Backdrop to Night's Witness

Night's Witness is the third story in Six-Crossed Knot, a series based on the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness. The action takes place in February 1591, shortly after Knot of One. Diana and Matthew are living in the Hart and Crown in the Blackfriars district of London. They've welcomed into their household two children. Annie is a teenage witch who is helping Diana, and Jack is an eight-year-old waif Diana rescued from the streets. Adjunct members of their household are the School of Night. This historical group of thinkers and scholars includes Christopher Marlowe, George Chapman, Thomas Harriot, Walter Raleigh, and Henry Percy (9th Earl of Northumberland). Night's Witness features the dynamic between the School of Night and the rest of the household.

As any seasoned time traveler knows, interactions between timewalkers and historical characters can cause distortions to the timeline. Consequences, both minor and profound, are difficult to predict. Diana, as a historian, is well aware of the issues. When she first arrived in Elizabethan England she was careful to avoid doing anything which could change history. But as she grew more comfortable with her new environment, her attitude was modified. In certain instances, couldn't a nudge be justified? There are several examples in Shadow of Night where Diana consciously initiates actions that she knows will impact future developments. I also played with the concept in Night's Witness.

Diana's relations with Christopher Marlowe are one area which is particularly susceptible to contamination. In the world of All Souls, Kit Marlowe is not just one of Matthew's closest friends, he is in love with the vampire. Kit is hostile to Diana from the moment he met her, and his jealousy has only increased with time. Is his antipathy toward her reflected in his works? It's hard to believe it didn't occasionally leak through.

In Shadow of Night, Jack and Tom Harriot acquire a particularly close relationship, but the author gives few details about how this came about. Night's Witness gives a possible scenario.

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