A conversation about the writing journey of Penna and Silbrith.
Current projects: Penna is writing a Caffrey Conversation story.
Silbrith is writing a Six-Crossed Knot story.

Banner: Will Quinn

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Six-Crossed Knot: Backdrop to Illusion's Voice

Illusion's Voice is the eighth story in Six-Crossed Knot, a series based on the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness. The story opens on October 31, 1599. On this day nine years ago, Diana and Matthew timewalked into the world of Elizabethan England. Jack is currently 16 years old.

During the past nine years, the lives of the remaining members of the School of Night have undergone significant changes. Henry (Hal) Percy, Earl of Northumberland, married Dorothy Devereux in 1594. Dorothy was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth. Through his wife, Hal acquired Syon House, an estate along the Thames, roughly thirteen miles west of St. Paul's Cathedral.

Hal continues to sponsor Thomas Harriot and has settled several properties in his name, including a house on the Syon estate. George Chapman has returned to England after having spent several years as a soldier in the Low Countries. He is now a successful playwright. His comedies are particularly popular. Walter Raleigh and his wife Elizabeth (Bess) are slowly returning to the Queen's favor. They have a six-year-old son named Walter whom the family calls Wat. The Raleighs live in Durham House on the Strand close to Russell House, the property leased by Hal Percy.

As for Jack, he has graduated from choir school and is now struggling to make ends meet. His lessons with Nicholas Hilliard have ended. Between jobs, he lives with Tom Harriot in his house at Syon.

Much of the action in this story takes place in the Old Lodge, a Tudor country manor built by Matthew in the 1530s. The Old Lodge is located near Oxford in the village of Woodstock. Deborah Harkness explains in The World of All Souls that she modeled the Old Lodge on Speke Hall which is located near Liverpool. The half-timbered style of the house is more commonly seen in northern England than around Oxford.

In Illusion's Voice, Jack will have a reunion with some members of the Roydon household whom he hasn't seen since 1591. Gallowglass is Matthew's nephew and of Norse-Gaelic descent. He is the son of Hugh de Clermont, now deceased, who was one of Philippe's sons. Françoise also appears in this story. She is one of the de Clermont French servants who assisted Diana during her stay in Elizabethan England.





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