives as well as on foreign policy. But it’s an interesting moment also for what we don’t know about it. Akhenaten was expunged from the historical record by his successors, so we didn’t even know he existed before the end of the nineteenth century, and we’re only just now starting to reconstruct events of his reign. We don’t even know who the kings are who follow him. Scholars are all over the place in their theories, and the author can thus pick her version of history and embroider at will, as long as she doesn’t transgress any of the facts we actually know for sure.
As historical fiction writers, we tend to imagine ourselves in the time we’re writing.
If you could go back to this time period, what do you imagine yourself doing?
Realistically speaking, I’d probably be a “lady of the house” like most women. But since I’m a working-class kind of gal, I’d like to be some sort of creative artisan like Maya’s mother, a goldsmith. I actually did silver-smithing when I was a teenager! Or maybe a seshet, a female scribe, unusual though that would be. Hani’s daughter Neferet learns to read and write, but she becomes a doctor, and I’m not sure that’s up my alley. The fact is, Egypt was one of the better places to be a woman in antiquity. They had more or less equal rights and could divorce if they found themselves in a bad marriage. Maybe I’d become the head “man” of my village—that really happened sometimes.
Now, let's meet the author:
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N.L. Holmes is the pen name of a professional archaeologist who received her doctorate from Bryn Mawr College. She has excavated in Greece and in Israel and taught ancient history and humanities at the university level for many years. She has always had a passion for books, and in childhood, she and her cousin (also a writer today) used to write stories for fun.
You can follow N.L. Holmes on these links:
Thank you so much for hosting the blog tour for Bird in a Snare.
ReplyDeleteAll the best,
Mary Anne
The Coffee Pot Book Club
You're very welcome!
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