The Guild of Salt: historical note.

One of the assigned textbooks during my history degree was David Lowenthal’s The Past is a Foreign Country. The title references a quote:

The past is a foriegn country: they do things differently there.

— The Go-Between by L. P. Hartley:

And that’s the approach I’ve taken to my historical fiction. It’s like travelling to a foreign country, which demands taking the locals seriously, whether you agree with them or not. It’s their country, after all. No one says you have to agree, but as a guest in someone else’s home, you need to at least consider the local’s point of view and show a little empathy for them. And so my characters are religious, despite the fact that I’m not at all. I’ve written them so simply out of respect for the fact the twelfth-century was a religious time.

Naturally, there are compromises. I hope my characters are believably religious, but not so much as to put off a modern reader. In the same vein, I’ve made compromises with the language and anachronisms. I’ve done my best, but I’m sure some have crept in. Isn’t the fact it’s written in modern English and not Anglo-Norman French the greatest anachronism of all? You can read a more thorough discussion of that here. This is — first and foremost — an entertainment, and I want modern readers to enjoy themselves, but at the same time, I want to respect the actual history and not promote “fake news,” which is what I interpret “fake history” to be, especially these days, where nostalgia can pass for history with terrible results.

In reference to the last point, I’ve chosen to write a story centering around completely fictional characters, in the style of the Hornblower novels or Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey / Maturin series, both massive influences. The occasional king or queen does show up, but I try not to put too many words in their mouths. This isn’t just out of respect for the history, it’s also a storytelling preference: I’ve always preferred the stories of ordinary people facing extraordinary events.

In terms of research, I’ve spent years working on it, heavily leveraging both my history degree and the fact that, as a university librarian, I have access to tens of thousands of academic journal articles. I’m working on a select bibliography which I will post shortly, via Zotero. In addition, I’ve consulted with various outdoors types and hunters (there’s no shortage of either where I live in Northern Ontario) in regards to the wilderness aspects, particularly about how to throw off a dog team. The sailing bits were inspired by my years spent sailing with my father. But again, the compromises. I hope my research isn’t too obvious, just something to colour in the background. Exposition is another constant headache for the writer of historical fiction, but again, I’ve done my best, and I hope you enjoy.

— Robin