Wednesday, November 30, 2022

Today's bon bon: What's factual in this newest novel of mine, aka GUY IN TUB!

Available now at https://amzn.to/3bc6ri3
🍒Authors of historical romances have a duty, I believe, to make their stories as factual as possible. This is not to say we must make our flights of fancy read like history books! But to take advantage of those records which come to light with increasing frequency, we can create stories that thrill as well as educate.

Here in THE LYON'S SHARE, I was able to convey quite a few bits of reality.

First, our hero was a cavalry officer who was promoted through the ranks by his continued actions in the Napoleonic Wars. 

He had quite a few friends who were wounded or killed. One of those wounded was a friend of his who lost the use of both legs when his horse fell on him.

Because of this the friend was sent home, unable to serve. But he also received a compensation for the loss of use of both legs. The amount was not much. But it did allow the man and his wife to continue to live, but alas, not in any luxury. And because the man gave up his commission, he did not receive any severence pay nor continuing pay for what we would call disability.

Thus, the man's widow did live in poverty. As many other widows did.

Another feature of THE LYON'S SHARE is the detail of the purchase of a special marriage license. These could be purchased from Doctor's Commons in London if the buyer had the fee, and the names and dates of birth of those to be wed. By using a license such as this, couples could be married before noon in any facility including a home and not necessarily a church.
 

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