THE WORLD OF POPPY DENBY:A HISTORICAL NOTE ON THE KILL FEE

I got the idea for The Kill Fee through a confluence of events and coincidences. After finishing book 1 in the series, The Jazz Files, I was doing some background reading to see what historical events might form the backdrop for Poppy’s next adventure. I considered taking her to Egypt, so she could get caught up in the intrigue surrounding the discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb; but that took place in 1922, so was too far in the future.

So what was happening in the autumn of 1920? The event that attracted me the most was the end of the Russian Civil War. But how to tie this in to our Poppy in London…? Three things happened: first, I was reading a fantastic book called The Russian Court at Sea, by Frances Welch (Short Books, 2011), about the rescue of Empress Maria Federovna and the surviving Romanovs. In 1919 they were picked up in Yalta by the British warship HMS Marlborough and taken to Malta. Now Malta, as fans of the Poppy Denby Investigates series know, is where Delilah Marconi’s father lives. So immediately my ears pricked up. From Malta they were then brought to London. The empress lived for a while with her sister in Kensington Palace, but then, like most of the other exiled Romanovs, she moved on. She died in Denmark in 1928, still in the firm belief that her son Nicholas and his family were alive.

The year 1919 was a bit too early for my timeframe, but I skirt over this in The Kill Fee by having them in the country for “some months” at the start of the story. In reality they landed on British shores in late May 1919.

So I knew I wanted to have the Romanovs in exile as part of my story, but I was not yet sure of the plot. Then, with a phrase from Welch’s book – “rolled-up Rembrandts and Fabergé eggs” – on my mind, I came across an article about a man in America who had bought what he thought was a replica Fabergé egg at a junk sale only to discover, ten years later, it was the genuine article and worth twenty million pounds! The day after I read this article I came across my own Fabergé egg in an Oxfam charity shop in Newcastle upon Tyne. This was most definitely a cheap imitation – the silver paint was already peeling off – but the coincidence was remarkable. I bought the egg for ten pounds, brought it home and started plotting my novel.

A few other deliberate tweaks to the historical timeline have taken place. First, the Russian embassy didn’t move to Kensington Gardens until 1927 – previously it was in Belgravia. But I needed it there to allow Poppy and her friends to flee to the palace on foot. A second known anachronism is the selling of the paper poppies. These were launched by the British Legion in 1921 – but I have brought it forward a year to allow for the character of Sarge, and to give Poppy an opportunity to remember her brother and remind readers of the shadow of the war, which plays such a big part in the first book in the series, The Jazz Files.

Apart from that, as far as I am aware, I have stuck strictly to the historical timeline; from what music was played at the time to the fashion designers who were in vogue. I’m sure you will forgive me for the few deliberate “adjustments” I made for the sake of the story – and for any unintentional errors you may find on the way.

Finally, before I am accused of character assassination, a few words on the Yusopovs. Felix Yusopov was indeed one of the murderers of Gregori Rasputin. The “mad monk” was killed in the hope that, out of his thrall, the tsarina Alexandra would be open to influence her husband towards reform. Sadly, she did not.

Yusopov and his wife did travel with the empress on HMS Marlborough, along with their young daughter. The family moved to Paris from London in 1920 and set up a couture house. As far as I know, they had absolutely nothing to do with the theft of Fabergé eggs – or anything else! Neither did the empress. This plotline – as well as the exhibition at the Crystal Palace – is purely a figment of my imagination. This is, after all, a novel, not a history textbook. And I do hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it and will be eagerly awaiting Poppy’s next adventure.

FOR FURTHER READING:

Visit www.poppydenby.com for more historical information on the period, gorgeous pictures of 1920s fashion and décor, audio and video links to 1920s music and news clips, a link to the author’s website, as well as news about upcoming titles in the Poppy Denby Investigates series.

 

Shepherd, Janet and John Shepherd, 1920s Britain, Oxford: Shire Living Histories, Shire Publications, 2010.

 

Shrimpton, Jayne, Fashion in the 1920s, Oxford: Shire Publications, 2013.

 

Taylor, D.J., Bright Young People: The rise and fall of a generation 1918–1940, London: Vintage, Random House, 2008.

 

Waugh, Evelyn, Vile Bodies, London: Chapman and Hall, 1930.

 

Waugh, Evelyn, Scoop, (1938) London: Penguin Classics, Penguin, 2000.

 

Welch, Frances, The Russian Court at Sea, London: Short Books, 2011.