Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

by Joan Vincent


The” Carmen” in my stories is usually found in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century in England, France, or Spain. This TIME and PLACE of a story is known as the setting. Settings are unique even when they meticulously follow the reality (past or present) of the location chosen for a story. Since the place is described as seen through a particular set of eyes, an individual vision, it will be one-of-a-kind.

My historicals are set in Georgian (during the reigns of any of the four King Georges of Great Britain 1714-1830) and Napoleonic times (1799-1815). I blend reality and imagination. That means I use buildings and companies as well as people that existed during the time I set my story as well as those I have created. Using real people and buildings means doing research. Let’s say I want to set a scene in Drury Lane Theatre in London in July 1812. But the theatre burned down in 1809 and did not reopen until October 10, 1812. Research, you see, is important. The accuracy of what actually existed depends on it. If I want characters watching a play Drury Lane Theatre in July I had better make it a rehearsal and have carpenters and painters working around them.

My Honour series Book Five opens in 1810 Paris in a disreputable portion of the city and involves the heroine’s flight to escape those intent upon capturing or killing her. To map a route I needed to know Paris in 1810. One resource I discovered in my research is the gorgeous Turgot map. It is early for my period (published in 1739) but much of the city had not changed. Here’s one small portion of the map—the detail is unbelievable. The entire map can be found at Turgot Map of Paris —just click on sections and then click again to enlarge.
My reaction to this map also hints at one danger with research. Be careful not to get so lost in it that you never write your story. There always comes a point when I have to say “Enough.” Then I get to writing but keep a notepad at the ready to jot down what needs checked for historical accuracy at a later date.

Since I am beginning book five in a series, much of my world for that series has a good solid base of constructed places intertwined with real places and events. “World building” was a phrase coined by fantasy/sci fi writers for their fictitious worlds but the term works well for historicals. For all my major characters in my Honour series I had to construct not only their families complete with back story and their life’s avocation but also family estates, town houses and their floor plans, clothing style,—the details appear endless at times. Since many of my main characters are cavalry officers I had to determine the regiments in which they served. That decision had to be based on which regiments were in the Peninsular War and when. Then there are details on uniforms, places stationed in Portugal and Spain, winter camps, etc. Research. Research. Research.

When I began writing in the 70's I had only the public library for a resource. Now, with thanks to my sister Vera, I have a library of research books on my period with a our specialty being Peninsular War memoirs, journals, etc. Makes researching much easier. After reading a lot of general history on my period I settled in on first hand material. Period journals, memoirs, and letters are a great way to absorb the cadence of the language, the topics that were of import, the political leanings, and gossip of the times. The information Peninsular war letters etc contain in words and written between the lines is invaluable in fleshing out the setting, especially of skirmishes and battles.

Many of the men who write and were written about become very alive to me. Major the Honourable Edward Charles Cocks was an intelligence officer in the Peninsula from 1809-1812. His letters and correspondence by others show him an intelligent, gifted, courageous, and caring young man. When I reached the end of his story and learned he had died (at age 26) during heroic action during the siege of Burgos in Spain I grieved. Lieutenant Tomkinson, another writer of an interesting Peninsular journal, but one who survived the wars, wrote “He (Cocks) is regretted by the whole army and in those regiments in which he has been, not a man can lament a brother more than they do him. He is on every ground the greatest lose we have yet sustained.”

General Sir John Moore is another man I have come to admire greatly. He was killed at the Battle of Corunna in 1809 after saving his rag tag army from Napoleon and was unappreciated if not outright maligned for many years. But time has proven his worth as a general and the value of what he tried to accomplish with training regimes and improving the life of the common soldier. In the Collection portion of my website www.joanvincent.net under Napoleonic War go to Part 3 to see the variety of journals, both English and French that I have acquired.

Research has become much easier in this Internet age (with the usual caveat to have more than one source as wiki and other sites can prove unreliable). Some answers can be found quite easily—such as the date of the fire at Drury Lane Theatre. Other questions take more painstaking research because it’s important not to learn just the physical setting but also to understand the political, social, and technological climate in which your characters live. Some writers try to give the eighteenth century woman the same outlook on life as we have today. It could never happen. Today’s woman would find it very difficult to conform to 18th century mores and the 18th century woman would be appalled at some modern women’s behavior. Technology was just in its infancy and computers undreamt. Facebook to “my” Carmen would indeed be a book with faces in it!

Creating your own world is work but fascinating too. It would take several blogs to detail how I constructed "my" world. I hope you've enjoyed this brief glimpse. Here are a few web sites with basic and in some cases detailed information if you’d like to construct your own Georgian/Regency setting: British History
Greenwood’s 1827 Map of London
Historical Conversion of Currency
The British National Trust Especially Find a Place to visit for getting ideas on estates and houses Find a Place
UK Climate and Moon Cycles
The Regency Library
Jane Austen’s World In particular on this site a page with great links to all aspects of Regency History-- Jane Austen’s World Regency Links
The Regency Collection
The Georgian Index
Food and Drink in Regency England
Jessamyn’s Regency Costume Companion
The Napoleonic Guide
The Napoleon Series
The Peninsular War
The Peninsular War 1808-1814
Military Heritage
My Armoury