By:Sara Peters
Many authors speak about their characters as though they were living and breathing.
However, Sharon Kay Penman may engage in this practice with greater liberty, because her characters truly did live and breathe once upon a time.
Ms. Penman, of Mays Landing, is a historical fiction writer who resurrects heroes and villains from the Middle Ages. She plans to speak about the “perils and pitfalls” of writing historical fiction at the Book and Author Dinner, Friday evening at the East Brunswick Chateau. The event is a fund-raiser for the South Brunswick Library Foundation.
“I’m so pleased to be speaking for the library,” said Ms. Penman. “I’ve got a soft spot for librarians. They’ve helped me so much with my work over the years.”
Ms. Penman began her career as a novelist in a rather unorthodox manner. In the ’70s, she was a lawyer in Los Angeles. “Honestly, the only thing I enjoyed about practicing law was going into the law library to research cases,” she said.
After receiving an insurance settlement as a private citizen in 1978, she decided to take the money and make a major life change. She quit her job and took a four-month trip to England, Wales and other United Kingdom nations to research her first book, “The Sunne in Splendour,” about the War of the Roses.
“I wanted to do this so very badly,” Ms. Penman said about her decision. “I had no guarantee that the book would be published, but I was willing to gamble.”
Ms. Penman estimates that researching and writing for one book takes her an average three-and-a-half years. After her time in Europe, she returned home to finish the researching and writing. She made her debut as a novelist when “The Sunne in Splendour” was published in 1982.
When researching, historians generally use primary sources — documents that were created at or near the time of an event. Though Ms. Penman takes great care to be accurate, she is unable to use primary sources because she cannot read Welsh, ancient Latin or ancient French — the languages in which most documents of the time were written.
In order to recreate the time as richly and as accurately as possible, Ms. Penman gleans information about religion, fashion and other cultural specifics from secondary sources, which include history books and primary sources that have been translated into English.
However, Ms. Penman explained research provides the writer only a limited amount of information. The rest must be filled in by the writer. Asked how she crafts the personality of a character, she said “It all depends on how well-known the character is in history.”
Sometimes she finds very extensive descriptions of the temperament and quirks of these historical figures. Unfortunately, she said, this happens all too rarely.
“Women, in particular, really fell through the cracks,” she said.
When that happens, she must build around a more skeletal profile of the character.
When studying history, Ms. Penman often unearths stories about her characters that may describe actions contrary to one another. “In my writing, I have to reconcile the two,” said Ms. Penman.
She cited the example of a Welsh prince who once defended an enemy against a murderous mob, but later participated in the murder of an unarmed rival inside a church.
Ms. Penman is now five chapters away from completing her next book, “Time and Chance.” This is the second book in a trilogy about King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitane. The first in the series, “When Christ and His Saints Slept,” was published in 1995. During the lengthy break between these two works, she wrote two non-historical mysteries and suffered a bout of mononucleosis.
“Time and Chance” is expected to be in book stores next fall, but Ms. Penman has had more than just time to contend with.
“I had to coax Henry and Eleanor back into cooperating with me,” she said. “They did not like being put to the side like that.”
