#James Conroyd Martin

[sollannaart]

Napoleonic era fiction

Having shared with you the history books about the Napoleonic era I've read recently, let me talk a little bit on the topic of historical fiction. (Not that I read this kind of book much, but there are some I'd like to express my opinion of.)

The first one in my list will be La Victoire de la Grande Armée, by the former French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. It's an alternative history book, where it is imagined what might have happened if in 1812 the Grand Armée had left Russia just after the battle of Moscow. (A spoiler - as one can guess from the title, everything should have went well for the Napoleonic France).

Alas, there are a lot of discrepancies in the book (like, for example, Poniatowski and Grouchy are marshals already in 1812); in additional, the protagonist (a general named François Beille) seems to be a kind of Marty Stu. Nevertheless, I liked this book, because... in that reality prince Józef didn't die in the battle of Leipzig (because the battle just didn't take place)! On the contrary, he's being made the king of the the restore Poland (though, I must admit, Poniatowski in fact didn't long for a crown - more on the topic here).

2. Having touched the topic of alternative history I can't help omitting another book (which, unfortunately, hasn't AFAIK been translated to any foreign language that's why I can now recommend it to my Polish speaking friends only). The book's title is Most we mgle (A Bridge In A Fog) and it is written by Marcin Ciszewski.

The plot is that in 1930ies Poland there appeared a time hole leading to 1813, using which a squad of the Polish soldiers was able to go back in time and change the result of the battle of Leipzig. So, in that universe prince Józef didn't die either )) (Though even there he had to become a king ;))

3. From alternative history of Poland let's switch to the real one, and here I have to digress a little to introduce you the next set of book. A friend of mine had once recommended me The Polish trilogy, a series of book by an American writer James Conroyd Martin, mentioning that in one of the books prince Józef's death in the battle of Leipzig is described. (A spoiler - there was such a scene in the second book, but it was not the most detailed description of the event I've stumbled upon, given all the books on the topic I've read, though it may be the only of those written in English.)

Having started to read the first book, I soon discovered that it wasn't an entire fiction, but was based on a real diary of a woman, Anna Maria Berezowska-Stelnicka, who lived in Poland in the end of the XVIIIth century. The diary was inherited by her descendants who live now in the US, and it was also translated to English and published and this is a book I do recommend to read:

4. And what about the book series? Alas, here I can't be so enthusiastic.

First, it contained a lot of typos (in Polish names etc.; it might have been fixed in the Polish edition, but I was able to find the English one so I read it) and even some historical (for instance, women working as civil-cervants' secretaries of Russian administration in Warsaw in 1830-ies) and geographical discrepancies (for example, according to the author to the East of Warsaw there are stepps which go all the way to Moscow).

In addition, I didn't like how Martin adjusted the real characters from the diary on which he based the first book of his. Also, it surprised me that John Stelnicki, Anna's descendant who is the current owner of her diary, chose a male writer to process the diary into a fiction story (in my opinion, in the book there were scenes where the female protagonist would act illogical and unfeminine and those were the scenes not present in the original diary).

And the second and the third books aren't at all based on the diary events - the action of both diary and the first book, Push not the River, ends in 1794. The second one, Against a Crimson Sky, is set in the span from 1794 to 1814, the last one, The Warsaw Conspiracy, is dedicated the Polish November Uprising which started in 1830 and lasted till October of the next year.

The second book I liked more (and it was there where prince Józef's death was described), but unfortunately, the discrepancies between the characters behavior and how real people of that time did think and act (if to compare with the real diaries and memoires of other real people) only enhanced. (Though it was kind of fun to recognize whose memoires the author was using to describe this or those event).

The last book... well, the November Uprising isn't really my cup of tea, so there were less things there that did catch my eye (but nevertheless, as I've mentioned above, they were). And I was really disappointed that in the epilogue of the book there was nothing about how Anna's family got to America. For because of the Uprising they had to leave Poland everything pointed out that they or there descendants wouldn't have return to the motherland until Poland gained independence in 1918... That's why, taking into account that Anna's descendant who is the owner of her diary does live in the US, it seemed to me it was worth to mention that the family moved to the New World (even if the real chain of events due to which the diary ended in the US couldn't be restored).

5. And the last image is to illustrate more of a question than a recommendation. For the sake of inspiration I decided to look for historical romances where the story is set in Napoleonic France. But, to my great disappointment, it turned out that there are not very much of them. The French Wikipedia in fact mentioned the only one series of books - Juliette Benzoni's Marianne, the set which I read, and even more than once. But those books, in my opinion, though may arouse interest in a person of fourteen, but can't IMHO inspire people in their forties (at least due to the fact that the main love interest of the heroine is a cynical abuser).

