Authors Interviewing Characters: Terri Lewis

Today I’ll be interviewing Maurelle, a spying maid who snuck into my debut novel, Behold the Bird in Flight, when I wasn’t looking. The story tells of Isabelle, King John’s second wife. A romantic headstrong girl who caught King John’s eye. He married her, took her to England, and made her queen where she grew into a fascinating woman.

I wrote the crazy events that got Isabelle into queenhood, then took a break, giving the new couple time to adjust to each other. Two years later when I looked in on them again, Isabelle was sailing home to France. She hated England and wanted to leave John. At that moment, Maurelle appeared, uninvited and seasick in the bottom of the boat.

I shouldn’t have been surprised. John demanded loyalty. As king, he deserved it. But he didn’t trust Isabelle’s loyalty or love, so he’d hired a maid to keep an eye on her.

A little background. John abducted Isabelle from a French fiancé. The fiancé wanted her back, the French king got involved, wars broke out, John’s mother was besieged, the Pope excommunicated him, the barons revolted, the Magna Carta was written. Basically John’s life went to shit.

I’m hoping this interview will shed some light on Isabelle’s relationship with John.

TL: Good morrow, Maurelle. Can you start by telling us a little about yourself?

M (peeved): Born in Titchfield. Raised in the abbey. Poor, but smart. By the way, rude to mention the seasickness. Me first time in a boat. Also I got a question. Why the weird name? Why not something pretty? Anne, Margaret. And you ain’t given me a last name.

TL: Sorry. In the 1200’s, peasants didn’t have them. Now, I know Isabelle wanted a maid from her home in France. You’re English. How’d you get the job?

M (proudly): King John hired me. His man asked around the market. Them heard I was tricky. Warn’t no swiving involved.

TL: I believe you mean exchange of sexual favors. So, what were your duties?

M (exasperated): Like any maid. Managing clothes. Following orders. Keeping track, Isabelle always running. So unlady like. John drug us all around England. I on a pallet at the end of her bed. Hard as a rock; she got feathers. Just because she was beautiful and caught the king’s eye.

TL: Sounds easy, better than living on the street.

M (in a huff): Not easy, no ma’am. Prying. Reporting back. John, he was a nasty churl. He’d whack me like when I reported Isabelle rescued a runt of a dog. Warn’t my doing. As I said, she could be a handful.

TL: Did you enjoy anything about the job?

M (sighing): Oh, the silks, the jewels, the furs. Many a time I rubbed ‘em on my cheek. Once—our secret—I tried on a pin the king had given her. The very one he courted her with. Oh, and I learnt Latin so’s to write to John. Writing? Pah! But right useful when Isabelle snuck out to meet someone in France. Might be a paramour and John over in England. He got my letter and yanked her back right quick. Her face! Assuredly ‘twas a lover. John rewarded me well.

TL: Still, Isabelle was quick witted, at times outsmarting the king. Did you like her?

M (with a snort): The Most. Difficult. Girl. Fourteen when we met, stubborn as a mule. Determined. Knew how to wheedle her way. I seen her beguile John with words, smiles, bargaining. A clever puss. She paid though. Got herself locked away. Sword hanging over her head. Still, I was wont to admire her. She stood up, fought to live, and got through it all.

TL: Well, our time is up. I appreciate your thoughts on Isabelle.

M (loudly): Wait a minute. I ain’t done. You took a piss when you wrote that I . . .

—

Terri Lewis fell in love with medieval history in college. Not the dates or wars, but the mysterious daily lives of the people. Building on this love, she read and traveled widely, marveling at Europe’s preserved towns and castles. Finally, two sentences in a book bought at Windsor Castle led her to write Behold the Bird in Flight, which Kirkus called “A riveting piece of historical fiction…” Terri’s writing has been honed through workshops with Jill McCorkle, Laura van den Berg, and Rebecca Makkai, and she has published in literary magazines. She lives with her husband and two lively dogs in Denver, Colorado. 

To find out what Maurelle didn’t say about Isabelle, you can pick up Behold the Bird in Flight, A Novel of an Abducted Queen at Simon and Schuster, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Bookshop.org. 

Visit Terri online at terrilewis1.com 

Sign up for her newsletter at terrilewis1.substack.com

Behold the Bird in Flight: A Novel of an Abducted Queen

For fans of Maggie O’Farrell, a coming-of-age story and a royal love triangle marked by danger and longing, based on real events in medieval France and England.

Romantic and stubborn, eleven-year-old Isi plans to marry for love and be mistress of her own castle. But life in 1198 is full of threat and a series of tragic events teaches her growing up is hard.

When Isi falls for Hugh, a French nobleman, he consents to marry her, but only for her dowry. She longs for more. Hoping a jealous man will fall in love, she flirts with a king. The flirtation backfires: King John abducts and marries her. Now trapped in cold, warring England with a malicious husband, Isi must hide her yearning for Hugh and find her own power. If she fails, she won’t live to return to her beloved.

Inspired by real historical figures—Isabelle d’Angoulême, Hugh de Lusignan, and King John of Magna Carta fame—Behold the Bird in Flight is set in a period that valued women only for their dowries and childbearing. Isabelle’s story has been mainly erased by men, but the medieval chronicles suggest a woman who developed her own power and wielded it—in court and in bed. And as the woman behind the throne, who’s to say she didn’t influence history?

BUY HERE

 

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: Interviews, On Writing