'The Smallest Man' by Frances Quinn
Review and Interview with author
One quite striking 17th century related work of fiction that has appeared this year is a debut novel by Frances Quinn titled 'The Smallest Man'. The lead character 'Nat Davy '' is partly based on the life of Jeffrey Hudson, a dwarf who was 'given' by the Duke of Buckingham as a present to Queen Henrietta Maria ,wife to Charles I. An affinity developed between Henrietta and 'her' dwarf who became quite a valued companion . In fact the Restoration historian Jennifer Uglow maintained that Henrietta Maria showed "far more affection"to Jeffrey Hudson than the "children who were later born to her." (UGLOW) . And Anthony Van Dyck painted a portrait of them together in 1632.
The great strength of the novel is that it constructs the events of the time from the point of view of a figure who is both an outsider but yet is in the eye of the storm .Nat Davy's time at Court -with its own set of dramas - is contrasted with the seething political and religious tensions outside. He is gradually made aware of how hostile Londoners seem to be towards Henrietta Maria and the Crown generally. The royal flight away from the capital and later into exile to France, are important themes. But there are no extensive history lectures to be found within the book, the reader is just guided to make their own further enquiry. An approach I quite favour.
And throughout the novel Nat Davy is shown as someone who achieved friendships and admiration whilst refusing to be a soft target for those who pick on him. At least one bully makes the fatal mistake of underestimating him. The author successfully gets beyond treating Nat Davy as an object of pity, and has all the traits of a complex individual who deserves a novel devoted to their life.
Without delivering a spoiler ,Nat, like his actual counterpart Jeffrey Hudson is forced to leave France on not particularly good terms. In 'The Smallest Man' Nat Davy goes on to have more fortunate life than Jeffrey Hudson.
There is one formal biography of Jeffrey Hudson that I know of ; 'Lord Minimus -The extraordinary life of Britain's Smallest Man ' by Nick Page . Recently noticed that there is a fictionalised life of Jeffrey Hudson titled 'The Queen's Dwarf' by Ella March Chase. Jeffrey Hudson also featured as a character in Sir Walter Scott's novel 'Peveril of the Peak' (1823) , set during the Succession Crisis of 1679-1681.
I asked author Frances Quinn a few questions via email.
1.I understand that the book is inspired by the life of Jeffrey Hudson, most famous for being the Court dwarf and companion to Queen Henrietta. What led you to create you own fictional character as opposed to write a novel based on Hudson's life?
Initially I intended the book to be a fictionalised account of Jeffrey's life, but the thing with real life that it doesn't usually have the shape and direction you need for a good novel-it meanders around, takes blind alleys and doesn't respect the need to tie up all the loose threads by the last chapter! Jeffrey's life was actually too eventful for a novel which might seem strange, but as a debut novelist, you generally can't go above 100,000 words, and within that, you need to create strong characters and a convincing world, rather than just catalogue events. So I felt the story would be strong if I created a fictional character, and used some of the things that happened to Jeffrey, rather than trying to tell his whole story.
2 What interested you particularly in the subject of dwarfism for a novel? I can't think of any others which have a dwarf as the lead character, apart from Gunter Grass' 'Tin Drum'.
It was really Jeffrey himself that caught my intention initially- I can across his Wikipedia entry while researching a completely different idea for a novel, and even from the bald facts of his life, his character shone through. He'd been dealt quite a difficult hand in life, but he'd obviously grabbed what chances he was given and made something of himself. And then I researched dwarfism a bit more, it got me thinking about what it would be like for a man to be smaller and physically weaker than other men at a time when strength and physical capabilities would be even more important than now-in everyday life, and then even more when war breaks out. Nat is a very much a 'blokey' man-he wants to go and fight, but he can't, so he has to figure out another way to be useful in the war.
3. Which novelists-either in the historical fiction genre or elsewhere, have inspired you?
I'm a big fan of Diana Norman, who sadly died a few years ago, and to my mind was never as well-known as she should have been. Her books are meticulously researched and you feel totally there in the period when you read them but she never hits you over the head with her research or hold up the story for paragraphs of unnecessary description. Her characters are always fun to spend time with and there's a touch of humour that you don't often find in historical fiction.
4. What pitfalls do you recommend historical fiction writers to avoid? One strength of the novel was that you avoided including a whole history of the run up and outbreak of the Civil War.
The biggest pitfall is letting your historical research overshadow the story. You want to give enough detail for your readers to feel that they're with the characters, but do it sparingly. I can't bear it when every chair, shoe or pair of curtains is described in loving detail, it holds up the story and I find myself skipping over it. When it comes to historical events, especially complicated ones like the English Civil War, the key is to figure out what the reader absolutely needs to know to understand what's going on, and give them that and no more-better that they're curious and Google to find out more than you overload the story with background info and they lost interest and put the book down. And think too about what your characters would actually know- people living through events haven't read the history books! It was realising that made me see I didn't have to give a full blown account of the events of the Civil War, only a picture of what happened as it impacted on Nat, the main character.
5. What further plans do you have concerning fiction? Will you write more about the 17th century?
My next book, 'That Bonesetter Woman', is set in Georgian London, but I might well come back to the 17th century after that -it's such a fascinating period, and yet most people know very little about it. I think the Stuarts deserve to steal a more limelight from the ubiquitous Tudors.
Ends
I wish to thank Frances Quinn for answering some questions.
Reference
'A Gambling Man-Charles II and the Restoration' Jenny Uglow.
History Extra article 'The Amazing Life of Jeffrey Hudson Queen Henrietta Maria's Dwarf ' by John Woolf
Author contact
I have been moving the posts from 'A Burnt Ship' relating to the Duke of Monmouth and the Monmouth Rebellion on to a separate blog 1685 Monmouth Rebellion. There will be some new material there shortly.
As ever wish to thank the readers of this blog for visiting , and wishing you all well during these troubled times.
Michael Bully
Brighton
12th June 2021.
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