Breaking the Victorian Mould: A #WomensHistoryMonth special

One of the best things about writing historical fiction is the research – although I have to confess that I can get completely sidetracked and sometimes spend far too long researching things I know I am never going to use!

I am currently writing a novel set in mid-Victorian England and my research has brought home to me how astonishingly difficult it was for Victorian girls and women to achieve anything amid the huge obstacles which Victorian society put in their way.

All classes of Victorian men – working class, middle class and probably especially upper class - believed the old maxim ‘A Woman’s Place is in the Home’ and Victorian society did everything it could to keep them there.  It took a very strong-minded woman, with talent, luck and usually some male support to break out of the mould of being a sweet, subjugated, supporter of men.

The first challenge the Victorian girl faced was that of education.

In the middle of the nineteenth century, how much education you got didn’t just depend on how much money your parents had – it also depended on whether you were a boy or a girl. Among the poorer classes, most primary-age children were educated in one of the patchwork of voluntary schools up and down the country, which provided both boys and girls with a basic education in reading, writing and arithmetic. 

Drawing © Kate Randall

After the age of 11, an intelligent boy from a poor background might have been able to continue to one of the boys’ grammar schools which had grown up around the country, but there were very few options for girls. In 1864 there were only 12 public secondary schools for girls in the whole of England and Wales.

But even if you were a girl from a wealthy background, you weren’t that much better off in terms of getting an education, especially compared to your brothers. In fact, you were very unlikely to have been to school at all. While boys were often sent to school at the age of 7, middle-class and upper-class girls were taught at home by their mothers. A small number might afford a governess, but this didn’t guarantee a better education as many of the governesses themselves were poorly educated.   

John Ruskin was a very influential Victorian writer, art critic and philosopher. 

John Ruskin

This is what he wrote in 1865 about the different ways in which men and women needed to be educated.

‘Women’s intellect is not for invention or creation…Her great function is Praise… Speaking broadly, a man ought to know any language or science he learns, thoroughly – while a woman ought to know the same language, or science, only so far as may enable her to sympathise in her husband’s pleasures, and in those of his best friends.’

The vast majority of the middle and upper classes agreed with this – women should only be educated in order to support their husbands, and certainly not to learn things for themselves! So, girls were left at home to be taught by their mothers, and if you remember that their mothers wouldn’t have been to school either, you get an idea of the sort of education they were getting. They would have learnt to read and write, and learnt a little French and a few unconnected historical facts, but you could pretty much forget anything else.

And there was another obstacle for girls. Even if your mother happened to be well-educated herself, and good at teaching, it wasn’t considered acceptable for a girl to work hard at anything intellectual. Because men’s needs always came before a woman’s needs, a girl could only carry out her studies when she wasn’t needed to fetch or carry for her father, mend her brother’s shirts, or whatever it might be. Even practising the piano seriously had to be abandoned if it disturbed someone else’s studying. 

Florence Nightingale railed against this attitude in an unpublished essay she wrote on the subject: ‘How should we learn a language if we were to give it an hour a week?... [A lady] cannot leave the breakfast-table – or she must be fulfilling some little frivolous ‘duty’...If a man were to follow up his profession or occupation at odd times, how would be do it?...It is acknowledged by women themselves that they are inferior in every occupation to men. Is it wonderful? They do everything at ‘odd times’…’

Luckily, there were strong-minded, intelligent women who fought against this prevailing attitude. Some women defied convention and learned as much as they could from books and any male relation who was happy to teach them. Others were able to take advantage of the institutions which were gradually set up as the century progressed. (By the way, in 1868 a government commission admitted that men and women had the same mental capacity!) 

Florence Nightingale

As we all know, Florence Nightingale herself blazed the trail for the nursing profession, setting up the first nursing school at St Thomas’s Hospital in London in 1860, where crucially nurses would be trained. In 1848, Queen’s College in London was founded to educate governesses. Among its students were two women, Dorothea Beale and Frances Buss, who went on to become pioneers of girls’ education: Dorothea Beale became Principal of Cheltenham Ladies’ College and Frances Buss was Headmistress of the North London Collegiate School. 

 Frances Buss 

 

In 1849, Bedford College for Women opened as the first higher education college for women in the country.  Educational reform gradually took place, alongside a changing view of the role of women, but it was a slow, slow process.

