Writing Gay Mysteries Set in the 1880s: Fact or Fiction?

I’m delighted to welcome Jackson Marsh to the blog today to talk about writing his ten book Victorian series, The Clearwater Mysteries. They are complex, engrossing books that dip deep into the history of the period. Take it away, Jackson!

In 1890, when my current work in progress is set, being gay in Britain was punishable by up to two years in prison with hard labour. This came about because the Labouchere Amendment to the 1885 Criminal Law Amendment Act made ‘gross indecency’ a crime. This law stood in various forms until 1967 (1980 in Scotland), which means being gay was criminal when my romantic historical series is set.

That was one of the reasons I wanted to write The Clearwater Mysteries. Throughout the eleven books, my main characters live under the pressure of being criminals simply because they were born gay. Their love must remain hidden because it is a ‘love that dare not speak its name’, as Lord Alfred Douglass famously wrote in his poem of 1892, ‘Two Loves.’ Forbidden love was one subject I wanted to explore, but there are many others.

Inspired by Jack the Ripper

The idea for the Clearwater Mysteries began as a brain-spark. ‘What if Jack the Ripper killed rent boys?’ That idea set off ‘Deviant Desire’, the story of how, in 1888, one such street-rat renter rises from being a prostitute living in a rope house to living with a viscount. The love theme was ‘insta-love’, and it happens across the classes. The story developed based on actual events of the time (twisted to suit my world), and by the time I reached the end, I realised I hadn’t written a standalone novel as I intended, but the first in what was crying out to be a series. I have been writing the series for over two years now and am just finishing the 10^th mystery, which leaves the way open for another series set in the same world.

There’s More to Romance Novels than Love

I wasn’t only interested in writing a love story where a gay relationship crossed the class divide in Victorian Britain. I’d always wanted to write compelling mysteries, adventures and bromance, and The Clearwater Mysteries contain all those elements. Of my five main characters, four are gay, the other has had a bromance with one, and later, two more young, gay men join the ‘crew.’ The Clearwater world is a gay one for sure, and yet the word ‘gay’ didn’t even exist in that context at the time. The word ‘Homosexuality’ was only just starting to be used in the medical and psychology professions.

I realised that where Lord Clearwater and his friends were restricted by society, laws and expectations, so I was restricted by language, technology and experience. For example, it wasn’t until I’d published ‘Deviant Desire’ that I realised I couldn’t use the word ‘Okay’ because it didn’t come about until the 1930s. (I’ve since edited that, and other words, from the text.) That’s one of the things that irks me about historical fiction; authors not using time-appropriate language. I try not to write in a convoluted Victorian style unless it is how a character speaks, but there is no excuse for using words that people in 1890 would not have known. These days I’ve become adept at stopping myself and asking, ‘Can I use that word?’ The other day, I was working on ‘The Clearwater Inheritance’ when I typed the word ‘Paperwork.’ A quick check, and I discovered that word wasn’t used until 1940.

Fact + Fiction = Friction

Language is one thing; facts are another. Although ‘Deviant Desire’ is not about Jack the Ripper, what takes place is based on events of the time. I love mixing fact with fiction and using the combination to cause friction and drama between characters.

Through the series, we find ourselves backstage at the Royal Opera House, where an assassination is to take place. All the details of the stage, facilities and even the weight of the curtains are accurate. In ‘Fallen Splendour’, I use a Tennyson poem as the clue device, and one of my fictional characters meets the poet. Details about his house, appearance and works, are accurate. Later, we meet Sir Arthur Sullivan, Henry Irving and Bram Stoker and go to the Garrick Club and the Lyceum Theatre. We also break into the National Gallery as accurately as possible. The prequel, ‘Banyak & Fecks’ is the most accurately researched one of the lot, and was a joy to write.

So, there are constraints when writing historical fiction, but there is also a wealth of opportunity. All you have to do is be accurate with your language and research the hell out of everything. And that’s a fact.