9.9.07 Sophie Gee, author of The Scandal of the Season
London, 1711. As the rich, young offspring of the city’s most fashionable families þll their days with masquerade balls and clandestine court-ships, Arabella Fermor and Robert, Lord Petre, lead the pursuit of pleasure. Beautiful and vain, Arabella is a clever coquette with a large circle of beaus. Lord Petre, seventh Baron of Ingatestone, is a man-about-town with his choice of mistresses. Drawn together by an overpowering attraction, the two begin an illicit affair.
Alexander Pope, sickly and nearly penniless, is peripheral by birth, yet his uncommon wit and ambition gain him unlikely entrance into high society. Once there, privy to every nuance and drama, he is a ruthless observer. He longs for the success that will cement his place in society; all he needs is one poem grand enough to make his reputation.
As the forbidden passion between Arabella and Lord Petre deepens, an intrigue of a darker nature threatens to overtake them. Fortunes change and reputations — even lives — are imperiled. In the aftermath, Pope discovers the idea for a daring poem that will catapult him to fame and fortune.
About the Author: An Australian native, Sophie Gee graduated from the University of Sydney with a first class honors degree in English and History in 1995. She then received her PhD in English from Harvard in 2002, and began immediately as an assistant professor in the Department of English at Princeton. She has since been named the “John E. Annan Bicentennial Preceptor,” in recognition of outstanding research and teaching as a member of the junior faculty.
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In reading the excerpt, the dialogue is obviously fitting to the time period, and yet still “readable” (for lack of a better word) since it seems to come so naturally. Although I personally find this sort of speech smooth and fluid it isn’t naturally the way we talk anymore. How difficult did you find it to write in this “Old English” style? Or did it flow naturally once you were in the mindset of those characters?
You touch on the topic of women trying to find “suitable” matches - husbands that could provide for them. Love wasn’t always in the picture. Often people shake their heads at this idea and can’t understand how these women could be so business-like in finding a husband, but that was part of life. How do you think that topic relates to women of today? Do we tend to still follow this idea of finding a suitabable match but we are just a little more subtle about it in today’s dating circles?
I love non fiction books that tell a story in history, but adds a little flair as well so it’s not quite so dry. You seem to have balanced this well. It’s also great to see the “other” side of high society of old England. Although societal expectations called for a certain appearance, so much went on behind the scenes that really go unknown to most people.
I have two questions:
1) There were many prolific poets in the 18th century, what made the author choose to feature Alexander Pope specifically?
2) The subject of choosing a husband and the businesslike approach to it was featured at length in Jane Austen’s novels, as well as other novels of the 18th and 19th centuries. Did the author draw on any particular literary influences while writing this novel?