Before researching my current novel, I had sometimes looked at a list of so-called ‘Great Victorians’ and wondered why there weren’t more women on the list. I think I know now. Women had to overcome so many more obstacles than men before they could even start ‘achieving’ anything at all!

Catherine Randall’s debut novel The White Phoenix is set in London 1666, and features a strong girl breaking out of the mould society tries to force her into. It was shortlisted for the Historical Association Young Quills Award 2021.

https://catherinerandall.com/

 

Girl Power during the Highland Clearances - a #WomensHistoryMonth Special

When I was at Edinburgh University in the nineties, I studied John McGrath’s play The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil. It’s a remarkable piece of writing and as someone who had grown up on the continent, this aspect of history was news to me. It was my first encounter with the Highland Clearances, and I resolved to travel to Sutherland one day to find out more. At that point I was interested, but no more. Fast forward almost twenty years. It wasn’t until the windy summer of 2013 that I finally managed to make good that promise to myself – and by that stage I had acquired a husband, three children and a dog. I had struggled to find an accessible book about the Clearances for my two girls ahead of the holiday. I was feeling buoyant that summer – after what felt like hundreds of rejections, one of my manuscripts was shortlisted for the Kelpies Prize. So, while in the ‘maybe-I-can-be-a-writer-after-all’ bubble, I stumbled upon the ruins of Ceannabeinne, outside Durness, above the world's most beautiful beach.

On the information panels connecting the walk through the ruins, it explained about the Durness riots (riots? In a place like this?) – and how a rebellion against the Clearances was started by the women and children of the village. Underestimating their resolve, the land manager had sent the eviction writ on a day that all the men and boys were away thatch-cutting – in the misguided expectation that the women would be a pushover and there would be no trouble. The villagers would simply be sent away to make room for the more profitable sheep. But somehow, records tell us, the women of Ceannabeinne managed to overwhelm the messenger and forced him to burn his own writ. This is even more remarkable when you know that simply touching the document would make it legally binding! I still wonder how they actually did it, but one thing was clear: here was an opportunity to focus on the female perspective of that part of history. What a story, and never written about in fiction. It was a rare gift – many details were in place, but there was all the room for speculation I needed, too. What if the catalyst for the rebellion was a kid? And the story just rolled in from there, like the waves on Ceannabeinne beach.

There were other books about that part of history, but written in the sixties and falling into easy, and perhaps lazy, gender stereotypes. Girl: Oh no, I am so scared! What are we going to do? (wrings hands) Boy: (rolls up sleeves) Well, let me just sort this out with my fisticuffs! You get the idea. I was hoping for something a bit more relatable, and here was the perfect story to try. However, the story is much, much wider than just the Highland Clearances. It’s about the haves and the have-nots, about the responsibility that comes with power, so often abused. And it’s about the individuals who choose to try to make a difference, as best as they know how. ‘Be a force for good,’ one of the characters tells Janet at the height of the crisis, ‘It’s all I can tell you in these times.’ That, to me, is quite a relevant thing in our times, too. Displacement, as Janet experiences, is all around us on a global scale. There is nothing parochial about this tale, which is why it really appealed to me to write about. On that first holiday, I collected everything I could about the incidents of 1841. The best part was that somebody had recently researched the history of the village, local historian Graham Bruce. Not only did I read everything he wrote about the subject, but I also cheekily approached him and asked if he’d read the first draft to check for historical accuracy – and the kind man did! I have still never met him in person. In 2014, I took a day to spend in Ceannabeinne itself. Walking and moving there and assigning houses to the various characters really helped. The Stathnaver Museum in Bettyhill filled in any remaining gaps in my knowledge – I finally felt able to write the book!

I wanted Janet to be feisty, and a real independent spirit, so that modern girls can see themselves reflected in her. In Janet’s society, women really didn’t count for much, and it definitely appealed to me that the women were the ones who defended the village from the first eviction writ’s delivery, overwhelming the Sheriff officer. Of course, this really happened as all the men were away. Janet is caring and loyal, but not afraid of conflict either – just like modern youngsters, she is at odds with teachers and peers at times. I like the idea that a young person can sometimes see what adults can’t. Janet’s impulsive nature has landed her in lots of trouble, but at this crisis point, Janet is exactly what the village needs. We can all make a difference.

