Tag: Jan Selbourne

History was my favourite school subject and I guess its never left me. It’s fascinating to learn how each era played a part in shaping our world today. Thanks to those scholars and writers with their quills and artists with brushes, we have priceless records of empires and monarchs, exploration of unknown continents, heroes and traitors and medical breakthroughs. The Magna Carta is an excellent example of history with us today.

That puts a big responsibility on authors writing in the historical genre. If we are writing a biography, we must research the facts or be shot out of the water by a history buff. If we write historical fiction, we must research that era to provide an accurate as possible background. We can’t put our characters into the Tudor era, for instance, without portraying that period warts and all. It was colourful, turbulent and brutal.

The Regency period is popular with authors and readers because it was a renaissance of fashion, architecture, literature and music. Beneath the gloss was poverty, a rigid class system, bigotry and ruthless punishments for petty crimes. An Irish ancestor of mine was transported in chains to Van Diemen’s Land penal colony (now Tasmania, Australia). The thirteen-thousand-mile journey, with appalling food and conditions, took over three months. Her crime was stealing fifteen shillings. Granted, it was a lot of money then and the penalty of fifteen years transportation was better than a public hanging.

While writing Perilous Love, I visited the war memorials in Belgium and France. The devastation and brutality inflicted on those countries during World War One is faithfully preserved, and visiting the area helped me portray that terrible time in my book. I walked among the thousands of immaculately kept war graves, with so many bearing the sad inscription, “Known Only to God.” One was particularly poignant. An unknown Australian lay in an unmarked grave for 75 years before he was brought home to rest in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Australian War Memorial.

That made me wonder if it was possible for a soldier to take the identity discs of a fallen comrade who was virtually unrecognisable. In those days, war service records were hand written with basic details of name, marital status, religion, height, colour, weight. I was sure such a thing (exchanging identities) did happen, but I had to do my research. I contacted London’s Imperial War Museum and the Australian War Memorial with that query. Both very kindly replied that yes it was possible, although the chances of being caught were high and the penalty very harsh. Neither would admit it did happen but it was good enough for me to begin writing my third book, The Proposition where one man enlists to avoid prison and another enlists to avoid the money lenders.

Thus, on the bloodied battlefields of France, Harry Connelly collapses beside the corpse of Andrew Conroy. It was a risk. A hanging offence, actually. But it was also Harry’s only hope for a future. Harry swaps identity discs—and falls into more than he ever bargained for! Shortly after his return to London, a letter arrives with a proposition which plunges him into a nightmare of murder, jealousy and greed. To survive he must live this lie without a mistake.

Could I have written both Perilous Love and The Proposition without benefit of visiting the battlefields and museums of World War One, or without writing official organizations? Sure. But the realism which I add to my books would be missing. An historical author owes her readers accuracy and realism, and I do my best to provide both!

Thanks for reading!
Jan

Jan Selbourne was born and educated in Melbourne, Australia and her love of literature and history began as soon as she learned to read and hold a pen. After graduating from a Melbourne Business College her career began in the dusty world of ledgers and accounting, working in Victoria, Queensland and the United Kingdom. On the point of retiring, she changed course to work as secretary of a large NSW historical society. Now retired Jan is enjoying her love of travelling and literature. She has two children, a stray live in cat and lives near Maitland, New South Wales

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