Background material

Wimbledon – the Frenchy with the short skirt & the gay superstar

“What have we got for below the fold?” Asked Rollo.
A voice piped up: “Wimbledon. That Frenchy won again. The one with the short skirt. And Daniel’s got a luv-er-ly pic.”
On cue Daniel walked to the front of the room and presented a picture of Suzanne Lenglen to Rollo who in turn showed it to the room. It was met by wolf whistles. No one bothered apologizing to Poppy.
From The Jazz Files.

Our heroine’s first day at work on The Daily Globe was on 4 July 1920, the day after the Wimbledon Finals. The men’s singles were won by Bill Tilden who defeated Australian Gerald Patterson (2–6, 6–3, 6–2, 6–4), and was the first American to ever win the title. Tilden also became the first player to reach 10 finals at a single Grand Slam event. His record stood until 2015, when Roger Federer reached his tenth Wimbledon final. Tilden’s personal life, however, was mired in tragedy and his closet homosexuality (illegal at the time) led to scandal and turmoil, including rumoured liaisons with ball boys.

Bill Tilden
Bill Tilden

The women’s singles were won, again, by ‘the Frenchy in the short skirt’ Suzanne Lenglen, considered by many the greatest French sports woman of all time. Lenglen won every year between 1919 and 1925, apart from 1924 when she had to withdraw in the quarter finals with whooping cough. She was a fashion icon and paved the way for women to wear shorter, looser fitting clothing on court, causing a scandal at the time. She was also renowned for smoking cheroots and drinking brandy between sets. Despite this dubious diet, she won an incredible 241 titles, with a 98% winning record over her entire career. She partied as hard as she played, and, in The Jazz Files, she makes a cameo appearance at Oscars Jazz Club the same evening Charlie Chaplin arrives. She died of leukemia on 4 July 1938, after going blind. She was only 39.

Suzanne Lenglen
Suzanne Lenglen
Suzanne Lenglen and Bill Tilden, singles champions at the 1920 Wimbledon Championships
Suzanne Lenglen and Bill Tilden, singles champions at the 1920 Wimbledon Championships

For more on Wimbledon in the 1920s visit the official Wimbledon archive.

Background material

Anyone for tennis?

My final corrections are done and dusted on Poppy Denby Investigates, book 2, The Kill Fee. So today I am back with Poppy and Delilah on the cruise ship heading to New York in book 3. They’ve been swimming and now they’ve been invited for a spot of deck tennis by a pair of dashing Long Island fellows. Delilah has just dug this little number out of her trunk (now housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum, fashion collection). Pimms anyone?

tennisThe Kill Fee

Background material, News

The bathing suit competition

There has been a great deal of light-hearted debate on my Fiona Veitch Smith – author FB page. In book 3, Poppy and Delilah are on a cruise, travelling to New York, on the RMS Olympic. They are about to try out the on-board swimming pool and need to choose outfits. As fans of the series know, I like to dress my characters (whenever possible) in original 1920s outfits that I source from fashion museums, books and archives. So I gave people the choice between eight outfits, as seen in this original photograph, and asked them to choose an outfit for both the girls. See which ones you would put them in then scroll down to see the results! If you agree or disagree I would love to hear from you in the comments below :)

bathing suit parade

And now for the results: These are the top three popular choices for each of our leading ladies in descending order:

Poppy: 6, 1, 2
Delilah: 7, 2, 6

So that’s decided! Poppy will be in horizontal stripes and Delilah the floral pattern. For colours I’m going with dark green and gold for Delilah (gold flowers) and nautical blue and white stripes for Poppy. I’ll make Poppy’s slightly longer though.
Now you’ll have to wait until 2017 to see your choice in print!!!!!

News

How ‘Christian’ is the Poppy Denby series?

4 Comments

I have just received the most lovely review from an American reader who also happens to be a Christian. Now, although my publisher Lion Fiction is part of a Christian publishing company (and their American distributor, Kregel, is a Christian company too), Lion’s aim, and mine, is not to write ‘Christian fiction’. It is to write great fiction, compatible with a Christian worldview, that can be enjoyed by anyone. So I never describe what I write as Christian fiction and am grateful that in most bookshops The Jazz Files is listed simply under historical mystery and crime.

