I have a chance to view the story- telling process from another angle this coming week. Instead of reading a finished book (which is what I do most of the time), I get to travel with a writer as she gathers material for her upcoming historical novel.
Where, you might ask? Lucky me! I get to to travel to Normandy, France. We're on the trail of William the Conqueror (familiarly known in England as "William the Conk"). William was the last successful invader of England, way back in 1066 A.D. (There have been several notable but unsuccessful attempts since then.) And although William smashed the Saxons at Hastings, and subsequently marched on London to force his coronation -- thereby changing English history and language, and wreaking untold havoc between England and France for the ensuing centuries -- he actually spent most of his life in Normandy, not England. We're going to find his roots.
How does a writer find and adapt material? For all that there have been scads of articles written about the Norman invasion and its aftereffects, there is surprisingly little written about William himself. To find him, we're going to visit every place we know he lived and worked, and a few places where he might have. That's quite a pile of chateaux and abbeys. (My theory is, he was the kind of guy who might (if he felt like it), ask for forgiveness after doing what he wanted to do anyway. He never asked permission first. But he may have built a few abbeys to keep them quiet.) We'll also visit the Bayeux tapestry, which chronicles the victory over the English at Hastings (today's hamlet of Battle). We'll lose ourselves in the Norman countryside (pass the camembert, please). Between facts and factual surmises, and then a whole lot of imagination, a writer can paint a picture of life in the 11th century. William is a writer's gold mine, simply because there is so little written about the man.
So we're on the trail of the man, his spirit, his times and his legacy. I'm thrilled to be a part of watching history -- William's history -- unfold. And at the same time, I get to watch it imaginatively portrayed for today's audience. History and imagination -- what more could I want?
Oh, and I'll take a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon with the camembert, please. Don't forget the baguette. Merci!
