In the historical novels I write under the pseudonym Kate Emerson, of which SECRETS OF THE TUDOR COURT: BETWEEN TWO QUEENS is the latest offering, I focus on a real but little-known historical figure to tell my story. The protagonist of BETWEEN TWO QUEENS is Anne Bassett, who served as a maid of honor to four of Henry VIII’s queens, was twice considered by court gossips to be a contender to become Henry’s next bride herself, and went on to become a lady in waiting to Queen Mary Tudor. She was a career courtier, which put her in the perfect position to know secrets, but she also had a connection to my favorite type of subplot, the treasonous conspiracy.

One of the hardest parts about writing historical novels centered on real people is staying true to their characters. There are several schools of thought about how to do this. One advocates making anything and everything up and the heck with the facts. At the other extreme are purists who don’t want anything in the novel that hasn’t been verified. Most historical fiction falls somewhere in the middle, but finding that happy medium can be a real challenge.

In BETWEEN TWO QUEENS I was fortunate to have a wonderful source of information about Anne Bassett (called Nan in the novel) and her extended family. THE LISLE LETTERS is a six volume opus edited by M. St. Clare Byrne. It contains, annotated, the letters confiscated when Nan’s stepfather, Viscount Lisle, was arrested on suspicion of treason. What made this collection so valuable to me was that the authorities seized not only official correspondence, but also the personal papers of Lisle’s second wife and her daughters, Nan included.

For many, many incidents in the novel, I was able to rely on first-hand accounts of what happened. But there were also many, many gaps in Nan’s story. Where, for example, did she go when Queen Catherine Howard’s household was disbanded? By then her stepfather was a prisoner in the Tower of London and her mother was held under house arrest in Calais. Unlike the other maids of honor, she had no family to go back to. There are documents that say the king made provision for her, but what exactly did he arrange? There were other blank spots, too. And of course the question of whether Nan knew anything in advance about the conspiracy that led to her family’s downfall. And what about romance? Was she the king’s mistress or not? No one really knows. Did she have other men in her life? Again, no one knows. History records her marriage, but that did not take place until Queen Mary’s reign. There are always blank spaces in the lives of real historical figures, even famous ones. It’s my job as a novelist to fill in the blanks, in this case to figure out why Nan behaved the way history says she did and extrapolating from what is known about her to what might have happened.

It’s a good thing I enjoy doing research! I’ve found that it I look at the search for some tiny tidbit of information as solving a mystery, the process is much less frustrating, even if I don’t ever find what I’m looking for. When I do, those “ah-ha!” moments are always a thrill. Sometimes I end up with two (or more!) wildly different interpretations of what really happened. Even the most distinguished scholars don’t agree on everything, and they can often make equally compelling cases for opposite points of view. I love it when that happens. It means I can pick the interpretation that works best for my story.

More often, however, filling in the gaps is a challenge because nothing is known. What did I do when I absolutely could not find anything about a certain period in Nan’s life? Usually, I breathed a sigh of relief. When I can’t locate anything at all, I am free to make something up. That something still has to be believable. I can’t go too crazy. But if I’ve developed an accurate sense of what the real person was like, and have a feel for the times I’m writing about, then I can figure out what my character is likely to do in any given situation. Nan Bassett in BETWEEN TWO QUEENS, Jane Popyncourt in the first SECRETS OF THE TUDOR COURT novel, THE PLEASURE PALACE, and Elizabeth Brooke, Marchioness of Northampton, in next year’s offering, BY ROYAL DECREE, may only be footnotes to history, but by filling in the gaps to create historical fiction, I hope I’ve succeeded in bringing them back to life.

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