Godiva: Unbridled (14 page)
Authors: Jenny Dare
I truly hope you enjoyed this book! Please
Author’s Notes:
Who knew
that the Lady Godiva legend and the Peeping Tom story were entwined? I didn’t, and finding out was what let to my writing this novel. Please take to heart; this is a very fictional story. Some of the names and places have roots in fact and in history. But very soon after the names and places, the historic accuracy ends and entertainment takes over. Even the accepted Godiva tale is much debated, and the story widely told today is most likely enriched with details added throughout the ages depending on cultural and social themes of the time. For a nice historical breakdown of the “real” Godiva story, there are many sources on the Internet. These notes are to dispel any belief that I intend to retell history, as that was never my goal with this story. Rather, I saw two characters that play a part in our pop culture even today and I thought it would be fun to put them into an alternate situation.
The middle ages
are much romanticized and if we kept to historical accuracies in our entertainment, it really wouldn’t be much fun. Every time I see a period movie or TV show where the actors are sparkling clean with shiny, well-kept hair and perfect, gleaming white teeth I roll my eyes and grimace at first, then just get on board for the ride. We all like to look at pretty things, right? So I took some creative liberty with this story as well. I completely acknowledge: this book is rife with anachronisms. In medieval times, bathtubs and bathing in general certainly wasn’t a daily thing, but it leant such a wonderful element to the story, I decided to mix in a little 19
th
-century luxury to an 11
th
century setting. But I also loved some of the historical things I learned as ideas came to me, and the shaving method with the seashell is actually pretty accurate. Look it up. It’s good stuff.
As for Godiva herself
as an historical character, once I started writing Unbridled, I then did a little reading on her (in that order) and I was having internal battles with the character I was creating versus the character she actually was. Fiction, right? But I couldn’t quite separate everything, so I changed some pretty big things in this story. In history, Godiva was married to Leofric, the Earl of Mercia. In this story… her husband is his brother. Still the Earl of Mercia, but a bit of a person swap. I’ve got lots of reasons for doing that, which may or may not come to light if this series goes on beyond this single novel. As for Thomas, my “Peeping Tom” character, he is also much changed. The addition of Peeping Tom in the Godiva tale would have come much later, 18
th
century from what I’ve read whereas here, he’s a main character right there in the middle of the year 1025. So again, plenty of anachronisms, but all in the name of entertainment.
This all said
, take it for what it’s worth. I certainly mean only to entertain, stretch a little creative muscle, spread a little love (or sometimes a lot, and frequently, depending on the scene) and ultimately, I hope this is a small escape that you, as the reader, have enjoyed. My sincerest thanks to all who have read this book, and I welcome any feedback. As a writer who normally plays in a much different genre, this has definitely been an interesting and lovely place to visit. Please take a moment to
