The woolbirds echoed their laughter.
Author’s Note
In telling the story of Bess and Rand, it has been my intention to use nothing but historical facts. I have tried not to distort time or place or characters to suit my convenience, and although it has sometimes been necessary to rely on my own interpretations, I trust they are legitimate and backed by probability.
Some might question Bess’s success as a Gothic romance novelist, while some might even wonder if the term “Gothic romance” was in use during my book’s time period.
It was.
Gothic fiction began in England with The Castle of Otranto (1764) by Horace Walpole. Prominent features of Gothic fiction included ghosts, castles, darkness, death, madness (especially mad women), secrets, hereditary curses, and persecuted maidens.
The term “Gothic” was applied because the genre dealt with emotional extremes and dark themes, and because it found its most natural settings in the buildings of this style—castles, mansions, and monasteries, often remote, crumbling, and ruined.
It was, however, Ann Radcliffe (1764–1823) who created the Gothic romance novel in its now-standard form. Among other elements, Radcliffe introduced the brooding figure of the Gothic villain, which developed into the Byronic hero. Unlike Walpole’s novels, Radcliffe’s novels were bestsellers and virtually everyone in English society was reading them.
The Tyburn gallows, known as “the three-legged mare” or “three-legged stool,” really did exist. The gallows were last used on November 3, 1783, when highwayman John Austin was hanged. I have changed the date to fit the context of my story.
About the Author
When Mary Ellen Dennis was very young she developed a love for Alfred Noyes’s poem “The Highwayman” and the Angélique series by Sergeanne Golon. Mary Ellen’s fifth-grade teacher was gobsmacked to hear her rambunctious student state that someday she’d write novels inspired by her favorite poem and favorite series. It has taken years to achieve her goal, but Mary Ellen says, “If you drop a dream, it breaks” (a saying coined by author Denise Dietz). Mary Ellen, who lives on Vancouver Island with her chocolate Labrador retriever Magic, likes to hear from readers. Her email address is [email protected].
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