Alpennia: The Logistics of Background Characters

[hrj]

One of the failure modes for a modern writer of historical fiction--and especially of historical fiction focusing on upper class and well-off characters--is to neglect the vast human infrastructure that lies behind all those fun, glamorous activities that our primary characters are enjoying. I have my own serious blind spots here: I am a modern person, and an American, and middle class (whereby I have never seriously been part of or enjoyed the benefits of the personal service industry). So it takes a conscious vigilance when plotting and writing to be aware of just how many people my protagonists have around them, doing things for them, and assumed to exist for the purpose of doing those things for them. Even for characters who are not among the elite of Alpennia, it's a fairly good rule of thumb that the majority of characters will either be servants or have servants.

I try to remember this, and include casual details of who is opening the doors, bringing in the tea, helping with the dressing, and so forth. When I started working out the background logistics of Luzie Valorin's rooming house, I asked myself how many servants she would have, what their duties would be, how the primary characters would interact with them. And I gave them names. I haven't actually used all of those names and some may never get used. (Nobody except me yet knows that Margerit Sovitre's butler Ponivin bears the first name of Azric.) But it was important to me that they have names, and in many cases back-stories of their own that the protagonists may be only vaguely aware of.

I hold by the maxim that everyone is the hero of their own story. It would be fascinating to think about what the events of Daughter of Mystery would look like if Margerit's personal maid Maitelen were the protagonist. (When you think about it, she has a rather exciting character arc, including a perilous flight across the countryside playing the decoy so her mistress can escape pursuers.) And one of the reasons that I decided to make the laundry maid Rozild the viewpoint character for Floodtide was exactly because I wanted a chance to look at Alpennian society from a very different angle. (I also wanted that story to be told by an "every-girl" who isn't special in any way except in how she intersects with other characters and brings them into contact with each other.)

But with a cast of hundreds (literally), my preference for seeing even the minor background characters as individuals can get cumbersome. There are already a lot of names to keep track of. People with walk-on roles may be addressed by name once (because you do address people by name, and you get the form of their address correct because it's part of your relationship to them and it's important). And then the reader may never hear of them again. I sometimes wonder whether it would make more sense in terms of story structure to skip over that sort of detail. But it matters to me that Luzie's cook has been with her family since she was a little girl, and that Luzie still addresses her sometimes by a childish nickname, and that the cook in turn takes the liberty of addressing Luzie's boarders as if they were Luzie's children. But does all that get in the way of the story?

Only my readers can tell me that.

Comments

[kareina.livejournal.com]

Ironically, I was just thinking of some related questions to this topic this afternoon while cooking dinner. I suddenly remembered Margarite explaining that she would have to pay her new tutor more than requested, because she couldn't pay her less than she pays her lady's maid.

This got me wondering what the serving class in Alpenia does with their earnings. I get the impression that most of them live with the families they serve, and I am guessing that their food and lodging are part of their pay, in addition to the cash. Is that correct? If so, are uniforms also provided, or does their salary need to cover clothing? What sorts of normal expenses does a servant have if they live with their employer? Is it typical for them to have cash left over for fun (or investing?) after typical expenses? Do they need to save for a retirement, or are they likely to die still in service? Do servants aspire to save enough to transition to another class one day? Is this time just before a rising middle class becomes common?

Personally, I love the fact that you name your background characters and think about these details. Sure, that may well, in the long run, translate into more time being needed per book than some other author might take, but the quality of the book is worth the investment, from my point of view. Besides, having those notes on people's back grounds means that three books from now one of those minor characters might suddenly become important because of a skill they have that now matters to a POV character, or because they become a POV character.

And if you ever are inspired to write a sort story or novel about Margarite's lady's maid, I think it would be fun to read it. I would love to know what she thought when she realized Margarite and Barbra had become lovers. Intrigued? Disgusted? Amused? Perplexed? Does she have anyone she confides in? I suspect she values her job too much to gossip (or gossip much?) about her employer, but...

[kareina.livejournal.com]

Note: just because I share my curiosity about your world does not mean that I expect answers to any or all of the questions...

(Though, of course, should answers be forthcoming, I will enjoy learning more.)

[hrj.livejournal.com]

It's an interesting thought-experiment. I don't know that it's one I'm likely to tackle, but certain aspects of the issues you raise may be addressed through the story in Floodtide whose point of view character is a girl who ends up with a position as a maid in Margerit's household.

[hrj.livejournal.com]

I've done a certain amount of background research into the economic lives of servants, if only to have a sense of relative salaries and so forth. (My Alpennian monetary system is carefully designed to have only a loose relationship with other currencies. In particular, the Alpennian mark is not directly equivalent to any other currency using that name. But I need to know relative values of things.) Servants may or may not have work clothing included in their compensation, but would pay for their own non-working clothes and for any personal luxuries or entertainments. Many single servants would be giving some portion of their income to other family members (e.g., aging parents), as well as saving for their own future security, whether a hope of retirement or setting themselves up in business (or for marriage). They would be expected to tithe to the church as well as having other irregular religious expenses.

[irina (from livejournal.com)]

For me it would get in the way of the story if you didn't do it. (Yes, I know most of the particulars of my secondary characters too.)

[joycebre.livejournal.com]

It's one of those subtle things that adds depth and breadth to a story.

[aryanhwy.livejournal.com]

As you've noted on twitter, I am not the most unbiased in this matter, but names matter. All the characters have them, all of them deserve them.

[abd07.livejournal.com]

I think it is part of the sense of depth I get in your novels.