Jeane Westin, author of "The Virgin's Daughters: In the Court of Elizabeth I" and "His Last Letter: Elizabeth I and the Earl of Leicester" answers 10 questions about her favorite time period in history, her favorite figures from history, and the age old question of coffee or tea.
1. If you could go back in time and be any figure from history, who would it be?
There are many fascinating historical figures, but pushed for an answer, I'd have to go with Elizabeth I of England. She took the throne at age twenty-five when England was an country riven with religious strife and surrounded by enemies. Spain, its coffers brimming with the gold and silver of the New World, sent four Armadas against the small island nation and was defeated each time, until finally bankrupt. At the end of her reign, she signed the East India Company into law, which helped England grow to an empire where the sun never set. All this while she denied herself marriage and family, claiming England as her husband and the English as her children. What a woman!
2. What year in history would you have liked to live in?
1665. Cromwell was gone and with him Puritan restrictions on anything amusing. Charles II with a wife and several mistresses was on the throne of England at Whitehall and Nell Gwyn was the darling of the Restoration stage, the beginning of a riotous period of plays and acting unseen before or since. London was still a medieval city not yet wiped out by the great fire of the following year. A great time to be young and alive.
3. You're having a dinner party and you can invite 5 people from history, who would they be?
The previously mentioned Elizabeth I, King Charles II, Nell Gwyn, Winston Churchill and my ancestor Gehaarts van Swearingen, a Dutch sea captain who eloped with a French girl and sailed for America. That must have been some story.
4. What castle from the past or present would you like to live in?
None. Without modern plumbing and as many as 2,000 unwashed people using open privies, I couldn't have enjoyed the castle's pleasures for the assaults on my nose.
5. Two fellow historical fiction authors you'd like to go on a history themed tour of the world with?
Sharon Kay Penman, who I've read for years and C. J. Sansom whose great Tudor mystery series featuring lawyer/detective Mathew Shardlake is a must read.
6. Who was more dashing and interesting, King Henry VIII of England or King Louis XIV of France?
I'd have to pick Louis, the Sun KIng, who reigned during two centuries and threw great parties. Henry grew crazier and crazier and didn't have much dash left after gaining two hundred pounds.
7. Which of the six wives of King Henry VIII is your favorite?
Anne Boleyn, because she was innocent of all the ridiculous charges Cromwell made up and Catherine Parr, who was smart enough to survive.
8. English monarchy or French monarchy?
English. No contest for me as all my historicals are set in England, including my new one out in August: "The Spymaster's Daughter", a novel of Lady Frances Sidney, Walsingham's daughter, who wanted to be a spy in Elizabeth's court.
9. What three novels could you read over and over?
All of Jane Austen, especially "Persuation".
10. Tea or coffee when writing?
Both and lots of water. I must drink gallons every week.
Jeane Westin's official website:
Comments