January 1670. London is enduring its worst winter in decades. But for Samuel Pepys, the darkest days are yet to come.
‘The past is never dead,’ to quote William Faulkner. ‘It’s not even past.’ Those of us who spend our professional lives immersed in history will understand that better than most. It’s one reason why historical diaries are such treasure troves. Not only do they provide an insight into the day-to-day lives of our ancestors, but they give us access to the unfiltered thoughts of people who lived centuries before we were born.
Perhaps the most famous diary in the English language was written by Samuel Pepys (1633-1703). He wrote over a million words about his life in London, both at home and as a senior civil servant in the court of King Charles II. His writing is frank, sometimes shocking, and often very funny. But then, in the summer of 1669, he just stopped. Pepys lived for another 30 years after that – how tantalising that he failed to keep a diary during that time too. But what if he did? Now, there’s an idea for a book…
The Lost Diary of Samuel Pepys
My first novel, The Lost Diary of Samuel Pepys, imagined what he did next. In my version of history, Pepys becomes a reluctant investigator for the crown. The format allows me to craft historical crime thrillers with Pepys at the centre; an appealing mixture of fact and speculative fiction. My new book, Seething Lane, takes place in London during the long, harsh winter of 1670. I find it an irresistible setting – a time of upheaval on a scale that, just a generation previously, would have seemed impossible to imagine.
When Samuel Pepys was born, in 1633, the order of things was pretty clear. There was God, then the king, then everyone else. Then, from 1642 to 1651, there was a devastating civil war – per capita, by far the most deadly conflict in English history – culminating in the execution of the king. It’s easy to forget what a radical act that was. Imagine the conversations that must have gone on around dinner tables and on the streets. How could a country be governed without a monarch? Was killing a king a sin against God himself?
Pepys and the English Republic
The English Republic that followed lasted a little over a decade, which saw England governed by Puritans, a highly conservative religious sect, led by the ‘Lord Protector,’ Oliver Cromwell. And while there is still fierce debate about this period of English history, I think we can agree that absolutely nobody was having a good time (including the Puritans – which, to be fair, was just the way they liked it).
Then, in 1660, Charles was restored to the throne, but the balance of power had shifted. The decade that followed was a hell of a time to be alive. Alongside war, plague and disaster came the widespread liberalisation of laws governing culture. The pubs were allowed to reopen – joy unconfined! – along with brothels, places to hear music, and, perhaps most significantly of all, the theatres.
But the world had moved on in the eighteen years since theatre had last been legal in England. There were now such things as stage sets, for example, and a new, more naturalistic style of acting became fashionable. If we were able to travel back in time and watch a Restoration-era play, the acting would no doubt seem quite mannered to us, but to anyone who could remember the old ways, it would all have felt radically new and modern. And most exciting of all, women were now legally allowed on the stage. Until then, all female parts had to be played by men. The era of the celebrity actress was well and truly born.
Pepys and the Theatre
Samuel Pepys adored the theatre, but it was a passion he was only able to discover when he was well into adulthood. He certainly made up for lost time. His diaries are filled with accounts of plays he saw, good or bad. So it felt only natural that, when I came to write the follow-up to The Lost Diary of Samuel Pepys, I decided to send him into the glamorous world of Restoration Theatre, where he must hunt down a killer.
Along the way, I get to introduce Pepys to some extraordinary, real-life characters from history, including the king’s playboy illegitimate son, James, the Duke of Monmouth; the playwright, Aphra Behn; and, of course, Nell Gwyn. Of all those pioneering women who first took to the stage none of them reached the same heights of fame as Nell. Talented, potty mouthed, and very funny, she worked her way from abject poverty to fame and fortune, both as a performer, and as one of the king’s (many) notorious mistress.
I enjoyed every minute of my writer’s journey into that racy and glamorous world, amid that most seismic decade of English history. Please take your seats – the show is about to begin…
(c) Jack Jewers
About Seething Lane by Jack Jewers:
When a strange young man turns up at his office on Seething Lane asking for help, Samuel Pepys is too distracted to take him seriously. Nell Gwyn is about to make her scandalous return to the stage and he wouldn’t miss it for all the world.
But in the cold of a winter’s dawn, tragedy strikes. Called upon to investigate the brutal murder of a libertine aristocrat, Pepys discovers that the dead man is connected to his mysterious visitor in the most shocking way possible.
A trail of secrets leads Pepys from the backstreets of London to the glamorous world of the theatre, where nothing is quite as it seems. But whatever the dangers, he may find that the deadliest threat lies closer to home…
Reimagining one of Britain’s greatest historical figures through a 21st century lens, Seething Lane is a gripping new mystery from the author of the critically acclaimed thriller The Lost Diary Of Samuel Pepys.
Seething Lane by Jack Jewers is published in Hardback, eBook and Audio on Thursday 3rd September (Moonflower, £18.99) available to pre-order online here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Seething-Lane-Samuel-Pepys-Novel/dp/1916678092
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