Be honest, who does not love the stories of Atlantis or Brigadoon or any other disappearing and disappeared world? World mysteries have always fascinated me, wondering what people imagined from these lost communities and - even more so - what they wanted them to be and represent. The Destruction of Ravenser Odd I stumbled across the history of Ravenser Odd entirely by chance. But what a chance! Here was a setting for a story, one which was almost Biblical in its existence and destruction. Unlike Dunwich, which gradually succumbed to the sea, Ravenser Odd was swallowed in a very short space of time, the final straw coming in The Great Drowning of Men on Saint Marcellus' Day 1362. As well as this, the town was in the Humber, an area with which I was very familiar, having lived in Barrow-upon-Humber for ten years and being an alumnus of Hull University. Could there be a better setting for a historical fiction tale which was to be laced with horror? Well, I didn't think so. The
#HistFicThursdays - The Whispering Women (The Delafield & Malloy Investigations) - Trish MacEnulty - Guest Post
Happy #HistFicThursdays! This week, I'm delighted to be welcoming Trish MacEnulty as part of her Coffee Pot Book Club tour for The Whispering Women. Find out about how she researched for the writing of this book, and who she would have starring in a cameo role, in the guest post below! But first - let's meet the book...
Blurb
“Richly drawn characters, the vibrant historical setting, and a suspenseful mystery create a strong current that pulls readers into this delightful novel. But it's the women's issues—as relevant today as they were in the early 1900s—that will linger long after the last page."
-- Donna S. Meredith, The Southern Literary Review
Can two women get the lowdown on high society?
“Two powerless young women must navigate a soul-crushing class system and find the levers of power they wield when they combine their strengths. These women may have been taught to whisper, but when their time comes, they will roar.”
– 5 Star Amazon Review
Louisa Delafield and Ellen Malloy didn’t ask to be thrown together to bring the truth to light. But after Ellen witnesses the death of a fellow servant during an illegal abortion, Louisa, a society columnist, vows to help her find the truth and turn her journalistic talent to a greater purpose.
Together, these unlikely allies battle to get the truth out, and to avenge the wrongful death of a friend.
What will our heroes do when their closest allies and those they trust turn out to be the very forces working to keep their story in the dark? They’ll face an abortionist, a sex trafficking ring, and a corrupt system determined to keep the truth at bay.
“If you like historical fiction and if you like mysteries, this one is for you!”
– 5 Star Amazon Review
Was change possible in 1913?
To find out, read THE WHISPERING WOMEN today!
The Whispering Women is available via this Universal Link
Guest Post
Thanks to Virginia and the team at Crowvus for the chance to talk about my series, Delafield & Malloy Investigations!
I rely on research to build my stories, and I try to make sure every detail is accurate. For example, in Secrets and Spies, my main character, Louisa Delafield, takes her new assistant out to lunch. I had to consider, where would two young women (both of whom were born to wealth but no longer had wealth themselves) go to eat lunch, especially if they had an expense account? I chose the Waldorf-Astoria, and in my research discovered that the maitre d’ for the Waldorf-Astoria was a Swiss immigrant named Oscar Tschirky, who was famous for, among other things, his “Waldorf Salad”! Well, my book isn’t about Oscar or his salad, but I had to at least mention his name.
(Wikicommons)
In my head there’s an imaginary reader who knows all the facts in the world and will double check my references to make sure I’m being accurate. This is not to say that I don’t cheat. Oscar probably didn’t do lunches, but I decided to have him on duty that day because surely he was there at lunch once in a while.
Some information isn’t easy to find. For example, in The Whispering Women, I have Louisa leaving the Grand Central Terminal grand opening around two in the morning. Louisa was having financial difficulties at the time so she couldn’t afford a taxi, but could she have taken the I.R.T. (Interborough Rapid Transit)? After all, it was only a nickel.
For the life of me I couldn’t find out if the subways ran all night in 1913. So the next time I went to New York on a research trip, I visited the New York Transportation Museum — which I loved, by the way!! There I met a wonderful woman named Kate who worked for the museum and who found the information for me. Yes, the subways did run all night. Of course, they hadn’t yet built the subway lines to Grand Central Station so my character would have taken a different line. Then Kate read a draft of my book for me and gave me tips about the various subway and elevated trains that my characters might have taken.
Some research just must be done in person! In The Burning Bride, Louisa goes to St. Augustine, Florida, to cover a wedding and also to get out of New York, where someone seems intent on killing her. Well, you can’t go to St. Augustine and not encounter an alligator. So I took a quick trip to the Alligator Farm, a place I had love to visit as a child. But they also have an amazing sanctuary and since a roseate spoonbill turns out to be a significant symbol for Louisa, I was thrilled to get a picture of one perched and posing in a tree.
An optional question that the Crowvus team offered for my guest blog was this: If I had a cameo in my books, who would I be and why? Since I am both Louisa and Ellen, I decided to change the question a bit: Who from my present life makes a cameo appearance in the series? That would be my cat Tumbleweed, who is the ginger cat living with Louisa and her mom and who grows quite fond of Carlotta, the young prostitute who comes to live with Louisa at the end of Secrets and Spies.
Now, let's meet the author:
Trish MacEnulty is a bestselling novelist. In addition to her historical fiction, she has published novels, a short story collection, and a memoir. A former Professor of English, she currently lives in Florida with her husband, two dogs, and one cat. She writes book reviews and feature articles for the Historical Novel Review. She loves reading, writing, walking with her dogs, streaming historical series, cooking, and dancing.
You can follow Trish MacEnulty on these links:
Thank you for hosting Trish MacEnulty today, with such a fascinating post. Much appreciated. xx
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