Herstory: Writing from the female gaze

Boadicea, John Opie 1807 (Public domain)

History is full of remarkable women:

• Boudica, queen of the British Iceni tribe who led an uprising against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire
• Livia, whose background, strength of will and character made her the perfect partner for Augustus the first Roman emperor
• Violette Szabo, Resistance operative in German occupied France a true story immortalised in Carve her Name with Pride – courageous, understated, self-sacrificing
• Elizabeth I, who refused every marriage alliance as she declared herself married to her kingdom and ‘makes herself feared by Spain, by France, by the Empire, by all.’ (Pope Sixtus V).
• Mary Wollstoncraft who against all convention called for the equality of men and women in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

But these women shouldn’t be called remarkable; they should be noted as exceptional human beings, their gender ignored. But without doubt, they had to be tough, persistent and gifted. But for the average woman, her actions were often jotted down as a footnote, noted as unimportant or even omitted from the historical record by official sources. Their lives, the information that has come down to us, and much of the interpretation of them and their times has been through the eyes and work of mostly male historians. This has changed in recent years and is still changing as old sources are re-interpreted, new information is discovered and new, more ‘herstory’ approaches are used.

So how do you write a strong historical heroine today?
Readers need to see where a heroine came from, what turned her from an ordinary girl into the book’s heroine. Often she passes through a formative traumatic event but writers need to give hints about resilience, integrity and an ability to develop confidence as well as physical abilities. Undoubtedly, a strong female character has to have an equally strong will and a passion to drive through what she believes in.

In my first alternate history thriller, INCEPTIO, Carina starts off as an office worker, but we see from the first page that she’s prepared to stand her ground against people doing wrong. Within the first chapters we know she goes to the gym, we’re with her when she jogs in the park; she’s outdoorsy and sporty. Her disrupted childhood with a barren and loveless adolescence has made her learn to protect herself emotionally, and question everything. She demonstrates signs of mental and physical toughness and resilience, even when living in a ‘normal’ existence, to the level of not feeling completely at ease in her own skin. So when she becomes an undercover operative in a tough Roman society, she already has many of the latent characteristics required.

Beware of bunny rabbits and kittens…
The second challenge is not falling into the trap of making a strong character have moments of unbelievable weakness. Doubt, a temper, love for music, joking with other characters, buying gifts for friends round out a character, but writers must not go too far into fluffy-bunny-land and over-compensate for the toughness. That risks slotting her back into the ‘caring soft female’ stereotype.

Under pressure, a strong heroine often feels aggressive towards people who wish to hurt her family, friends or peers, but it’s her way of showing she cares. Other times she finds everything too much and we see tears and fears. But a habit of picking herself up and facing up to what has to be done is often not depicted as a normal female attribute in stories.

Courage doesn’t come from ‘boldly going’, but from ‘boldly going’ when you are half scared to death and not at all sure you’re going to get out of the situation without being injured or killed.

The Bechdel test
Now, the cliché of tough male hero leading the action and loyal, supportive heroine tagging along or carrying out secondary tasks is being challenged, albeit slowly. The Bechdel test, developed further since its origin in 1985, asks whether a work of fiction features at least two named women who talk to each other about something other than a man. Although there are excellent examples such as Elizabeth Chadwick’s Lady of the English, many contemporary works fail this basic test of gender bias.

So in an age still stumbling towards equality, it’s a good test to apply to one’s own writing and reading. Are the women instrumental in pushing the story forward? Do they make decisions at the critical points in a novel? But historical writing should always be in context; societal dynamics of history cannot be altered by parachuting in a 21st century feisty young miss against the norms of the period and locality even when writing in subgenres such as historical fantasy or alternative history.

Writing then and now
Writers write in the context of their own societal mores; we can’t help it, that’s what we are immersed

Livia Drusilla (Author photo)

in from babyhood. I remember the rather twee Ladybird history books of the 1960s; by today’s standards condescending, sexist and paternalistic, but at the time perfectly normal. Writing the same children’s history books now a historian would, I hope, take a startlingly different point of view. Today we still can’t have feisty Roman empresses ruling openly, but we can explore the sources containing information about them and their influences with a more open mind-set. Berenice, the queen of Judea and Livia Drusilla, the wife of Augustus, would be splendid examples of women of power to investigate.

