This is the second novel I’ve written set in the Victorian/Edwardian eras and beyond, and I hope to write another soon. These books are inspired by and based on real women, although, of course, scenes and dialogue are fictionalized—what Alex Haley, who wrote Roots, dubbed “faction.”
I have stayed as true to real people and events as I could—although these “It Girls” had such amazing careers and knew so many fascinating people that I had to ignore some events and occasionally collapse time a bit. I tried to be careful not to simply name drop, because their friends and acquaintances were a list of who’s who of two continents and several historical eras, and, in many cases, deserved development of their own.
I discovered Lucile while reading a research book, The Real Life Downton Abbey by Jacky Hyams, for my previous historical novel, The Royal Nanny. Three short paragraphs convinced me to look into Lucile’s life—and what a life! She was a survivor of the Titanic to top all that off! And then to discover she had a sister who was an early romance novelist who also wrote for early Hollywood was a special gift. However, having two dynamic heroines made this the most challenging book of the many I have written.
By the way, I didn’t create any of the sisters’ antics or adventures—for example: Elinor’s abduction in Warsaw really happened and was never solved. Elinor and her friend Charlie Chaplin did discover a murder right outside her hotel door. Perhaps truth is stranger than fiction.
The sisters did go on to present the play Knowing Men together, though it relied on the past so much that it wasn’t very popular in the new Jazz Age.
Both Sutherland sisters were famous enough to have been mentioned in Downton Abbey. If you were a fan, perhaps you’ll recall that Tom Branson mentioned that Mrs. Glyn “writes scandalous books” in one of the episodes. And way back when Edith was first to be married but then was left at the altar, her family members planning her trousseau mentioned putting her in Lucile lingerie.
By the way, there is still a modern lingerie company that banks on Lucile’s reputation; take a look at their wares at www.lucileandco.com. These are definitely not her designs, though she might have approved that they are lovely and risqué. And more trivia: Audrey Hepburn’s fabulous ball dress in the movie My Fair Lady was based on Lucile’s design for Snow Princess for the opera The Merry Widow. Lucile’s dress designs, like her hats, swept London fashions.
In case you would like to pursue any reading or research about these original “It Girls,” here is a list of some of the works I consulted. These are books focusing specifically on the sisters, though I also read others about the general culture and times.
Lucile, Her Life by Design by Randy Bryan Bigham, MacEvie Press Group, Los Angeles, 2012. This is a huge, expensive book with many illustrations. I want to thank Gayle Strege, curator of the Ohio State University Historic Costume & Textiles Collection, for obtaining a rare copy of it for me. Gayle and her staff have been very helpful. The amazing costume collection they oversee at Ohio State includes a 1916 Lucile ivory silk wedding dress, which can be viewed at this website gallery: http://fashion2fiber.osu.edu/items/show/3766. Additional Lucile designs can be seen on Pinterest or other sites by entering her name.
Other books I read and consulted include the autobiographies of both women:
Discretions and Indiscretions by Lady Duff-Gordon, Frederick A. Stokes Company, New York, 1932.
Romantic Adventure, Being the Autobiography of Elinor Glyn by Elinor Glyn, Ivor Nicholson and Watson Limited, London, 1936.
Because researchers need to be careful with autobiographies, since the authors may omit, bend, or enhance facts (and both women did), I also consulted these nonfiction books:
Addicted to Romance: The Life and Adventures of Elinor Glyn by Joan Hardwick, Andre Deutsch, London, 1994.
The “It” Girls: Elinor Glyn, Novelist, and Her Sister Lucile, Couturiere by Meredith Etherington-Smith and Jeremy Pilcher, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, 1986. (Note: I had decided on the title The It Girls before I found this book and couldn’t bear to change it. As you probably know, it is not uncommon for books to have the same title.)
I also couldn’t resist reading Elinor’s “scandalous” novel Three Weeks, published by Duckworth, London, 1907, and recently reprinted by IndyPublish.com in Boston. Of course, by modern standards, the book is quite tame, but it was the Lady Chatterley’s Lover or the Fifty Shades of Grey of its time.
I was impressed and surprised by how “modern” these sisters were, in the pursuit of their careers and in that they were at times the major breadwinners of their families. I was surprised that divorce was as common as it was, especially among the upper classes. Both women believed in self-promotion, which was quite unladylike at that time. They were definitely among the leading “lean in” CEOs of their day.
If you’d like to see a clip in which Elinor describes “It!” take a look at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAoFIYulf90.
Thanks as ever to my husband, Don, for proofreading and serving as my business manager—and for putting up with a writer. Also, much gratitude to my wonderful team of Annelise Robey, my agent, and Lucia Macro, my editor.
Lucile and Elinor’s relationship reminded me of a quote from Nancy Mitford, which Lucia shared with me: “Sisters are a shield against life’s cruel adversity.” To which Nancy’s own sister, Jessica, replied, “But sisters are life’s cruel adversities.” Those of you with sisters—wish I had one—are they both right?
I do love two special quotes by the It Girls themselves, which, I think, summarize not only their lives, but what women should strive for today.
Lucile Sutherland, Lady Duff-Gordon: “It’s a tragedy for a woman to have too little to wish for.”
Elinor Sutherland Glyn: “The journey matters, not just the ending.”
I hope reading this novel mattered, not just the ending.
For more information, photos, and facts about these It Girls, please visit my website at www.KarenHarperAuthor.com, and www.facebook.com/KarenHarperAuthor.