I don't write many older characters. I suppose age - as with most things - is relative in fiction. When I began writing The Watcher's Heir (my will-be-finished-one-day high fantasy epic), I was still at school and my hero began the story aged 25, an age I could not imagine ever reaching but an age I thought would still be considered young by many. If I ever manage to finish and edit that story, I'll be extending his - and a few others' - age! Having grown older, I've realised the advantages and the benefits of age. Of course, it's a bit of a disappointment that I'm never asked for ID in the shop anymore, or that people assume I'm my younger sisters' mother(!). But, on the whole, the pros have far outweighed the cons. The biggest con in terms of writing, is that it's difficult not to put an old head on young shoulders. Looking through books - both my own and those written by other people - it is clear just how easy it is to slip into the "ol...
#HistFicThursdays - Try Before You Trust: To All Gentlewomen and Other Maids in Love - Constance Briones - Book Excerpt
Today for #HistFicThursdays, I am delighted to be sharing a book excerpt from Constance Briones' brilliant new book! I'm once again teaming up with The Coffee Pot Book Club to share an excerpt from Try Before You Trust: To All Gentlewomen and Other Maids in Love!
First of all, let's meet the book...
What if Taylor Swift found herself penning songs about love in Elizabethan England when women were required to be chaste, obedient, and silent?
Isabella Whitney, an ambitious and daring eighteen-year-old maidservant turned poet, sets out to do just that. Having risked reputation and virtue by allowing her passions for her employer's aristocratic nephew to get the better of her, Isabella Whitney enters the fray of the pamphlet wars, a scurrilous debate on the merits of women.
She's determined to make her mark by becoming the first woman to write a poem defending women in love, highlighting the deceptive practices of the men who woo them. Her journey to publication is fraught with challenges as she navigates through the male-dominated literary world and the harsh realities of life in sixteenth-century London for a single woman.
Loosely based on the life of Elizabethan poet Isabella Whitney, this is a compelling tale of a young woman's resilience and determination to challenge the status quo and leave her mark in a world that was not ready for her.
You can buy Try Before You Trust is available via this link.
And here's an excerpt to whet your appetite:
“I have a fine collection of books suitable for your training here. Books that will reinforce the virtues of womanhood and housewifery skills. What say you? Are they of interest to you?”
My disappointment caused a surge of resentment to well inside me. Nay, they are not. I have a hunger to read books that are deemed unsuitable for our sex. Do you really believe that women need men to control what we read because of our weak nature? That we will be unduly influenced by romantic tales, leading us astray from the path of virtue? I don’t believe that –no matter how vigorously the church fathers preach it from their pulpits.
Zounds! I wish I had said that. Instead, inculcated by the teachings of my mother and father, I followed proper decorum. “And the reading of scripture is also important, my lady.”
Her smile became more inviting. “How is your hand with the needle, Isabella?”
The needle — how I hated it. Did she expect me to devote the little leisure time I would have to needlework and not read nor write poetry? I didn’t wince but smiled, “Quite competent, my lady.”
Now, let's meet the author:
She first learned about the subject of her debut historical fiction novel, the sixteenth-century English poet Isabella Whitney, while doing research for her thesis on literacy and women in Tudor England. Isabella Whitney's gusty personality to defy the conventions of her day, both in her thinking and actions, impressed Constance enough to imagine that she would make a very engaging literary heroine.
As a writer, Constance is interested in highlighting the little-known stories of women in history. She is a contributing writer to Historical Times, an online magazine. When not writing, she lends her time as an educational docent for her town's historical society.
She contently lives in Connecticut with her husband and Maine coon sibling cats, Thor and Percy.
You can find Constance on these links:
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