In our modern historic fiction, we can transfer this openness into our stories and make connections between women characters unknown from the sources. Women acting together can become agents in the plot rather than the token ‘love interest’ or mother/daughter/sister of the male protagonist.

An egalitarian example
In my alternate history thrillers, I’ve taken this much further and developed a society descended from fourth century Roman dissidents where women rule, but men are not disadvantaged. You can read the whole story here, but Roma Nova’s first few hundred years were unstable and dangerous so daughters as well as sons had to put on armour and carry weapons to defend their homeland and their way of life. Fighting danger side-by-side with brothers and fathers reinforced women’s status and roles. And they never allowed the incursion of monotheistic paternalistic religions. So it’s reasonably logical that in this context women developed leadership roles in all parts of Roma Novan life over the following centuries.

In the present day, my female protagonist’s story in INCEPTIO begins in a standard Western society. When she is compelled to flee to her dead mother’s homeland in Europe, Roma Nova, she finds the Roman-infused culture unnerving, but in a strange way liberating. Other strong female characters surround her; her grandmother, cousin, female colleagues and friends all drive the action. The ‘love interest’ is male and an integral part of the story, unlike many female love interests in standard historical thrillers. And I pursue this female hero/male love interest through the second trilogy starting in the 1960s.

Holding an alternate historical mirror up to the standard timeline produces very interesting reflections. As I write, I try to ensure that my heroine and other ‘active women’ are driving the story, but sometimes when I read through what I’ve written I see I may have fallen into the cliché hero/heroine placements.  I then switch the gender of the speakers in the dialogue and/or the actors in the scene. I give this the rather grand name of ‘gender mirroring’; this technique clarifies the roles wonderfully.

The natural view of women’s and men’s status and roles in my imaginary Roma Nova is not oriented around how people see things in most of the rest of the world – the often unconscious ‘male gaze’. In Roma Nova, men are not disadvantaged – they are just equal. Not only does this make throw up delicious conflict when my characters interact with nationals from other countries, it piques the reader’s interest and starts them thinking about the gender roles in our real timeline. Of course, it’s an optimistic view, but as we see in Roma Nova, perfectly possible.

And historical fiction now?
When we read older historical fiction, it can seem very outdated in its gender attitudes, even our very favourite titles from childhood and early adulthood. Today, fiction explores a wider variety of possibilities and points of view. With writers like Philippa Gregory, Elizabeth Chadwick, Diana Gabaldon and Tracy Chevalier (and the writers contributing to this blog!) we see women portrayed as agents and influencers and their impact on lives and events in the past.

Making women as present as men in historical events and stories should be the norm whether the writer is female or male. But even now, the idea of women writing fiction in niche historical fiction areas or areas that have been seen as traditionally male still persists.  Last year a prominent book programme presenter stated on air that there were no women writing alternative history fiction. She was quickly disabused as was the featured academic. After we discussed it, my writing friend Shannon Selin blogged about it in no uncertain terms.

While it isn’t possible for every female historical protagonist to be a tough heroine, writers are bringing forward more positive and active representations of women as courageous, decision-making and resilient. And stories of known events, but from a female point of view, the "female gaze", are filling the real and virtual bookshelves.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Alison's latest Roma Nova thriller

‘The second fall of Rome?’
Aurelia Mitela, ex-Praetorian and imperial councillor in early 1980s Roma Nova, scoffs at her intelligence chief when he throws a red file on her desk. But it may be too late to save Roma Nova from meltdown and herself from destruction by her lifelong enemy.…

Early 1980s Roma Nova, the last province of the Roman Empire that has survived into the twentieth century, has problems – a ruler frightened of governing, a centuries-old bureaucracy creaking for reform and, worst of all, a rising nationalist movement with a charismatic leader who wants to destroy Aurelia.

