And so, we’ve come to the end of Highland Jewel, the second installment of the Royal Highlander Series. For those of you who have already read Cinaed and Isabella’s story in Highland Crown, this novel has given you another chance to visit with those heroes.
Highland Sword will bring you Morrigan’s story. In that novel, you’ll be reunited once again with Cinaed and Isabella, as well as Niall and Maisie, as their lives become even more entangled in the social and political struggles of a nation searching for its identity.
For nearly three decades, we (as May McGoldrick) have been writing fiction that leaps at us from the pages of history. In the Royal Highlander Series, we’re following the same path. Much of what is depicted in this series is loosely based on real events and people.
Princess Caroline Amelia Elizabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, who was to become the queen of England, is a real historical figure. Her marriage to her cousin (the future Prince Regent and eventually King George IV) provided her with heartache and him with a tremendous financial windfall. George spent the decades following his marriage creating a smear campaign aimed at discrediting and destroying her. This is how British history has recorded her personality and her life. As we know, history is dictated by the victors. For us and for many, Caroline was the “people’s queen,” however, and we felt her life needed a retelling.
In Highland Jewel, you read depictions of several protests. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars, social unrest spread through England and Scotland due to economic disparity and unfair laws. The British government responded with heavy-handed measures and increasingly repressive laws that made public gatherings criminal and speaking out in protest sedition. The Cato Street conspiracy was an entrapment effort on the part of British authorities, and the notoriety of the case was used to justify laws that robbed citizens of their rights. Peterloo, which we refer to in the novel, was also an actual event. In Manchester, sixty thousand people were peacefully protesting when government forces attacked, killing and injuring hundreds of innocent citizens. The newspaper called it the “Peterloo Massacre” despite the government’s efforts to suppress information about the event.
Immediately after the outrage, the Female Reform Society was founded in Manchester by Mary Fildes, who was badly wounded during the Peterloo Massacre. Soon, other chapters (like Maisie and Fiona’s) sprang up in other cities and towns. Many consider those women to be the true originators of the women’s suffrage movement.
In Highland Sword, we’ll continue to weave fiction and history and try to entertain you. So stay with us.
Many of you know that we’ve been busy creating a vast, interconnected world of stories spanning centuries, from the medieval Highlands to Georgian, Regency, and Victorian England and Scotland. If you’re interested to learn more, our website is a great source of information.
As authors, we love feedback. We write our stories for you. We’d love to hear what you liked, what you loved, and even what you didn’t like. We are constantly learning, so please help us write stories that you will cherish and recommend to your friends.
Please visit us on our website at www.MayMcGoldrick.com for our latest news and write to us at May@MayMcGoldrick.com.
Finally, if you enjoyed Highland Jewel, leave us a review … and recommend it to your friends. We greatly appreciate your support!
Wishing you peace and health!
Nikoo and Jim McGoldrick
Writing as May McGoldrick