It’s a big week for multi-published author Claire Dunn. On Saturday 20th May she launches her new novel, Wheel of Fortune, a story of love, loyalty and vengeance set during the turbulent years of the Wars of the Roses. It’s the first book in her major new historical fiction series The Tarnished Crown. Fellow author Ruth Leigh caught up with her to ask a few searching questions.
So Claire, why historical fiction? What is it about this particular genre which you love?
What’s not to love when there are ready-made stories waiting to be told? Often the stories that survive down the ages are those that capture the imagination, encompassing the very best - and worst - of humanity. The stories endure – Joan of Arc’s heroism in a masculine age; Alfred the Great overcoming the Viking hordes and many other familiar names and stories. These sparked my interest in history as a very young child. Right from the word go, watching the Wars of the Roses series on a grainy black and white television, it was the people behind the story I found interesting. What someone did was symptomatic of why they did it. And why did they? What made them act the way they did? As ever, motivations are not always clear in the pages of history, but it is my job as a writer to animate those names into real, identifiable individuals and, for that, I want to understand them as people. But it is important that they are represented as fairly and accurately as possible - which can be difficult when there is a lack of information, or what there is has been corrupted over the centuries like an extended game of Chinese Whispers.
What does a typical day in the life of Claire the writer look like?
Typical is not how I could describe any day of mine. Between dogs, the garden and family commitments there is always something happening, but I’m still writing away in my head despite the distractions. Writing takes the form of research, note-taking, plotting, editing, thinking. When I sit down with my laptop so much has preceded the moment when I start to write. And when I begin to write let no one dare interrupt me let alone ask what’s for dinner. I will write - usually in my study - for anything from 4 to 12 hours at a stretch, stopping only for coffee and a quick cuddle with Thegn and Millie, our irrepressible hounds.
What kind of research do you have to do for your books? Do you visit museums? Ancient sites? I love researching! Research forms the backbone of anything I write and I’ve been studying the War of the Roses all my life. It takes me all over the country (and the Continent) to castles, churches, manors and towns, medieval hall houses, tithe barns, cathedrals and guild halls - with some no more than a stump in a field. Understanding the dynamic of place and landscape, and the role they play in the events that shape history, is part of the research I undertake for all my books. Research also takes me to museums to help enrich my knowledge and understanding and feed my stories. From fabrics to armour, and jewellery to simple cooking pots, museums - local and national - are a fantastic repository of past life, as are archives with masses of original documentation. It used to be a slog going to the Public Records Office in London, though. Now, so much has been digitised that research can be done from the comfort of your home, although you can never capture the scent and sound of vellum and parchment through a screen.
I love the way history is made tangible in the form of sculpture in stone or wood and paintings of oil or fresco on the walls of historic houses, in galleries and in the hushed dim interiors of churches. The very fact that some have been the target of religious vandalism tells its own story - and was the catalyst behind The Secret of the Journal series, which I began writing in 2009.
What do you love to read? Anything - as long as it’s beautifully told. Words and how they are used resonate, enthral, capture heart and mind. I enjoy a good mystery, and I like interesting, well-developed characters. Historical fiction is a magnet as long as it is as accurate as possible and faithful to the people and the period.
If you could spend the day with one historical figure, who would it be and why?
It has to be Richard III. Why? We have a lot to discuss!
And finally, who are you publishing this novel with, Claire?
With Resolute Books, which also launches on the same day as my novel. Resolute is an independent consortium of experienced authors, publishing genres as diverse as crime, memoir, Austen fan fiction, Cold War thriller and young adult.
“Wheel of Fortune is the story of two men, one woman, and a lie. Born into a period of intense conflict, all Isobel Fenton wants is to live in peace in her beloved manor of Beaumancote overlooking the river Humber and to tend her garden. But no one remains immune to the ripples created by the fight for the Crown and, caught in the web at the centre of power, Isobel must negotiate extremes of courage and moral ambiguity in her bid to survive.”
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Wheel of Fortune is available to buy on Amazon from 20/05/23 and to order from your local independent bookshop. Please visit Claire’s site or Resolute Books for more details.