Horrified when her daughter is brutally attacked in a demonstration turned riot, Aurelia tries to rally resistance to the growing fear and instability. But it may already be too late to save Roma Nova from meltdown and herself from entrapment and destruction by her lifelong enemy.…

Available as
- eBook from Amazon,  iBooks,  Kobo,  B&N Nook
- paperback, author signed paperback and from other retailers

Historical Novel Society indie Editor’s Choice Spring 2016
Editor's Choice, Historical Novel Society, Autumn 2016
B.R.A.G. Medallion, October 2016  
Chill With a Book Award Book of the Month February 2017

--------------------------------------------------------------

Alison Morton is the author of the acclaimed Roma Nova thrillers INCEPTIO, PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO, AURELIA and INSURRECTIO.

Connect with Alison on her Roma Nova site: http://alison-morton.com
Facebook author page  https://www.facebook.com/AlisonMortonAuthor
Twitter https://twitter.com/alison_morton @alison-morton
Goodreads  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5783095.Alison_Morton

Women: The Historical Romance Heroine

By Anna C. Bowling

1. Ringside seats at historical events.
2. Comes with great wardrobe.
3. Endless career opportunities, from scullery maid to queen. Possibly both in same lifetime.
4. If in a series, potential for second career as wise matriarch to sisters, daughters and granddaughters to come.
5. If in a standalone, knowledge that you truly are the most amazing woman in the entire world.
6. Resourcefulness--whether finding creative solutions to relatives' debts, defending a castle or thwarting enemy spies, you'll carry it off with aplomb.
7. Potential for being oneself carried off with aplomb by alpha hero.
8. Potential for carrying off alpha hero.
9. Better than average health thanks to or in spite of state of the art medical care of your era.
10.Never at a loss for words, since your dialogue is provided by some of the best minds in the business.
11. Resiliency--kidnapped by pirates? Enduring the Depression? Caught in the middle of an uprising? Down with what looks like the Plague? Don't worry; you'll bounce back.
12. A hero worthy of you.
13. Guaranteed happily ever after.

Kicking the Heroin(e) Habit

Since we're taking time off this month to revamp the website, here's a classic post from the fantabulous Zoe Archer.

Last month, I posed the question regarding heroes in unusual historicals, and now, in the interest of equality, I'd like to turn the discussion to the other critical element in a romance: the heroine.

Specifically, I'd like to open up the discussion regarding heroines in unusual romances. Most European historicals feature heroines from the upper classes, or, at the least, women who operate somewhere within the realm of higher society. They could be penniless relatives or country misses, but, by and large, we're talking about young women born somewhere above the class of tradesmen and laborers. Not to mention the convenience of secret family histories. Even mudlarks somehow wind up being related to dukes.

Some of these women have employment, many do not, though there is a greater trend now to have the heroines with some form of vocation or work. It's usually charitable, helping women, children, the poor or animals. Sometimes, they work in order to support their families. Almost never do we encounter a heroine who actually works for profit, as some heroes do. The governess, thanks to Jane Eyre, is still a popular vocation for heroines, since it gives her a particular, liminal social status that not only allows her access to brooding, handsome aristocratic heroes, but spooky, dark ancestral manors, as well.

What about age?

Heroes generally run to their late 20s to mid 30s, with a few variations, but heroines are generally in their early 20s. This is a marked change from historicals written ten or twenty years ago, where heroines in their teens were more prevalent (and possibly more historically accurate). The age disparity between heroes and heroines is growing smaller and smaller, and some heroines (who aren't even widows) have already had some kind of experience with -- gasp! -- sex.

But this is all as it relates to your more common historical romance. And, dear reader, you are on this blog because you read/write/enjoy unusual historical romances.

With all this in mind, here are some questions for discussion as they relate to unusual historicals:

-- Do you prefer the heroine to have some form of employment? If so, what? What would be historically accurate (bearing in mind that women in the workforce is something that varies greatly depending on time period and location)?

-- What kind of factor does age have for the heroine? Would you find it uncomfortable to read about an Iron Age heroine who is fifteen, and not twenty one? Is there room in unusual historicals for "older" heroines? In what circumstances might this be acceptable, or not? What about the gap in age between the hero and heroine?

-- Are there other factors to consider for heroines in unusual historicals? Race? Class? Sexual experience? Something else?