‘Be a force for good’ is now what I sign into the book every time a youngster buys one. A good reminder to us all.

World Book Day special - How to find readers for your book by Barbara Henderson

That’s it! You are a published author, and you are holding your finished product in your hand!

Wait - how on earth will anyone know about it?

Some big publishers have a team and a budget for that sort of thing – but sadly, Blue Peter appearances and international publicity campaigns await only the lucky few. For the vast majority of authors, publicity is something they have to do themselves – and perhaps that is a good thing! You can play to your strengths and get creative! It need not cost anything either. Here are some examples of what promoting your book could involve.

 

Blog tour – who knew, but there are a whole lot of book enthusiasts who have their own websites – blogs – on which they review books. The usual arrangement is that they will be sent a free copy of the book by the publishers in exchange for an honest review. The organisation of these blog tours often falls onto the writer. Sometimes the author may also write interesting articles or related content for these blogs to create some online buzz – most book bloggers are very active on social media, and if they like your book, it can really help.

Press releases – This was news to me, but newspapers and magazines rarely cover new book releases unless they are sent a press release first. This means that the author writes an article about themselves and the book in the 3^rd person, as if a newspaper journalist had written it. All the information needs to be correct - and if you also attach some high-quality images, you have a good chance of the press picking up on your story. It’s even better if you have a topical hook, like an anniversary of a historical event, or a connection to something that people are already talking about. You may have to tailor your press release to the publication you are targeting. TV and radio will also be interested in featuring you if there is a strong topical hook – think of it as a Venn diagram between your book and what people are already talking about. If there is overlap, you have a way in.

 

Book Trailer – Video content makes it 34% more likely that your audience will engage! Even a short film on YouTube advertising your book, much in the style of film trailers (with teasers and engaging images), can generate a lot of awareness, and of course it can be shared on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram too.

Social media – It is a great thing for an author to be active on social media but be wary of posting endless ‘buy my book’ style content. It will soon turn your audience off. Readers and potential buyers want to get a flavour of who you are and connect with you. Be real! Images of rapt audiences at your events or screenshots of good reviews (with a humble-ish caption) go down well and increase your profile. But be sure to show support for others and their work too.

Finally, don’t be shy – opportunities for publicity are everywhere. Pitch yourself as a writer in residence! Suggest a book event to your local library! Start a YouTube channel or podcast! Connect with book festivals and like-minded writers. Seek collaborations. Contact organisations which may have an interest in your book. Join groups and forums and ENGAGE, earning yourself a hearing for your own agenda.  Have a go – you won’t regret it!

Someone once advised me: Don’t worry about being pretty. Be memorable. Be kind.

Good advice. 

 

The Time Tunnellers are five authors who write historical novels for
children and young adults -
Susan Brownrigg, Barbara Henderson, Catherine Randall,
Ally Sherrick and Jeannie Waudby.

Every Thursday we share a new blog article on a different topic
and a youtube video with a writing challenge for young people and teachers.

 

World Book Day special - The beauty of traditional typesetting and printing by Jeannie Waudby

The book is finally ready to go to the printer’s, word-perfect and with a beautiful cover. This is where it finally becomes an object that many people can hold in their hands and read. Nowadays typesetting is computerised and printing is mechanised. We are all typesetters, converting our thoughts into letters on our phones and laptops, choosing the typeface we want to use. But let’s have a look at how it worked before computers.

For hundreds of years books or scrolls were written by hand, for example the 7^th century Lindisfarne Gospels and the 9^th century Book of Kells.

 

 

A scribe at work 

 

These books were very beautiful, but only a few people could read or own them so of course they were very expensive.

 

A way of printing from stamps began in China in the 5^th or 6^th century and mass printing from woodblocks in 907. In Europe, woodblock printing goes back into the 14^th century. Each page was carved  onto a woodblock and then printed. This happened in Europe too.

 

 

A woodblock  

 

This made it possible to print many copies very much more quickly, but the process of carving the woodblock was still very slow. 