For me, faith – or the lack of it – is part of the fabric of life. So it is inevitable that faith will seep into my writing. That would happen whether I was writing for a Christian publisher or not. My novel The Peace Garden (published by Crafty Publishing) is not a ‘Christian book’ in any way, but some of the characters are Christian (and some Jewish and some Muslim). And of course themes of redemption, forgiveness and reconciliation run through the book. The same is true of the Poppy Denby Investigates series. It has been read and reviewed by people of faith and no faith – and that’s just the way I want it to be. It is also stocked in general bookshops such as Waterstones here in the UK. So if people of no faith – or a different faith – get back to me and say they think I am trying to Bible bash them, I would think I had failed as a novelist. And, I suppose, general bookshops might stop stocking it and that would prevent a whole lot of readers – who would never buy a book from a so-called ‘Christian’ bookshop – having access to it.

I am not a Christian novelist (although I am a novelist who happens to be a Christian). I am first and foremost a storyteller. I simply want to write about real people with messy lives. In Poppy’s case that means struggling with the faith she has been brought up with as she tries to find her own way in the world. That includes thinking about what she believes in God, for herself, not just what her upbringing has taught her. A few – and fortunately only a very few – Christians have been offended that I have put my character in the midst of ‘sinners’ and felt she was not ‘Christian’ enough. Well perhaps the Poppy Denby Investigates series is not their cup of tea. But how heartening it is to receive reviews from Christian readers who really seem to get it. One of those reviewers was Beth Milinski on her wonderful blog, For the Love of Books. She said:

“I enjoyed all of the characters in this book but I absolutely LOVED Poppy Denby. She is a great character with a natural curiosity and instinct to find out the truth. She struggles with what is right and wrong, making choices to honor her beliefs. Poppy loves her Aunt Dot and is motivated by Dot’s confidence in her. All of the characters in this book are real, their lives are messy, trouble happens, people get hurt, good people do bad things to try to help, and good can triumph over evil.”

Thank you Beth. It’s good to be reminded that we are all people with messy lives. And yet, we are still loved.

Background material

Film footage of Poppy’s cruise to New York

2 Comments

I’m currently writing book 3 in the Poppy Denby Investigates series. Poppy and her friends will be going to New York, travelling on an oceanliner the RMS Olympic, sister ship to the Titanic. As you well know, the Titanic sank in 1912 (in The Jazz Files Elizabeth Dorchester’s mother, Maud, died on the maiden voyage, and in book 2, The Kill Fee, the parents of Delilah’s new boyfriend also went the same way). The Olympic was one of three sisters operated by the White Star Line between Europe and New York. The third ship, the Britannic, was sunk by a German underwater mine in 1916. But the Olympic survived and had a long and illustrious career until 1934 when she was finally decomissioned. Poppy and her pals will be travelling in April 1921. I am beside myself to have found this incredible promotional film of life on board the Olympic. Just imagine what fun Poppy is going to have! It’s 16 minutes long, so make sure you have a cup of tea at the ready – and don’t forget to turn up the sound.

Background material

£20 million Faberge Egg nearly sold for scrap

Today I am giving the manuscript for Poppy’s second adventure a bit of spit and polish. In my notes I have come across this article about a Faberge Egg worth £20 million that was bought for a song at a car boot sale and then nearly sold for scrap. This was the article that gave me the idea for Poppy Denby 2, The Kill Fee, which will be coming out in September. To find out what intrigue Poppy unearths with the Romanov Royal family and stolen Faberge Eggs, you’ll have to wait for the book! I’m a tease, I know 😉

In the meantime, you can read about the £20 million egg here.

Faberge 5

Background material

Mary Pickford & cinema in the 1920s

I saw this last night on TV and have now tracked it down on YouTube. It’s a documentary about Mary Pickford and the development of early cinema. I wasn’t aware that she was a shrewd businesswoman too and along with Chaplin and Fairbanks started her own studio. If the film industry itself doesn’t interest you then the documentary footage of the time just might. Of particular note is the footage of Mary and Amelia Earhardt speaking about the role of groundbreaking women of the time plus Chaplin and Fairbanks devising some slapstick routines in the garden. I loved it!

News

It’s fun but it ‘aint fluffy!

Delighted that The Jazz Files is a featured book of the month at Love Reading UK with a crop of flapulous reviews. I think my favourite is ”Feared this would be a ‘fluffy’ lightweight but found it remarkably engaging most notably for capturing many of the social changes of the 1920s’. Fluffy, moi????

And if you buy through the Love Reading website you get 20% off the cover price! Now that’s a New Year’s bargain.

Poppy Denby investigates