Zoe Archer
www.zoearcher.com

Herstory -- Women Who Ruled

History often reads a lot like his story -– a list of exploits from the men who came, saw and conquered. It has its fair share of powerful female rulers: Hatshepsut, Cleopatra VII and Elizabeth I. A consistent theme is that most of these women lived in the sway of male influences, until they met tragic, lonely ends. Women have exercised limitless influence in some of the most unexpected places. When most Muslim women were veiled and secluded in harems, three remarkable females made their bid for power.

Razia was the eldest daughter of Sultan Iltutmish, who reigned in Delhi 1210-1236. Educated and with a strong interest in politics, she became her father's regent during his campaigns.

On his deathbed, Iltutmish expressed his wish that Razia would rule in his stead, but this command offended the Indian nobles. Iltutmish insisted. "My sons have given themselves up to wine, women, gambling and the worship of flattery. Government is too heavy for their shoulders to bear. Razia, though a woman, has a man's head and heart and is better than twenty such sons." However Razia's half-brother, supported by the nobles, took the throne.

Six months into the new ruler's reign, Razia appeared before the congregation at Friday prayers and spoke of the excesses of her half-brother. Supported by the masses, Razia ascended the throne of Delhi at the age of 31. During her four-year reign, silver coins issued in her name bore her official title "Jalauddin" but she referred to herself as "lmadatun Niwan", which meant the Great Woman. Razia Sultana dressed like a man and rode an elephant through Delhi with her face unveiled. Rumors about her close relationship with an Ethiopian slave caused her downfall. Her governors rebelled and she was forced to marry. However, one of her brothers usurped the throne. Razia and her husband died in 1240. Her tomb remains is a place of pilgrimage in Delhi.

Shajarat al-Durr, whose name meant "the Tree of Pearls", was a former slave who reigned as Sultan of Egypt for two months. Her warriors drove back the Crusader armies of King Louis IX of France who threatened her country.

In 1250, Shajarat's first husband died after campaigning against the Crusaders. She concealed the Sultan's death for weeks, allowing for the return of her stepson Turan Shah. The new Sultan proved unlikable and within a year, he was assassinated. Shajarat al-Durr was proclaimed Sultan of Egypt. Newly-minted coins bore her name and Friday prayers in the mosques were devoted to her.

Political pressure from the Caliph of Baghdad forced Shajarat to marry again. She wed Aybak, one of the Turkic officers of the army, but made him repudiate his first wife. Together, the couple initiated the Mamluk Dynasty, which was to rule Egypt for nearly 300 years. In her husband's long absences on campaign, Shajarat became de facto ruler of Egypt again. However, Shajarat discovered her husband planned to murder her and take a new wife, so she had him assassinated. Aybak's son suspected her in his father's death. Shajarat al-Durr was tortured and executed. Her mausoleum bears her name and titles.

Kosem was mother of the Ottoman Sultans Murad IV and Ibrahim I. Daughter of a Greek priest, Kosem entered the harem of Sultan Ahmed I and in 1612, bore him their first son, Murad.

When Murad succeeded to the throne at the age of 11, Kosem became the official regent, advising at meetings of the Sultan's ministers from behind a curtain. Murad was a cruel ruler, who murdered his younger brother Bayezid, Kosem's second and favorite son. Murad also ordered the execution of anyone caught smoking or drinking, yet succumbed to cirrhosis of the liver at the age of 27. On his deathbed, he ordered the death of his surviving brother Ibrahim.

Though her third son was mentally unstable, it served Kosem's interests to have Ibrahim inherit the throne. While the incompetent Sultan loitered around the palace feeding coins to fish, urging his agents to purchase furs and fill his harem with the most obese women they could find, Kosem continued to rule. Even after Ibrahim's death in a palace coup in 1648, Kosem refused to surrender the regency to Turhan, the Russian mother of her seven-year old grandson Mehmed IV. In 1651, Kosem began plotting the removal and replacement of the Sultan, but without the support of the army, the conspiracy failed. Kosem was strangled. Three days of official mourning followed her death.