 

A woodblock print

 

Printing was really revolutionised with the invention of moveable type. Again it was first invented in China in the 11^th century, with individual characters made out of clay, and in Europe in the 15^th century with letters of metal.  

 

 

 Type 

 

When I was young I worked as a typesetter in a printing works that had somehow managed to stay in the nineteenth century.  

 

The frame where the typsetter stands, with cases of type below. 

 

All our type was movable, and to set it we used a stick  

 

A compositor’s stick 

 

The letters sit on little metal shelves called leads to sandwich them together. When a block of text is ready it can be tied up and put in a galley. When the whole page is ready it is all assembled on the ‘stone’ using different sized pieces of wood and metal, called ‘furniture’. Eventually this is all screwed tightly together in a metal frame, the ‘chase’, and can then be lifted onto the press.  

 

 

The forme on the stone, ready to print

 

My experience has been very handy for the book I am writing, which takes place in a printing works in the 1800s. Here is my character’s name, set in capitals with a print from it.  

 

 

When books are printed, several pages are printed on one large sheet and then cut and folded. This is a tool for folding so that the edges are crisp – it’s called a bone.  

 

A bone 

 

The pages could be put together and sewn in bundles before being bound with a cover made of cardboard, leather or cloth. They would then be pressed in a bookbinding press like this one. 

 

 

A bookbinding press 

 

19^th century books were sometimes sold with the edges still folded so that the reader would have to cut the pages to open the book.

 

Modern printing is completely different from the old days of hand or foot operated presses.  

A  hand-operated printing press 

 But we can find traces of the old ways – in the words: upper case and lower case, typesetting, the spacebar on a computer which comes from the old spacers that were put between letters, and most of all, if you hold a new hardback book up to your nose you can still capture the delicious smell of ink.

The Time Tunnellers are five authors who write historical novels for
children and young adults -
Susan Brownrigg, Barbara Henderson, Catherine Randall,
Ally Sherrick and Jeannie Waudby.

Every Thursday we share a new blog article on a different topic
and a youtube video with a writing challenge for young people and teachers.

 

World Book Day special - How is a book cover made? by Ally Sherrick

The old saying, ‘You can’t judge a book by its cover’ might be true for people. But in the case of an actual book cover, though it won’t tell you how well-written it is, it offers up some big clues about what sort of story you’ll encounter inside.

Besides the all-important title, these clues are delivered through a combination of artwork used, colours applied and the description, or cover-blurb on the back.

When I visit schools, children always want to know more about this mysterious-seeming process and whether the author has any say in the finished version.

I’m very lucky in that regard, because my publisher, Chicken House Books does like to involve its authors in the business of coming up with a cover.

Like many other writers, I usually create ‘mood boards’ of images which help inspire the development of my story. I post these on Pinterest and share them with my publisher so that, in addition to the writing, they have something visual to help spark ideas for a cover design.

A clip from my mood board for Black Powder

In the meantime, they’ve been busy thinking of what sort of artistic style would work best, studying portfolios of work by possible artists. For my first book, Black Powder, about two children caught up in the Gunpowder Plot, they selected Alexis Snell, an artist who specialises in making prints from linocuts. You can watch a short video of how she made the lino-cut for the cover here.

Once the cover illustration is finished, the publisher sends it to a design studio to experiment with different colour-ways and design the spine.

 

Two different colour-ways for Black Powder created by Steve Wells, the designer.
We chose the one on the right which we thought was the strongest.

Next, the publicity team gets to work with writing the all-important description – or ‘blurb’ – which tells you, the potential reader what the story is about. The aim here, using as few words as possible, is to persuade you that it’s the book for you.

 

The cover blurb – which needs to be as short
and exciting-sounding as possible ...

Once the design and blurb are finalised, the book is ready for printing. The cover artwork is sent to the printers with instructions for the weight and type of paper to use, along with requests for any special finishes such as embossing or coloured foil.

 

Black Powder was lucky enough to be
given the gold foil treatment!

And then it’s over to the printer to weave their magic ...

 

The Time Tunnellers are five authors who write historical novels for
children and young adults -
Susan Brownrigg, Barbara Henderson, Catherine Randall,
Ally Sherrick and Jeannie Waudby.

Every Thursday we share a new blog article on a different topic
and a youtube video with a writing challenge for young people and teachers.