Another small addition to the read-through

[regshoe]

I am currently procrastinating on the fic I want to be writing by writing a different fic instead. It's progress, I suppose!

Anyway: theseatheseatheopensea has been doing some great work finding obscure D. K. Broster-related stuff on the internet, including these two pictures of her! (The first is poor quality and very shadowy and mysterious as a result, the second—she's on the right in the top middle picture—is much better). Another great find is the short story 'Fils d'Émigré', which appears to be the original form of Sir Isumbras at the Ford, published five years before the final version. It's a very interesting insight into the writing process! The story isn't at all the condensed proto-Sir Isumbras I imagined upon hearing that it started out as a short story, but an episode from the middle of the book in—excepting a few minor changes—pretty much the same form that it appears in as chapter 28 of the eventual novel. There's no La Vireville or Raymonde, and the wider context of the plot is almost totally absent. I find the implication that Broster started out with this little, isolated story and then built up a wider plot around it really fascinating.

Comments

[theseatheseatheopensea]

I am currently procrastinating on the fic I want to be writing by writing a different fic instead. It's progress, I suppose!

That is immensely relatable. And it's definitely progress, because it's writing, and that's all that matters! Good luck--with both fics!

The story isn't at all the condensed proto-Sir Isumbras I imagined upon hearing that it started out as a short story, but an episode from the middle of the book in—excepting a few minor changes—pretty much the same form that it appears in as chapter 28 of the eventual novel.

Haha, when I found it, I went back to the book to compare them, because I remembered the bit and wanted to see if it was word-by-word (and I found the ending made its way into chapter 36). It really is interesting to think about Broster's writing process and how the rest of the story developed. I'm especially glad she was inspired to create Raymonde! :D

[regshoe]

It certainly is—thank you :D

Haha, when I found it, I went back to the book to compare them, because I remembered the bit and wanted to see if it was word-by-word (and I found the ending made its way into chapter 36)

So it did! Heh, I'm looking at it now—parts of it really are word-for-word, although there are plenty of little changes—obviously the bit with Anne wondering how far it is to France wouldn't make sense in the version where he's already made the journey in the course of being kidnapped and rescued. Actually, I wonder if La Vireville as a character split off from the M de Soucy of the story—here de Soucy is a Chevalier, and he's described as 'a former companion-in-arms of his father's... older than the Marquis, but almost fanatically devoted to him, yet prevented, by a wound recently received in one of the many small gun-running expeditions on the Breton coast', which sounds more like La Vireville's life (in the novel de Soucy got his wound 'three years ago' in a battle).

[theseatheseatheopensea]

Actually, I wonder if La Vireville as a character split off from the M de Soucy of the story

It definitely seems possible! It's fun to compare both story and book, and think about how and why she developed the characters, especially ones as charismatic as La Vireville, and of course Raymonde <3

(On a somewhat related note: This is from 1910--it's interesting to see her love of the French revolution, and maybe some possible early ideas for this book? This Catoire she writes about reminds me a lot of La Vireville!)

[regshoe]

It's fun to compare both story and book, and think about how and why she developed the characters, especially ones as charismatic as La Vireville, and of course Raymonde <3

Absolutely :D

Ooh, another early French Revolution story—thanks for the link!