Is Phoebe dying of The Brooklyn Enigma?
Phoebe is dying of a wasting disease, and my readers want to know what that disease might be. Not one of the characters knows any more about it than is described in the story.
The same reader who would be upset if I fired a muzzle-loading musket twice without reloading wants me to name a disease that may not have been discovered, named, or described for another hundred years.
Some of my stores are set at a time when people still believed an imbalance of humors caused disease, and germ theory was in its infancy. By the late 19th century diagnosis was coming into its own. Doctors might be able to tell you what you had but they couldn’t cure or even treat it.
I am not sure if readers want an old fashioned name like Epizooty, or Kings Evil, or if they expect a more modern term like Crohn’s disease (named in 1938) or Diabetes Mellitus (described as early as 1425, but not treatable ‘til 1922), or even Anorexia Nervosa known in the 19th century as “fasting girls” or “the Brooklyn enigma.”
Since I write in close third person, I have to go with what my characters knew. Phoebe has been seen by several doctors who can’t agree on a diagnosis. What they do agree on is that it is sure to end in her death.
Balancing the reader’s need to know with an accurate historical presentation is a difficult line to walk.
What would you do if Phoebe were your character?
The same reader who would be upset if I fired a muzzle-loading musket twice without reloading wants me to name a disease that may not have been discovered, named, or described for another hundred years.
Some of my stores are set at a time when people still believed an imbalance of humors caused disease, and germ theory was in its infancy. By the late 19th century diagnosis was coming into its own. Doctors might be able to tell you what you had but they couldn’t cure or even treat it.
I am not sure if readers want an old fashioned name like Epizooty, or Kings Evil, or if they expect a more modern term like Crohn’s disease (named in 1938) or Diabetes Mellitus (described as early as 1425, but not treatable ‘til 1922), or even Anorexia Nervosa known in the 19th century as “fasting girls” or “the Brooklyn enigma.”
Since I write in close third person, I have to go with what my characters knew. Phoebe has been seen by several doctors who can’t agree on a diagnosis. What they do agree on is that it is sure to end in her death.
Balancing the reader’s need to know with an accurate historical presentation is a difficult line to walk.
What would you do if Phoebe were your character?
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Andrea
(new)
Dec 06, 2010 02:17PM
KB I think you are right to stick with what the characters would have known. It always drives me crazy when I read a book and the characters are so "progressive" that they know about germ theory even though it is the 13th century!
reply
|
flag
The characters shouldn't know more than someone of their time would. However, I'm all for depicting symptoms so the reader can play medical detective. Thucydides gave a detailed description of the Plague of Athens that has intrigued medical historians for years (he survived catching it, which 'helped').
You know much better than I would what to do with Phoebe, KB! I think you've nailed it. The docs don't know what she has or how to treat it. Fascinating stuff. Maybe she should think about a trip to someplace like Lourdes, although she probably couldn't get there. Are there healing waters anywhere in the states at that time? You could always footnote, but that pulls people out of the story.
The Shepherd's Notes
Combining Living History and writing historical mysteries.
- K.B. Inglee's profile
- 22 followers
