Looking into the world from Beyond the Veil and the folklore that surrounds it.
Part 4.
To my dearest friends and followers,
Today I will be analyzing my book, The Story of Hollyhocks (Tales from Beyond the Veil book 1) to talk about the folklore and history that is woven into the story. You can click on the Archive on the right panel of this blog to check out the previous 3 posts in this series.
Today I will be going over chapters 13-15. The focus shifts drastically from the fairy world to the friendship that forms between Hollyhocks and Edward. In these chapters, I believe that the reader really begins to feel what the story will be about.
The 13th chapter of the book tells of the start of Hollyhocks's adventures as she meets the young Edward V. To learn more about who he was, check out my blog post, The History of Edward V.
In the story, Edward's father, Edward IV, has passed away just two weeks prior to Hollyhocks arriving in Ludlow. Hollyhocks and Edward exchange few words, before the young king is escorted to his carriage in which he will make the long journey from Ludlow to London, where he will be coronated. The reader is briefly introduced to several other historical figures, including Lord Anthony Rivers, Lord Richard Grey, and Lord Thomas Vaughan.
During the carriage ride, the reader learns about Edward, little by little, through the dialogue between him and the eager Hollyhocks.
Many of the events in chapters 13, 14, and 15, were heavily inspired by the actual events surrounding Edward V during the time. Some of them are stretched or slightly changed for the flow of the story, but I did try my best to tie real events into a fantasy book, in which the young king meets and befriends fairies.
So which events are based on real events and which ones are strictly for the story?
In chapter 13, Edward is preparing to leave for London. This is a real event. We know that he was in Ludlow at the time of his father's death. Two weeks later, he is on his way to London, escorted by 2,000 men (a number which I have found to be accurate). I estimated that it would take two days to travel from Ludlow to London, but I don't actually know if that is true or not. Smaller things, like who rode in the carriage with Edward, were there other carriages, what did the carriage look like, etc., I completely made up for the story.
In chapter 14, Edward talks about having six siblings, not including half-siblings, which is also true.
One thing I did, and some people might hate me for, is I painted Richard III as the villain. Edward is uncomfortable at the mention of his name, and admits that he has never been fond of that particular uncle. Edward then describes him as having a "cold look". Different theories and historians seem to have different opinions about the popular beliefs surrounding Richard III and Edward V, but I guess I took this belief and used it as inspiration for my own story.
In the 15th chapter, the company has decided to spend the night in Stony Stratford, which is historically accurate. Edward fondly tells Hollyhocks some tales from his past, stating that his other uncle, Lord Rivers, is one of the best men he has known, and that he has been a father to him. I know little about the actual relationship between Lord Rivers and his nephew. It seems to me that they must have been close, based on what we know of history. Edward V was placed under the supervision of Lord Rivers, brother to Edward's mother, Queen Elizabeth Woodville. I wanted to paint him as the father figure, since Edward's own father was out of the picture for the most part.
The end of chapter 15 sees Hollyhocks asking more about Edward's life story, which he begins to tell in chapters 16-19. I will talk about those next week!!
Thank you so much for reading!!
Yours truly,
Me
Additional:
My ebook is available now!! Free with Kindle Unlimited!!
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