That's why I would like to ask you, my friends, for a recommendation of historical romance with the action set in Napoleonic France or its satellites (and where the protagonists are, of course, on the French side ;))

[byzantine-suggestions]

@suburbanbeatnik The most egregious one I can think of is The Eagle and the Swan—the POV character is a celibate monk named Fabianus who grew up in the Hippodrome alongside Theodora, and who works as a scribe/artist/writer under Procopius in the palace. The framing device of the novel is that Theodora has enlisted Fabianus to write her biography, and in practice, this means that there are a bunch of scenes where Theodora is just, like, splashing around in the bath and stripping off her clothes while loudly describing her sexual escapades. (For her official biography, you see.) Fabianus is, of course, super in love with her, and they have that kind of childhood-friends-to-lovers dynamic, but they obviously can't actually become lovers because she's married to Justinian and he's a monk (and possibly a eunuch, too, I don't remember). Justinian's not depicted as a total asshole, but he is pretty dismissive and rude towards Theodora, and there are like five different scenes where something horrible happens to Theodora and she's crying, and Fabianus is left to comfort her because Justinian won't step up.

Three-Headed Serpent and The Color of Power by Marie Heese pretty much cast Narses as the Pathetic Guy, too—like, Narses is really devoted to Theodora and distantly in love with her, and he's obsessed with protecting her and keeping her safe, but obviously, he can never really have her because he's a eunuch and she's married to his boss. It's very "courtly love," if that makes sense. He has all of these internal monologues where he calls her "my lady" and talks about how cute she is and daydreams about having her for himself. Justinian isn't that bad at first, but he becomes steadily shittier over the course of the second book, especially after he gets the plague—there's this little subplot where Theodora basically rules the empire while he's busy being comatose, then he wakes up and recovers, and he's upset that Theodora has "unmanned" him or something. So Theodora goes away to her little palace across the Bosphorus and gets really sick, and by the time she comes back to Constantinople, she's on the verge of death. Justinian is upset by this, but also totally useless and unhelpful, and it's Narses who ends up taking care of Theodora because once again, Justinian won't step up. Ultimately, Theodora dies holding Narses's hand because Justinian couldn't stand to be with her at the end.

Fortune's Child and Too Soon the Night by James Conroyd Martin also used this trope—the main character is a eunuch named Stephen who was a friend of Theodora's before she met Justinian, and—surprise surprise—Stephen is now working in the palace under Procopius. Once again, the framing device of the duology is Theodora asking Stephen to write her biography. I feel kind of bad lumping these books in with The Eagle and the Swan, because they're way classier (there are no cringeworthy scenes where Theodora describes being sexually abused while seductively eating fruit in the bath, for one) and Stephen is much more likeable than Fabianus. But they're definitely built on the same set of tropes—the POV character is still a eunuch who wants Theodora but can't have her, Theodora still is very close to him, and there's still the vague implication that they could've had a romantic connection if things were different. Justinian isn't really an asshole in this duology, and Stephen isn't as much of a shitty niceguy type, so I view these books more fondly. But they're still very much Pathetic Guy POV character books, lol.

And then, of course, there's Maxentius, my beloathed. (I know you've read this one, but for the benefit of my readers: Maxentius is about yet another childhood friend-turned-servant of Theodora, except instead of being a monk or a eunuch, he's romantically unavailable because he's married to Anastasia, Theodora's younger sister. He's sexually obsessed with Theodora, and Theodora flirts with him constantly, so there are like a dozen illustrations depicting a nude or semi-nude Theodora staring at the reader with bedroom eyes. Hilariously, Maxentius reiterates over and over again that his actual wife, Anastasia, is but a pale imitation of Theodora—but all of the women are drawn to look so similar to one another that you can hardly even tell Anastasia and Theodora apart.) It's very much cut from the same cloth as all of these other stories—they have that childhood-friends-to-lovers energy, and it's implied that Maxentius could've married Theodora if she hadn't gotten involved with Justinian first, but now she's Justinian's empress, and everyone involved is resentful about that. I don't know if Justinian has a particuarly dickish personality in this one, but he's definitely drawn to look as unattractive as possible compared to Maxentius, who's built like a Ken doll. And Maxentius does the same thing as Fabianus, Stephen, and (Heese's version of) Narses, where he's constantly thinking about protecting Theodora and envisioning himself as her lover.

Another important part of the Shitty Theodora Book Ecosystem that I forgot to mention is a very specific subtype of romance-ish (?) novel I’ve dubbed the “Pathetic Guy” novel.

