Edward
James wrote The Frozen Dream, a book that impressed me
with its plot, characters, writing, and also the research!
Jennifer:
On your blog, you tell about your life and work, and I was much
impressed
to see you'd written about economics and poverty in Europe* -
no
wonder your book about reading with Russia and the Sami rang so true!
Have
you ever been to visit the Sami people? Is it something you'd like to
do?
Edward: I
had a brief contact with the Sami people before writing my book,
on
a voyage up the Norwegian coast on the 'Coastal Express', during
which
I
also visited the Lofoten Islands, Vardo (Wardhouse) and North Cape.
After
writing the book I went to central Finland, where much of the action
was set,
to
learn cross-country ski-ing, like my hero Arthur.
I
also visited a family of reindeer herders and they took me for a hair
raising ride
on
a
reindeer sleigh!
Alas,
I am not so good at time travel as your Ashley.
Since
the 16th century the area inhabited by the Sami has shrunk by about
half,
and
the place where I met the herders has been settled by the Finns since
the 17th
century,
although
I was told there were still some families of Sami descent.
The
Finnish settlers adopted the Sami dress and lifestyle but not their
language or
religion.
Today they follow their herds on skidoos and most have second jobs -
e.g.
lecturing at the local technical college. Nor can the reindeer range
as they did,
thanks
to international frontiers which have divided Lapland. Yes, I
would like to
meet
the real Sami but their Finnish neighbours are extremely hospitable.
Jennifer:
I
liked Arthur, the plucky cabin-boy, and thought his character came
across
just as realistic as Richard, who was a real person! Did you plan for
his
character
to become so
important to the story? What would a sequel be like featuring Arthur
and Kate, I wonder?
Edward: I
was inspired by the real life story of Richard Chamberlaine and
Arthur
was
introduced
to give a voice from the lower deck. However, like Kate,
he
became more real to
me than Richard.
When
Kate and Arthur get together, the intention is that Arthur will run
the
trading
enterprise
and Kate will look after the political side, essential in the
managed
economy of the Tudors. Of course Queen Mary's death will change
all
that and Kate's religion and role under Mary will become a liability.
But
they will find a way around that and the break with Europe will force
England
to find other markets.
Jennifer:
When
you wrote the book, did you have it all plotted out, or did you
write
usinghistory
as a sort of framework and simply advancing, waitng to see
what
would happen?
Edward:
The
plot evolved. I knew Richard would get lost and end up in
Russia
and
that Sir
Hugh would die in the Arctic but the Sami came into the story to
rescue
Arthur and then the whole Sami adventure flowed from there.
Jennifer:
Kate
is an interesting character, it's rare to find a strong, independent
woman
in
historical fiction. Why did you choose to create her?
Edward:
Originally
she was there to be part of the audience in the investors meeting
and
was
just
going to wait until the male adventurers came home. Gradually
she
became
more pro-active.
She starts out as a failed businesswoman looking for a rich
husband
to bail
her out and ends up as a successful businesswoman - thanks to saving
London
for Queen Mary - who can marry whoever she chooses, regardless of
wealth
or
rank.
The
model for Kate is Dorothy Wadham, the founder of my college at
Oxford.
She
was the widow of a rich West Country cloth merchant who decided to
use her
money
to set up an Oxford college. The fact that she was a woman and
a Catholic
(by
then Elizabeth was on the throne) didn't seem to be a problem.
She
petitioned for the charter and was a very hands-on benefactoress,
taking
a firm role in choosing the college Fellows, even though they had to
be male
and
Protestant. Fittingly, her college became (370 years later) the
first mixed college
in
Oxford.
One
agent told me that Kate did not 'reflect the subservient role of
women in
Tudor
society' - nobody told that to Dorothy.
Jennifer:
So
much research went into that book, and there are several pages on
your blog telling about
it. If you write another book, will you set it in the same time
period,
or
does another time
period appeal to you?
Edward: My
second novel, Freedom's
Pilgrim, is
based on another of the stories in
Hakluyt's
Navigations,
published in1589. It is probably the best known story, about
14
year old Miles Philips who was marooned on the coast of Mexico and
spent 17
years
finding
his way home. That was published by Endeavour Press, which has
now
gone
into liquidation, so it is looking for a new home. My third novel,
Beyond
the Big River, is
not finished
yet. It concerns three of Miles' shipmates who
instead
of striking south head off over
the Rio Grande and eventually reach Canada,
through
territory never visited by Europeans.
Jennifer:
Thank
you for answering my questions! I will be looking for your other
books
- let
me know when they are published!
*
Dennett, J., E. James, G. Room and P. Watson (1982), Europe
Against Poverty: the European Poverty Programme 1975-80,
London: Bedford Square Press
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