Annie Whitehead on Dorothy Dunnett
History as an Arena – Tribute to Dorothy Dunnett
Annie Whitehead, author and historian
‘History is all very well, but it’s just the showcase. It is the arena in which your characters will perform, and which supplies the conflicts, stresses, dilemmas and the struggles they’ll get through.’ This quotation of Dorothy Dunnett’s is used in the advertising for the Historical Writers’ Association/Dorothy Dunnett Society’s annual short story competition. It was launched in 2017 and I’m proud to say that I was the inaugural winner of this prize. Winning the prize was certainly one of the highlights of my writing career so far, and I am now one of the judges for that same competition. I try always to keep this advice in mind when judging the stories which come in and of course also try to apply it to my own writing.
I read my elder sister’s copy of King Hereafter when I was very young – perhaps too young – but the elegant prose painted vivid pictures in my mind as the saga of Thorfinn’s life in rugged early medieval Scotland played out before me. Even at such a tender age, my imagination was fired. Every so often I re-read it, now with that quotation in my head, understanding more, especially the character of Groa, and as a writer of books set in the ‘Dark Ages’, I am constantly inspired by a master of the art of placing a character into that ‘arena’, mixing fact with myth, and telling a compelling and unforgettable tale of real historical characters and using impeccable, detailed research to portray what might/could have been.
My own novels feature real life characters from history and, as in King Hereafter, follow that character from childhood to … well, not all end happily! There is much to be learned from going beyond reading, to actually studying; analysing what it was that Dorothy Dunnett did which made her stories come alive so. Ultimately though, I often endeavour to recall what I felt when I first read the book, when I was too young to grasp the subtleties, too young to understand much of the sentiment. What I remember is what I can only describe as the sweep, the broadness of the picture painted; the idea that I was looking at a vast world that was contained within the pages. Yes, she dropped her characters into the ‘arena’ but she also built the stage for them to act upon. It is always a process – build the historical world, drop your characters in, and let them play out those conflicts, stresses and dilemmas. And in King Hereafter, Dorothy Dunnett gave a matchless demonstration of that process.
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