Georgina
Clarke’s heroine Lizzie Hardwick trades her life in a bawdy house to go under
cover in a Drury Lane theatre in her latest 18th century mystery, alive with the sights and sounds of London.
Hi there I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and Georgina talks about why she chose a well-born woman fallen on hard times as the brave and determined protagonist in her historical crime series, and her double life as an ordained priest and novelist.
Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:
The fascination of the 18th centuryThe 'novel in the bottom drawer' syndromeHer double life as novelist and ordained priestThe question that requires an answerHow becoming a mother sparked her creativityThe most important lesson a writer can learn
Where to find Georgina Clarke:
Facebook: https://www.georginaclarkeauthor.com/
Twitter: @clarkegeorgina1
Website: www.georginaclarkeauthor.com
What
follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for
word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.
Jenny: But now, here’s Georgina. . Hello there Georgina and welcome to the show, it’s great to have you with us.
Georgina: It's great to be here.
Jenny: You've had
a strong academic career before turning to writing fiction. And I wonder what
motivated that transition? Was there a Once Upon A Time moment when you thought
to yourself, I just must write fiction or somehow I won't have done what I’m
meant to do? And if so, was there a catalyst for it?
Georgina Clarke - historical mystery author
Georgina: Yes, there is. I've always written, and I've always enjoyed words and language. When I was a child, I invented stories. Of course, as a child, I used to do the illustrations as well, as you do when you're a child. But I think life and adulthood, it's kind of got in the way of the creative writing. But I suppose there was really a catalyst moment for me, about 8 1/2 years ago. I had a son.
I gave birth, and I found giving birth really quite an
extraordinary creative process, so physical, so visceral and unlike anything
cerebral that I've done before. And it really unlocked, for me, that sort of
creative need.
Motherhood led to creative burst
I found myself suddenly full of stories that I wanted to
write. It was really that that got me going. And obviously, you know, trying to
work and have a child. It's not the best time to start trying to write fiction.
But I found that when my son was in bed, at the end of the day, that was the
point when I wanted to sit down and be creative. So, Yes, I think oddly, giving
birth was a fairly major catalyst for me.
Jenny: That's a
lovely story. It's got such a romantic depth about it somehow. So you've now
published two books in the Lizzie Hardwicke series. The first one, Death and
the Harlot, and then the most recent one, The Corpse Played Dead. Your heroine Lizzie is a well-born woman
who's forced by circumstance into prostitution. That's a very challenging place
for a female protagonist to begin. And I wonder, how did Lizzie come about? Not
necessarily Lizzie's backstory, but your deciding about writing Lizzie's story?
Crafting a strong female voice
Georgina: Well, I
wanted to set the novels in the 18th century – the mid -18th century. I've
always been interested in that period. It's not the period that I write about
academically. I'm a late 19th, early 20th century historian, but I've always
been fascinated by the 18th century. And I wanted a strong female voice.
I'm very committed to trying to allow women's voices to be heard
in history and in contemporary society. So, I wanted a strong female
protagonist and I realized if I was writing crime, that I wanted somebody who
could walk in different levels of society. I wanted someone who could mingle
with the well-to-do. Certainly, with wealthy young men, but also who could
literally walk the streets and have credibility walking the streets.