Basically, the main character of the Pathetic Guy novel is the eponymous Pathetic Guy, a good-looking and good-hearted young man who’s desperately in love with Theodora, but inaccessible to her for some reason (he’s typically either a eunuch or a monk/priest, or he’s married). The Pathetic Guy is obsessed with Theodora, and Theodora never really feels the same way about him, but she always flirts with him and propositions him for shits and giggles. So there are a bunch of super sexualized scenes where she’s, like, in the bath or getting dressed or getting a massage or something, and she’s deliberately torturing the Pathetic Guy by seducing him from afar while simultaneously letting him know that he can never actually have her. (Usually, the Pathetic Guy goes home and fantasizes about her, which gives the author/illustrator an excuse to include even more sexual content and explain it away by saying that it’s just happening in his dreams or something.) Sometimes there are hints that Justinian is an asshole and that Theodora would be better off with the Pathetic Guy, but, like, women be gold diggers, amirite? So the Pathetic Guy is always thinking “gee, I’d treat her well, but women just don’t appreciate nice guys these days.” And this goes on for a while until Theodora dies, at which point the Pathetic Guy is the only one who’s there for her on her deathbed because every other guy in the world is so meaaannnnn and he’s the only one who really cared about her and she would’ve known that if she had given the nice boy a chance.

[diaryoftruequotes]

Follow your heart. Indulge your whims. They are usually correct. And when they are not, do not allow the world to judge you overly much.

James Conroyd Martin

[batmonica]

...when you think of yesterday without regret and tomorrow without fear, you are near contentment.

Against a Crimson Sky by James Conroyd Martin

[bookcoversonly]

Title: Fortune's Child | Author: James Conroyd Martin | Publisher: Hussar Quill Press (2019)

[charlesray45]

Review of 'Push Not the River'

Review of ‘Push Not the River’

Push Not the River by James Conroyd Martin is an epic tale of Poland in the late 1700s, based on the diaries of Lady Anna Maria Berezowska, a member of Polish aristocracy.

When both of her parents die within a short span of time, Anna must leave the only home she’s ever known. With Russian Empress Catherine’s armies poised to dismember the Polish state, Anna’s only protection is her Aunt Stella.…

[thesebookslookthesame]

The painting on these covers is Emma Hart as Circe, by George Romney.

Beloved Emma by Flora Fraser

Daughters of Britannia by Katie Hickman

Emma Hamilton by Norah Lofts

England’s Mistress by Kate Williams

La Voix d'Émilie [Émilie's Voice] by Susanne Dunlap (French version)

L'amante inglese by Leda Melluso (Italian)

Push Not the River by James Conroyd Martin

The Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig

Taking Liberties by Diana Norman

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

[sharonandersonauthor]

A suspenseful and often overlooked chapter in history, the siege of Vienna in the late 17th century is the subject of James Conroyd Martin's masterful novel, The Boy Who Wanted Wings. Although Poland's involvement in the protection of the city from the invading Turks is the mainstay of the book, Martin widens the breadth of his

[krissysbookshelf]

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[readwritelibrary]

#TBT: Miracles in self-publishing: James Conroyd Martin

[For Throwback Thursday, we dug up this post from our original Chicago Underground Library blog, where it first appeared on November 6, 2010. It's the compelling story of a Chicago novelist who gambled with self-publishing...and won. Maybe you will be inspired, too. --Ed.]

North Side resident James Conroyd Martin wanted to write for film. He fell backwards into writing successful historical novels about Poland. He wasn’t even Polish.

And self-publishing, in some ways the path of most resistance, was his unlikely point of entry.

The Irish-Norwegian Martin was studying screenwriting in L.A. in the 1970s when a friend showed him something he thought he might be interested in. It was the colorful, occasionally scandalous diary of the friend’s ancestor, a Polish countess.

He had to do something, but what? At first, Martin considered publishing the diary as-is. But by the time he returned to his native Chicagoland as an English teacher, he was reworking it into a novel.

It went through a multitude of drafts and three agents, but nobody wanted historical fiction. Martin got a foothold with a small publisher in Wisconsin, but the house eventually backed out.

So at the turn of the millennium, and after two decades of writing and waiting, he took his product, Push Not the River, and decided to go it alone.

Martin, now in his twenty-eighth year at Marian Catholic High School in south suburban Chicago Heights, says his motivation was basic. “I had to get it off my back. My mother was the only one to read it.”

At the recommendation of his mentor, sci-fi novelist Piers Anthony, Martin looked into Bloomington, Indiana-based Xlibris. It was one of the first print-on-demand publishers.

