Yorkshire, 1909 – The Setting of my novel
This week on the blog, I thought I’d talk more about the setting of my historical mystery romance novel. I’m currently editing this novel as part of the ‘Now What?’ NaNoWriMo challenge. I wrote this project during NaNo 2021 and I plan to make it a free novel for my newsletter subscribers.
So if you’d like to get a free novel and updates of when it’s coming out (hopefully by March or April), then you can sign up here! At the moment when you sign up, you can get a free preview of my first historical fiction novel, The Boy from the Snow.
A flavour of the novel
When Penelope marries David Thornton, a match arranged by their fathers, she isn’t sure what to expect. They were friends briefly once as children, but that was a long time ago. Penelope is heartbroken over a lost love, but is surprised and touched by Thornton’s kindness to her. Soon she wonders whether they could rekindle their friendship. Could they even find love?
Then, a stranger comes with a warning not to trust her new husband. The estate is shrouded in secrets, connected to a dead oak tree dominating the grounds. A white rose begins appearing, amid whispers of a curse. How much has Mr Thornton changed since the boy she once knew? Can she even trust him, or is he now a stranger after all? Will her new husband continue to keep his secrets – and how much will it cost him to keep them?
If their marriage is to have any kind of chance, if they are to find love, then first she must discover the truth behind the oak tree and the curse of the white rose…
I have really enjoyed working on this project, so I hope you enjoy reading it, too!
Setting my Novel
So far, I know my project will be set in an estate near a village Yorkshire in 1909, in the Edwardian era. In my head, it’s like a smaller version of Downton Abbey. The story starts with a carriage taking the married couple through Yorkshire, on the way from their wedding breakfast to the Thornton family estate.
I haven’t decided whether I will set the village in a real location, or keep it as a nameless place. The estate has vast grounds, including some woods as well as the dead oak tree. It takes place early to mid Spring, either March or April.
The village also has a fair with stalls at some point that Penelope and her husband visit, so maybe I’ll make it closer to Easter to tie it in with that. I can see myself researching when Easter was in 1909 later!
You can see below a mood board I made a while ago as an Instagram post. Hopefully it will give you a feel for the story’s atmosphere!
The Importance of Setting
So, that’s the setting of my novel! The location of a story can be very powerful, whether it’s out of this world (for example fantasy or science fiction) or much closer to home. It quite literally sets the scene and can be very evocative, for example having a character who feels stuck being lost in the woods.
Can you think of stories where the setting has particularly worked well? If you’re a writer, what’s the setting of your current project?
Thanks for Reading!
Thanks for dropping by! While you’re here you can check out my other blog posts including my other world and setting posts for more details about my Dark Ages series.
You can also head to find out more about my published books, find out more about me as an author, see what indie books I’ve been reading, or sign up for my newsletter.
There’s also my Facebook group, Rheged Readers, where you can keep up to date with my news and chat books and writing.
I’d love to connect with you! Drop a comment or contact me on social media below, or head to my contact me page to get in touch.
Till next time,
Maria