For women who ruled, it seemed as if power and enduring happiness could not co-exist. But while they lived, these women proved they could be as competent, decisive, and cruel when necessary, as their male counterparts.

Posted by Lisa Yarde

Introducing a red sky and purple grass

I knew I was in trouble when my kindergarten teacher told me I could not color the sky red.

"Why?" I asked, staring at my beloved crayon. "Fire engines are red."

That says something about me. Don’t tell me how to create or to write what I know. I find no fun in that. My passion lies in research and understanding something that confused me before. I love finding a tid-bit of information that I never knew, or discovering a part of history that is under-appreciated.

I was thrilled to be invited to a blog devoted to writers of unusual historicals. These authors craft true labors of love. We write stories requiring a bit more research and time than most. I bet I am not the only one who runs with scissors around here…

My back story? I work for a small museum devoted to birds and the art of bird carving. There, I teach environmental education. I am also a ranger for the National Park Service. I married the man I loved since I was twelve and just had my first child. (Abigail Sage--8 months and the next Pulitzer winner.) Natural childbirth is far less painful than writing a novel...

My historical, Adelrune, is set in 1866 Austria during the brink of the Seven Weeks War. I blame a lot of it on the research for my trilogy (which continues a work of classic literature). While working on that I was slowly crafting the idea of a heroine whose emotions are expressed through music. I chose the musical theme because I used it extensively in my trilogy. I was comfortable with adding those aspects to my writing. For years I had an image in my mind of Adelrune, but I was too intimidated to place her in any of my novels. Exactly where do I use a heroine who by today’s standards would be viewed as having Asperger Syndrome?

I did not set out to design Adelrune as autistic. Some time ago a stranger read some of my work which included this character. I was asked why I created an autistic heroine. I scowled. Autistic? I thought she just viewed the world locked in her fantastic imagination. Much like I did. When I heard an interview on NPR with Dr. Temple Grandin, unarguably one of the most accomplished and noted adults with autism, I was left stunned. The way Dr. Grandin described her visual means of thinking, (by doing so in pictures) was precisely the way I had always envision Adelrune, except her world is perceived in music. Temple Grandin mentioned in this interview that she would not understand the phrase 'My neighbor did something nice for me today' until an image rose in her mind of a man holding out a bouquet of flowers. I nearly fainted. How could I have crafted a heroine so similar to this without ever knowing a thing about autism and visual thought? For example my heroine is asked at one point what loneliness is. Her reply: Schubert. Pianoforte Trio No. 2 in E Flat Major D 929 Opus 100. Second moment... the cellos... those hauntingly unhappy cellos...

Adelrune had Aspergers. Now I had an explanation for why she seemed so unique. I was never able to put my finger on it, but it made perfect sense.

But I didn't know a thing about autism and I was not a contemporary writer. I write historicals and autism is a modern doctrine. Dare I write her this way? Obviously the frame work was already there. How it got there I can never explain. Where can I set it so her genius could shine? How can I create an historical romance with such a character? At the time I was reading a book by Alan Palmer: Twilight of the Habsburgs: The Life and Times of Emperor Francis-Joseph. I came across a passage about a mentally disabled member of the family who lived in the secluded rooms of the Schönbrunn palace.

I think my brain exploded.

My heroine is by no means mentally disabled, but she would have been viewed as such in the mid 19th century. She would have to be convincing to be believed as a high functioning autistic. I would need one hell of a dynamic hero to play off of her. But who would he be? My gaze kept sliding to Palmer's book. The Habsburgs had a rich, romantic and tragic history. The Habsburg family was plagued with illness and mental disorders. There is something romantic about Austria and the Alps. Vienna was one of the centers of musical culture. Not to mention there is a certain husky allure to the music of the German language...

The rest as they say is history. Research for this book is constantly on going: Aspergers and its role in relationships and social settings, music and music theory, composers of the 19th century, and the history of the Habsburg Empire. I am not an expert in any of these fields. Like many I am simply a writer with a gift of crafting a story. Looking back to kindergarten I realize that my comment regarding the sky could be viewed today as having autistic traits. I liked the color red. I liked fire engines. So in my mind, if I liked red then the sky could be red. Why couldn’t it? It was not logical to me that the sky could not be red because it was in reality blue.

