I first read of the Walcheren invasion in a review of Fiametta Rocco’s wonderful book The Miraculous Fever Tree, a history of malaria and quinine. While I’ve found no evidence of war-profiteering such as Lord Lyne and Abner Huwe indulge in, it’s not outside the range of possibility. The Walcheren invasion remains a startling example of what happens when politics and hubris intersect.
In creating John Thorpe’s Squale House I anticipated the beginning of the Settlement Movement by about fifty years. In 1811 there were poorhouses and almshouses (the former were often used as reformatories or homes for indigent women and children; the latter often housed the elderly) but nothing quite like the settlement house, where life-skills and education were offered to the poor. Still, I suspect that William Godwin, had he known of such a place, would have been delighted to volunteer there. Mary Wollstonecraft, essayist and novelist, died 1797 after the birth of her daughter Mary (who went on to elope with Percy Bysshe Shelley and to write Frankenstein). Somehow the notion of Miss Tolerance meeting both Mrs. Godwin and the young Mary Shelley would not leave me alone.
I am delighted to have found a new home for Miss Tolerance at Plus One Press, thanks to my editor, Jacqueline Smay, Nic Grabien (publisher) and Deborah Grabien (resident Goddess and fellow Plus One author) for their help, encouragement, and enthusiasm. I send my thanks to Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Anna Genoese, and Melissa Anne Singer for their encouragement in the initial phase of Miss Tolerance’s career at Forge Books; even though we parted ways, I don’t forget. My thanks also to my agent, Shawna McCarthy.
As always, Miss Tolerance and I are indebted to M. Lucie Chin, Richard Rizk, J. David Brimmer, and TJ Glenn for teaching me what I know of the art of the short sword (and the fisticuff). Any trouble Miss Tolerance gets into is her fault and mine; my teachers are all deadly grace and pointed wit. I owe a similar debt to my writers’ workshops, and to Ben Yalow, Sara Mueller, Ellen Klages, and Eve Sweetser, all of whom wrestled with the manuscript like the angels they are, and helped me make the story a book.
Writing is an isolated business, and there aren’t enough Thank Yous in the world for my friends in real life and online, for help, support, enthusiasm, and reeling things back into focus when I got distracted. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Miss Tolerance’s own friends, who have waited patiently to see what happened next.
Finally: my love and love again to Danny, Julie, and Becca, because family, wherever you find it, is where the heart is.
About Madeleine E. Robins
Writing gives Madeleine Robins the chance to focus on many of her ruling passions: cities, history, swordplay, the history of disease, and the future of mankind–with a side order of historical costuming and infrastructure (urban plumbing is far more interesting than you’d think).
Born in New York City, the Author has been, in no particular order, a nanny, a teacher, an actor and stage-combatant, an administrator, a comic book editor, a baker, typist-clerk for Thos. Cook’s Houses of Parliament office, a repairer-of-hurt-books, an editorial consultant, and a writer. She holds a degree in Theatre Studies from Connecticut College, and attended the Clarion Science Fiction Workshop in 1981. She is a founding member of the BookViewCafe, where most of her short fiction is available for free!
A lifelong and passionate fan of cities and all things urban, Madeleine Robins now lives in San Francisco with her family, dog, and one hegemonic lemon tree.
Visit her website at www.madeleinerobins.com
Books by Madeleine E. Robins
The Sarah Tolerance Mysteries
Point of Honor
Petty Treason
The Sleeping Partner
Other Novels
Althea
My Dear Jenny
The Heiress Companion
Lady John
The Spanish Marriage
Daredevil: The Cutting Edge
The Stone War
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
The Sleeping Partner
Setting
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
A Note on History, Faux and Real
About Madeleine E. Robins
Books by Madeleine E. Robins
The Sleeping Partner Page 32