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| Photo Credit: Emily Hosie |
Joan of Arc: Writing Historical Characters
into a Fictional Tale from Donna Hoise
As a time-travel author, one of my favourite
activities in the writing process is the research. I’m a bit of a history buff,
(which is probably the English in me), but I think the world already travelled
is a melting pot of ideas, scenes, and characters just waiting to be explored
and used.
My latest novel, THE DEVIL’S DREAMCATCHER,
follows on from the first book in the series, the critically-acclaimed, THE
DEVIL’S INTERN, and features several characters from book one and times past.
There’s Alfarin the Viking from 970AD, Elinor the peasant who died in the Great
Fire of London in 1666, and the enigmatic Septimus who is a former Roman
General. But book two in my DEVIL’S series introduces several new characters,
including Joan of Arc, who is known in this novel by her original name, Jeanne
d’Arc.
Joan of Arc is such a symbolic person, and
you have to delve deep into the history books to separate fact from fiction.
What is well known is that she was captured by the English and burned at the
stake when she was nineteen years old. What I wanted to explore was the
personality behind the martyr. How was a young woman, in a medieval,
misogynistic time, able to command a French army, even though she had no
military training?
Whether you are researching for a novel, an
essay, or just for fun, you must first understand how to categorise your
sources. Primary sources are first-hand accounts written during the actual time
or event you are studying. A secondary source will be from a record that
discusses information presented elsewhere.
After researching mainly secondary source
material, (because there is little primary source documentation from 1431), I
came to the conclusion that Jeanne must have been a formidable woman – strong,
opinionated, and devout to her cause. But because my DEVIL’S series steers clear
of religious imagery, allegory and opinion, I had to do the same with my
interpretation of Jeanne. I decided to incorporate my thoughts on her strengths
– and weaknesses – into her overall characterisation. Jeanne d’Arc in THE
DEVIL’S DREAMCATCHER takes no nonsense from anyone, but she also has frailties,
such as an absolute fear of fire because of the way she died. I’ve made her
distrusting of others, but that is more than just a plot device. Joan of Arc
was betrayed and tortured before her death. In my world-building, the dead
souls who reside in the Afterlife keep their personalities and memories of
living. It is more than plausible to suggest that the soul of Joan of Arc is
fractured. But that in turn makes her interesting with lots of room for development.
Fiction is make-believe, but an author needs to make the fantastical
believable. By taking a detail from a historical character’s past, evolving it
into a fictional yet potential truth, you make the character believable. But I
am also strongly of the opinion that if you are incorporating real historical
characters into a fictional tale, you owe a duty of care to that person.
The historical Joan of Arc commanded a French
army. The fictional Jeanne d’Arc is quite capable of doing the same in the Afterlife!
Donna Hosie’s website
Donna’s Twitter account
One copy of The Devil’s Dreamcatcher for giveaway.
1. U.S. Only
2. 18 and older please
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