tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post8599730834070179261..comments2023-10-12T02:21:40.102-07:00Comments on English Historical Fiction Authors: Falling in love with England and its historyDebra Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03256313302199653185noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-48674094445491188082012-11-25T18:30:36.358-08:002012-11-25T18:30:36.358-08:00I feel the same way about England. I'm always ...I feel the same way about England. I'm always drawn to her history, and wish I could visit more often. My ancestors come from Wales and Cornwall, so I suppose I long for my own history.Diane Scott Lewishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05724042672923318289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-61853411438838243502012-11-25T06:07:43.385-08:002012-11-25T06:07:43.385-08:00I emphatically do not long for England’s past and ...I emphatically do not long for England’s past and nor do I look to London as a window into that past. I worked there for a few years and lived there for a few months and can say that London is not and never was England, but was always apart from it. London was the seat of power, and too often it was an usurping power; a power that sought the order of keeping the people in order, of imposing duties, both financial and martial, without a share of power: the past was unjust, based on institutionalised inequality by sex, race, and social class, and a disease-ridden, brutal and god awful place. <br /><br />However, the past is the window into our present and the glazing of that glass is the primal landscape and our working landscape, and yes, the older buildings of our towns and cities, but rather than prying for the few remaining parts of the London Wall or the city’s old churches, I’d rather be among the English landscape where the reminders are so much stronger. I grew up on the edge of Tunbridge Wells, divided between town and a country of dairy pasture, oak and beech woods, sandstone, clays and streams and particularly an orchard of Kentish cob-nut trees. That is my England, and though I was not born to it, being from Durham originally, that orchard especially is the place I hearken to. I am of this land in a way no white or black American can ever be of their colonised land, and the windows into my country’s past are also my windows into where I come from. <br /><br />But in truth, I am not an historical novelist. My novel, Acts of the Servant, is set in a created past, one that never existed and which, in our universe, never could exist, but much of its story is the same, being a tale of power and abuse of power and responsibility and the cost that responsibility brings and in the magic that pervades my novel there is a lingering of the woods and streams and rocks of the Kentish Weald and the cob-nut orchard where I spent happy childhood hours. <br /><br />The past, imagined or not, inspires me, but it is the comfort of the present that gives me the means to create.<br />ColinAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-63005933115247701432012-11-25T05:09:19.203-08:002012-11-25T05:09:19.203-08:00I have lived in England most of my life. When I le...I have lived in England most of my life. When I left it for 13 years I missed it so much, it pained me. I'm so happy I am here in this green and pleasant land :)Marypanahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08418953285267116721noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-35460848028212841472012-11-24T22:37:26.593-08:002012-11-24T22:37:26.593-08:00I was born and grew up in London back in the 30...I was born and grew up in London back in the 30's, after WWII (1951) my father decided he'd had enough and so we packed up and moved to Australia. Being a Cockney I've always regarded London as my home even after more than 60 years in Australia. I've retained my English nationality ( I'm English not British). In 2005 I returned to London, and it was very sad. The London that I knew and loved was no more, Great St Helens where I worked was an empty shell, the building where I'd first worked, destroyed by an IRA bomb many years ago. I shall never return, but I shall keep my memories of the real London and the real Londoners.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-67663225033503416722012-11-24T15:05:05.892-08:002012-11-24T15:05:05.892-08:00What a delightful blog post. You expressed what so...What a delightful blog post. You expressed what so many writers of history feel about Britain, no matter where we happened to be born or what our connection to the country might be.Margaret Porterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16202290659191790984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-27788279833056852262012-11-24T14:13:29.600-08:002012-11-24T14:13:29.600-08:00I am a California gal who was lucky enough to spen...I am a California gal who was lucky enough to spend one week in the mid-lands. The only part of London I saw was the airport tarmac. One week in the mid-lands wasn't enough and I long for when I can go back and see it all. As short as it was, I still get homesick for it. Heidihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12660156433881882098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-49447658420825021542012-11-24T13:39:20.153-08:002012-11-24T13:39:20.153-08:00Oh, you make me SO homesick...I worked in London f...Oh, you make me SO homesick...I worked in London for 13 years, ln Westminster, in Oxford Circus, then Moorgate and finally Chelsea. I still dream of the forays into history - I used to wander round the old churches and alleys, buy my veg in the markets, drank in the pubs with my work collegues. <br /><br />I am hoping to visit this year - my kids would like to see it all, and my family are circled around London which makes it very convenient. Only been back once in 11 years though, so very overdue... Vintage Maisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00929038050028476580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-64363512167520495662012-11-24T09:39:02.528-08:002012-11-24T09:39:02.528-08:00After reading this,if I want to make my reservatio...After reading this,if I want to make my reservations and fly back over the pond again. Linda Fetterly Roothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05679025414115279660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-78024073533199138632012-11-24T09:10:12.020-08:002012-11-24T09:10:12.020-08:00I nodded all the way through reading this essay. T...I nodded all the way through reading this essay. Thank you for transporting me to the place I, too, belong. And thank you for leading me to this wonderful blogspot. I might be here for a while...Joan Morahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03152990243138876941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-38745453556408629742012-11-24T08:52:47.555-08:002012-11-24T08:52:47.555-08:00Your sentiments are so true. In the States, we ten...Your sentiments are so true. In the States, we tend to tear anything down more than 20 years old and rebuild. In England, you can stand on a sidewalk and KNOW there are stories hundreds years old beneath your feet. Truly delightful. Katherine Pymhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15807278372998263951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-58874603167153602112012-11-24T05:24:56.955-08:002012-11-24T05:24:56.955-08:00A post every anglophile like me would vouch for. ...A post every anglophile like me would vouch for. Lovely narration of natural emotions & feelings associated with doing one loves.Krishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10899529770607677014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-40568575002495425232012-11-24T02:33:05.535-08:002012-11-24T02:33:05.535-08:00Thank you for this post! It was lovely. I feel jus...Thank you for this post! It was lovely. I feel just the same way, longing for England...Phoebe's Sistershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03548739602100284299noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-21881738555617171732012-11-24T01:59:33.421-08:002012-11-24T01:59:33.421-08:00You remind me of the London I hardly notice now. A...You remind me of the London I hardly notice now. A truly delightful post.Carol McGrathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11072696398820339640noreply@blogger.com