Before then, a typical press would make self-published authors purchase an initial “print run” of perhaps $5,000 worth of merchandise. The unwary or unlucky ended up with garages full of books they couldn’t move.

Xlibris, on the other hand, capitalized on new digital technology and only printed individual copies of a book when a customer ordered them (literally “print on demand”). The result was a relatively low starting fee (Martin remembers $300 for a paperback contract and $500 for both paperback and hardback), great for authors with uncertain prospects. Xlibris also innovated by helping with book construction: covers, layouts, and the rest.

Martin went with Xlibris, which released the book in January 2001, but remained ambitious for Push Not the River to get picked up by a major house. By now, though, he realized what publishers told him was a liability was really an asset.

“I was lucky enough to have a niche market,” Martin said. “I would go to Polish clubs, Polish fests.”

He subscribed to a slew of Polish-American publications, finding leads to events where he could table and mingle. He did fliers and mailings. He sold books out of the trunk of his car.

And the ball began to roll. “The word of mouth was tremendous from the first day,” Martin reflected.

At his first book signing, two of his customers were his illustrator and the head of the local Polish Falcons. Both called back with effusive praise in less than three days. “They were just amazed that I’m not Polish,” Martin said. He started getting a lot more feedback like that.

Martin negotiated with area bookstores, including Barbara’s Bookstore and a couple of Borders outlets. They took copies of Push Not the River on consignment. By early 2002, he had sold 2,500 copies.

Now Martin made a grab at the next rung up. He created a profile at Publishersmarketplace.com, a paid social networking website for editors, agents, and writers. There, Martin described his initial success and promoted Push Not the River as “Poland’s Gone With the Wind.”

Martin snagged a reply from a senior editor at Random House. But Martin’s agent, who knew better which publishers would be truly receptive, suggested St. Martin’s Press.

A month later, St. Martin’s bought Push Not the River, releasing it in 2003 and requesting a sequel. The sequel, Against a Crimson Sky, was published in 2006. Polish-language editions of both books were runaway bestsellers.

Push Not the River was also optioned for a screenplay, and though the option expired, Martin says he still communicates with interested parties. Right now, he is working on a final installment in the Polish series, tentatively entitled The Warsaw Conspiracy.

Although self-publishing made Martin a success, he counsels caution. “Don’t self-publish unless you have to,” he said. There are procedural pitfalls, like bad editing, much more common with print-on-demand publishers than traditional ones.

More importantly, unscrupulous parties hover around newbie writers, especially agents who charge you for representation before getting a publishing contract. “When they sell you, then they get their share.”

Above all, Martin believes too many people try to get published before they have a product. He spent years participating in writers’ groups and mastering his genre. “Hone your craft. Read lots. Write lots.”

That’s a lot of cautionary advice, but encouraging nonetheless. After all, it comes from a guy who went from working Polish fests to dabbling in Hollywood.

You can go to James Conroyd Martin’s website for more info on purchasing Push Not the River and Against a Crimson Sky. [Update: the conclusion of Martin's Poland trilogy, The Warsaw Conspiracy, has since been published. His site has info on purchasing that book as well. --Ed.]

--Justin Sengstock

[Justin Sengstock is a Read/Write Library cataloger and blog editor. In his non-RWL life, he is a south suburban writer focusing on social justice and religion. Justin’s writing has appeared in the books Hungering and Thirsting for Justice and An Irrepressible Hope, both published by Chicago-based ACTA in 2012. Justin is a graduate of Loyola University Chicago.]

[batmonica]

And yet he left her life like an actor exits the stage at the end of his part in a play.  Here was another lesson.  This is life, she mused, people pass through your life—and you through theirs—and then it is finished, the scene written and played.  There was something immeasurably sad about that.

Push Not the River by James Conroyd Martin

[batmonica]

A vast wealth of power used successfully—but unwisely—could lead to failure.

Against a Crimson Sky by James Conroyd Martin

[batmonica]

Oh, I suppose you think I speak the words of a whore, but I can see where my fortune lies, and I would rather ride the whirlwind and direct the storm than lead a long life.

Push Not the River by James Conroyd Martin

[batmonica]

'Tell me, Lady Lubicki, what is the secret to your long life?' The woman grinned.  'Whimsy!' 'Whimsy?' 'Yes, Anna.  Follow your heart.  Indulge your whims.  They are usually correct.  And when they are not, do not allow the world to judge you overly much.'

Push Not the River by James Conroyd Martin

[batmonica]

The roots of learning are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.

Push Not the River by James Conroyd Martin