Prior to World War II, and even more so in the mid 19th century, Austrian children with severe handicaps spent most of their time in clinics or asylums. The sentence, the life, was hellish. It was Hans Asperger, a Viennese doctor, who reformed these children and made the world take notice of their unique views of the world. It was he who first suggested that everyone is a little autistic, a little 'Aspergerish' and the line that separates the normal or neuro-typical people from those with Asperger Syndrome is a little more than a line drawn in the sand. I keep that in mind as I write this book.

My trilogy is also out of the norm, and I will mention it only briefly. If done correctly, expanding upon a work of classic literature it is met with great success: Brooks’ March, Rhys’ The Wild Saragasso Sea, Berdoll’s Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife and Susan Kay’s Phantom. To market such a book a writer must be an authority in their genre and understand the focus group embracing the original storyline. As a child I loved Poe, Stoker, and Leroux. And it was my love of the brilliant and mysterious writing of Gaston Leroux that drew me to join the ranks of the authors who dared to continue a well beloved classic. A fascinating and amazing man, Gaston Leroux’s books chronicling his hero, Joseph Routabille, are still viewed today as a standard for all mystery writers to achieve. Leroux’s loves of the macabre and his monstrous villains have fascinated readers for generations.

One does not pick up a pen and write a trilogy continuing Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera without an impending sense of doom. As a writer you are dickering with well established character and readers who fiercely defend their images of those original heroes and heroines. I have met an amazing assortment of people in my journey to craft that trilogy, from the support of best selling authors to experts in the field of gothic literature and Freudian thought. I am amazed at how embraced the idea is so far.

So with that I will ask what makes your heroines unique? In a world where pages leap with heroines who are feisty and independent, what do you consider a sympathetic character trait and how do you ensure the readers care?

Now if you will excuse me, I need to run like hell with my scissors.

Bis später! (see you later)
Jennifer

Kicking the Heroin(e) Habit

Last month, I posed the question regarding heroes in unusual historicals, and now, in the interest of equality, I'd like to turn the discussion to the other critical element in a romance: the heroine.

Specifically, I'd like to open up the discussion regarding heroines in unusual romances. Most European historicals feature heroines from the upper classes, or, at the least, women who operate somewhere within the realm of higher society. They could be penniless relatives or country misses, but, by and large, we're talking about young women born somewhere above the class of tradesmen and laborers. Not to mention the convenience of secret family histories. Even mudlarks somehow wind up being related to dukes.

Some of these women have employment, many do not, though there is a greater trend now to have the heroines with some form of vocation or work. It's usually charitable, helping women, children, the poor or animals. Sometimes, they work in order to support their families. Almost never do we encounter a heroine who actually works for profit, as some heroes do. The governess, thanks to Jane Eyre, is still a popular vocation for heroines, since it gives her a particular, liminal social status that not only allows her access to brooding, handsome aristocratic heroes, but spooky, dark ancestral manors, as well.

What about age?

Heroes generally run to their late 20s to mid 30s, with a few variations, but heroines are generally in their early 20s. This is a marked change from historicals written ten or twenty years ago, where heroines in their teens were more prevalent (and possibly more historically accurate). The age disparity between heroes and heroines is growing smaller and smaller, and some heroines (who aren't even widows) have already had some kind of experience with -- gasp! -- sex.

But this is all as it relates to your more common historical romance. And, dear reader, you are on this blog because you read/write/enjoy unusual historical romances.

With all this in mind, here are some questions for discussion as they relate to unusual historicals:

-- Do you prefer the heroine to have some form of employment? If so, what? What would be historically accurate (bearing in mind that women in the workforce is something that varies greatly depending on time period and location)?

-- What kind of factor does age have for the heroine? Would you find it uncomfortable to read about an Iron Age heroine who is fifteen, and not twenty one? Is there room in unusual historicals for "older" heroines? In what circumstances might this be acceptable, or not? What about the gap in age between the hero and heroine?

-- Are there other factors to consider for heroines in unusual historicals? Race? Class? Sexual experience? Something else?

I'm looking forward to hearing from you.