Discussion Topic: The Novelist and History

[clarepayton]

Like her modern heroine Eloise, Lauren has spent more than 6 years working on a graduate degree in English history. What did you think of her historical details? What did you think of her perspective on history?

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[maxcat]

I've read about a third of the book so far and the details, I would say, are quite accurate. Lauren has put a lot of work into making the early 1800's jump out at you and make you feel as though you are there standing next to the characters listening to everything they say and watching what they do.

[clarepayton]

Yes, maxcat, we do find that our author knows how to bring this history alive for us. How does she do that?

It isn't just simply the description of visual details, although that helps. I noticed a lot of descriptions of smells, for example, and an awareness of which smells are associated with certain stations in life, certain places.

What else does she incorporate?

[politikgirl]

I love the fact that these books are written by someone who actually knows history like the back of her hand. Often, a lot of books are written by people who have done some research into the period, but not enough to make it authentic and real for the reader, but Lauren does such a good job of this, in part thanks to her background in history, and probably also because she does her research more than adequately and is a naturally gifted writer. I love how the historical sections of the books come to life - I don't feel like I'm reading someone's idea of what this period would have been like, but instead, what this period was actually like.