Setting a time: an interview with Laura Parker Castoro

A few months ago, reading Dear Author, I was clued into the 1980's novels of author Laura Parker by a review of one of her Australian-set ones. I have a weakness for historical Australian romances, so I went in search. Alas, my pursuit for that particular series was fruitless, but I brought home Emerald and Sapphire set in 1754 England. It had the typical alpha male, the young heroine, a not-so-secret baby, a dastardly rich guy, and a scathing female rival for the hero's attention. He was, of course, too in love with the heroine to fall for the old flame's trickery, wiles, and easy bed again. There was the old woman, the semi-hooker with a heart of gold, and lots of mud, rain, and perilous weather. It was great and it reminded me of why I fell in love with the romance genre in the first place.

Had I read this in 1983 I would have merely moved on to the next book. I wasn't writing at the time and the questions I have in mind now are different than then. (If I had had any at all.) But now, thanks to the Internet, I can find the author's website and the fact that her career is still going strong. And--drum roll, please--I can find the answers to my question.

Laura Parker Castoro graciously agreed to answer my question about time and setting. Over the coming weeks, I plan to ask other historical authors the same question: Why did you set your novel when you did?

For Ms. Castoro's Emerald and Sapphire, it went like this:

Why 1754 and not half a century one way or the other?

Her answer: ""Emerald and Sapphire" came to be set in the mid 18th century because of the hero, Merlyn. He had a unique physical attribute: one blue eye and one green eye. Now that's eye-catching, all puns intended. But once seen, he wasn't likely to be forgotten. So, I had the character but didn't know how to make his unique appearance part of a story until I decided that he used his eye color to advantage, as a disguise. So far, so good. But there were still a problem.

Meryln was going to become a common jewel thief who wooed and pilfered from aristocratic women! Yet nothing as simple as an eye patch worn in pubic was likely to make him disappear into whichever disguise he'd chosen for the moment. So I thought, 18th century! People wore wigs!

I began researching costumes. I always do a lot of research to make certain my historials are as accurate as possible in their settings and social mores. I own a dozen books on period dress. I discovered that after 1760, many men wore their own hair dressed and powdered to look like a wig. And furthermore, powdering and rouging the face was going out of fashion. Well those were the things that made for a better disguise. I needed my hero, Merlyn, to wear a real wig and powder and rouge his face as an aristocrat would before 1760. So, story had to be before 1760.

A little social history research gave me the other elements I needed to make the story believable.

-- Before the French Revolution, a commoner couldn't even dare look into the face of an aristocrat, let alone speak to one without being addressed directly by the aristocrat first. So no commoner friend of Merlyn's was ever likely to recognize him in his aristocratic disguise. And no aristocrat would ever waste his/her time staring at a commoner, no matter how attractive. So, Merlyn's relatively safe from crossover connections.

-- When playing an aristocrat, Merlyn wore a gray powdered wig and a black silk (expensive) eye patch over his green eye, making him a blue-eyed man. As himself, he wore his own black hair unpowdered and a rough brown leather eye patch over his blue eye, making him a green-eyed commoner.

-- One problem remained. How could he, a commoner, learn to talk and act like an aristocrat? Easy peasy! He was an actor by trade. He was trained to speak as an aristocrat, move and act as and aristocrat, and could study them before, during and after performances.

So now my hero is free to slip in and out of both worlds without worry...until he makes love to a young aristocratic woman, and first to ever get close to him as both Merlyn the actor, and Merlyn the aristocrat. Does she see through his disguise? You bet! And thereby hangs a tale!

I have most often written my historicals in what I call the Napoleonic Era, which ranged from the early 1790s to 1815. It includes the Regency Era but is broader. I like this era because it is a time of great change in Europe, both in terms of government and social norms. Unlike the 18th century, where strictures of class kept people from making eye contact, the barriers between wealthy and poor, aristocrat and commoner were beginning to crumble. Makes for lots of intrigue and conflict and scandal.

But I always put the story first and find the place where it can best be told. In "The Gamble" I once again chose the mid 18th century because the rigid class distinction worked best for my characters."

Thank you, Laura.